Pralhad Gairapipli

Numerous NGOs, consultancies and advocacy groups play an active part in supporting the government in promoting inclusivity, influencing policies and providing support and prevention where possible to the persons with disabilities

When Dharma Devkota was five months old, she got burnt so badly that both her legs had to be amputated. In the aftermath, her muscles and joints seized up. At the time of her accident, Dharma and her family were living in the western hilly district of Surkhet. After her injury, they moved to Kailali, a district in western Terai, in search of a better environment for their daughter.

For years, Dharma was carried to school by her mother, and sometimes by her father. In rural Nepal, children generally start school when they are four or five-years-old. Dharma started when she was eight and would sometimes miss class when her mother was busy with the household chores or agricultural activities.

Now, incredibly, she is walking.

“It’s a dream come true, I have battled so long and so hard to get here. Over the years, there have been moments when I had lost all hope and felt suicidal,” said Dharma.

That is, until she met the community disability worker (CDW) through the Strengthening Rehabilitation in District Environs Programme. The CDW visited Dharma at her home and explained the process for getting artificial legs.

“I did not believe that my daughter would be able to walk and be independent,” Ranga Devi, Dharma’s mother, said. “And I never imagined that she would be able to cycle.”

Today, at the age of 18, Dharma is strong and independent with support from her second set of artificial legs. “She learned how to cycle in the period of a week and surprised us,” her mother said.

“At first, I wasn’t happy about going to the rehab and fitting an artificial leg, but it was pure joy.”My therapists motivated me and got me excited about it,” Dharma added.

She attends school regularly, loves reading science and mathematics. She travels to school and back on her bike. She studies in grade IX and dreams of becoming a nurse someday.

It is estimated that there are 600 million people living with disabilities globally. The vast majority (80 per cent) of persons with disabilities live in low- and middle-income countries, often in difficult circumstances due to the lack of suitable services and opportunities. The needs and rights of persons with disabilities have often been overlooked in the development programmes.

As a result, numerous NGOs, consultancies and advocacy groups play an active part in supporting the government in promoting inclusivity, influencing policies and providing support and prevention where possible to the persons with disabilities.

Nepal as the state party of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD-2006) is obliged to gather comprehensive data and information of persons with disabilities (Article 31) to ensure that the services and facilities are provided according to their needs and based on priorities.

The state is also obliged, as per the constitution, to provide free health services, including medication, for persons having epilepsy and some other chronic diseases. However, so many people have little knowledge about the services or access to the granted facilities and services, consequently, resulting in the poor health condition of persons with disabilities.

Accessibility of data is a major tool in addressing the issues of persons with disabilities, such as policy formation and programme operation. The estimated number of people with disability in Nepal varies from one study to another. The National Census 2011 conducted by the government reports that 1.94 per cent of the total population of Nepal is living with some kind of disability whereas the National Living Standard Survey report (NLSS) 2011 puts it at 3.6 per cent.

However, both figures are quite low compared to the World Report on Disability (2011) by the WHO and World Bank, which shows a 15 per cent disability prevalence rate. Persons with disabilities are a stigma to the family and so are kept hidden.

Moreover, a large number of disabled persons have not received any kind of treatment. This could be due to lack of knowledge and awareness that impairment can be treated.

The WHO has highlighted prohibitive costs, lack of appropriate services, poorly skilled health workers, and physical barriers to access as major constraining factor that hinder a healthy life for disable persons. More data are needed to understand the health needs of persons with disabilities in order to bridge the healthcare gaps.

For the past 20 years Nepal has been very active in formulating policies to enhance the rights of persons with disabilities and improve their quality of life. There have been many positive developments following the signing of the CRPD by the government, disabled people’s association as well as by other national and international agencies.

Creating awareness about the rights of persons with disabilities (Act Relating to the Rights of Person with Disability 2017) by utilising all available means, mass and mediums of information, communication and education in a new federal Nepal is a must. Activities related to social, economic and medical rehabilitation are meant to enable persons with disabilities to lead a dignified life, as in the case of Dharma. Similarly collection, translation and development of legal instruments and advocacy materials play a vital role in raising awareness among the persons with disability at the grassroots level.

Social work is an imported as well as a developing profession. To make this profession reliable, a practitioner should focus on indigenous principles, morality and methods that are appropriate in the local context.

World Social Work Day, on March 20, celebrates the contribution and impact that social workers make in society. The 2019 World Social Work Day highlights ‘Promoting the Importance of Human Relationships’. A utilitarian action targeted at enhancing the wellbeing of the community, social work is often overlooked as a discipline rather than a career, since the priorities for labour force development in a developing nation are different from those of a developed nation.

Social work today is truly an international profession. It is a practice-based profession and an academic discipline that promotes social change and development, social cohesion, and the empowerment and liberation of people. Principles of social justice, human rights, collective responsibility and respect for diversities are central to social work. A lot of people, however, don’t give a second thought to the social workers until they need their support.

Outlining social work is not easy. There are many forms of social work, which are difficult to encapsulate in a single definition. Instead, social work is a vast discipline that encompasses many modalities. Social work includes everything from humanitarian response missions to helping families gain access to government services, to counselling. But, one common feature in this broad concept is the tendency to seek for the betterment of the people at the individual or societal level without any return.

Social work in Nepal is not a new discovery. It can be traced back through many forms of voluntary work by religious and cultural institutions, such as the guthi (clan-based association), dharmashala (free residences for the poor) and pati pauwa (public resting place).

But formal social education began in 1996, with the first bachelor’s degree in social work at Kathmandu University. This was the only Bachelor of Arts in Social Work available in the entire country until 2005 when Purbanchal University began a Bachelor of Social Work programme at Kadambari Memorial College and a Master in Social Work at St Xavier’s College.

A lack of champions who can go an extra mile to build the profession is a problem when we look at the need to build an indigenous and globally applicable Nepalese model of social work. As a profession, social work has been introduced from western countries. Western ideology and philosophy regarding social work take precedence over the developing countries’ philosophy and viewpoint. Apparently there are differences between Nepali society and western society. If the society and cultures are different and circumstances are dissimilar, it is sure that the principles, model and practice pattern should be different.Social work should focus on indigenous circumstances. If you teach a child “A” for “airplane” it is difficult to comprehend for those children who never got a chance to see an airplane; but if you teach “A” for “ant”, it is easy to comprehend because we are familiar with ants. Social work trainees face the same kind of trouble in field work. Nepali social work trainees who go through western theories, methods and principles find it challenging to apply them in the Nepali context.

Social work is thus imported as well as a developing profession. To make this profession reliable, a practitioner should focus on indigenous principles, morality and methods that are appropriate in the local context.

The biggest problem for social work education and its growth and quality in Nepal is the absence of a clear policy with the University Grants Commission, an umbrella body responsible for the promotion and maintenance of standards of higher education. The lack of formal recognition of professional social workers by the government is also a major issue. Graduate social workers cannot compete for many government jobs as the training is not yet recognised by the Public Service Commission.

Nepal is going through a period of transition, and social work can play a crucial role in rebuilding lives and communities that have been affected due to the series of conflicts and natural calamities. Professional social work education is essential for the development of the profession. The underutilisation of social work talent due to its low recognition in the country is having an impact on the overall development of the profession.

Social Workers Association Nepal, which was established five years back, has to be made stronger and should negotiate with the government to recognise the profession, protect the rights of social workers and ensure accountability. International organisations like the International.

Association of Schools of Social Work and regional bodies like the Asian and Pacific Association for Social Work Education should provide resources to countries like Nepal and use their expertise to boost local enterprises.

The departments and colleges offering social work courses should come together in linkage and build alliances with the media, university authorities, public servants, international contributors and other schools of social work globally. Through this, they can showcase what they are doing in Nepal. They should have clear directives and a vision of what they want to realise and allocate financial and human capitals for these objectives.

The universal design concept asserts that anything and everything should be designed in order to be accessible not only to people with diverse disabilities, but more generally to the broadest possible spectrum of humanity.

Each year, on December 3, the world marks International Day of People with Disabilities (IDPD) It is a day on which we promote public awareness about the challenges faced by people with disabilities, and the role communities and societies can play in eradicating the barriers to social inclusion. The theme for this year’s IDPD is “Promoting the participation of persons with disabilities and their leadership: taking action on the 2030 Development Agenda” while the national theme is “The Future is Accessible”, which means we all look towards a future without barriers.

More than one billion people live with some form of disability worldwide. In the years ahead, disability will be an even greater concern due to ageing population and the higher risk of disability in older people as well as the global increase in chronic health conditions, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and mental health disorders. Understandably, people with disabilities have poorer health outcomes, lower education feats, less economic contribution and higher rates of poverty than people without them.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) came into force in 2008 and strengthened the understanding of disability as a human rights and development priority.

A person’s environment has a huge impact on the magnitude of disability. Inaccessible environments create disability by creating hurdles to participation and inclusion. Examples of the possible negative impact of the environment are a deaf person without a sign language interpreter, a wheelchair user in a building without an accessible toilet and a blind person using a computer lacking screen-reading software. The environment could be changed to improve health conditions, prevent impairments, and improve outcomes for people with disabilities. Such changes can be fetched by legisla¬tion, policy changes, capacity building, or tech¬nological developments.

Article 9 of the UNCRPD cherishes “accessibility” as one of the treaty’s eight general principles. In the preamble of the Convention, we learn that accessibility is closely tied to the evolving definition of disability. The universal design concept asserts that anything and everything should be designed in order to be accessible not only to people with diverse disabilities, but more generally to the broadest possible spectrum of humanity. For example, public buildings designed with ramps at entranceways allow for the easy movement of persons with mobility disabilities, along with pregnant women; parents with a baby carriage; people with injuries; and older persons. In the same way, for information accessibility, television programmes with subtitles and voice over ensure accessibility to people with hearing impairment as well as those watching in a noisy setting.

The Sustainable Development Goals have a strong and explicit focus on disability, promulgating a socially just and human rights-based approach where development efforts include all people, even those at the very margin of the society. The 2030 Agenda and the SDGs are both evidently inclusive of people with disabilities. They can be used as an advocacy tool to draw the attention of decision-makers for the creation of disability-inclusive policies and programmes.

Following Nepal’s ratification of the CRPD in 2010, the country has made notable progress in the disability sector. In 2015, Nepal adopted a democratic and an inclusive constitution, which assured a comprehensive set of rights for people with disabilities, with special provisions to ensure their access to health care, education, social justice and proportionate representation in the local bodies.

The Disability Rights Act 2017, which swapped the Disabled Persons Welfare Act 1982, made a vital departure from the welfare-based approach to the rights-based approach to disability. The Act acknowledges the principles on which the CRPD was established, and amplifies the definition of persons with disabilities in line with the Convention, eliminating and banning offensive narratives.

Why is there a need for disability awareness? Simply, disability is not mainstreamed and is often overlooked. Only a few people with disabilities know their rights, and deeply rooted stereotypes towards people with disabilities still exist. Civil servants must make policies to ensure there is more than just nominal representation of people with disabilities in politics.

Within the legal and policy frameworks, governments should engage the civil society and private entities in implementing initiatives to tackle inequalities of accessibility. Engaging people with disabilities throughout all stages of design, development and deployment safeguards access to products and services. This, in turn, can reduce costs and serve wider markets.

The CRPD calls on States Parties to take measures on accessibility not only for government-owned facilities and services, but also in the private sector. In the federal structure, the measures should be designed in consultation with people with disabilities, disabled people’s organisations and their networks, such as the National Federation of the Disabled, Nepal. This will help to break the brutal barriers and open up better opportunities for disability-inclusive development.

The 2022 International Women’s Day campaign theme #BreaktheBias calls for urgent action to counter bias and discrimination in all aspects of daily life, but importantly to combat the exclusion of girls from education. As a new UNESCO GEM Report factsheet shows, gender stereotypes and biases are built in people’s minds from childhood, limiting their futures. Biases can be reinforced or challenged through the curriculum, teaching and learning materials and practices as well as daily interactions with teachers, parents and peers. Women and girls with disabilities are among the most marginalized, excluded learners in the world and are exposed to multiple discrimination, owing to their identity as girls and as children with disabilities.

“The majority of women in Nepal are discriminated across gender lines, and the patriarchal nature of Nepalese society has pushed Nepalese women to lag behind in several socio-economic dimensions. Women with disabilities face historical exclusion and multiple deprivations in all spheres of life and also in development endeavors”, accoring to the Nepal Disabled Women Association. Humanity & Inclusion and partners are working with families and local communities to ensure the right to education for girls with disabilties in Nepal.

When Alina, 13, from Banke in Nepal, was young, her family realized that she had difficulties hearing. Eventually she was diagnosed as being profoundly deaf. She was accepted in a local mainstream school at the age of 8, but the school was not inclusive and she was not able to understand any lessons or communicate with teachers or friends. There were communication barriers because neither Alina nor the staff knew Nepali sign language and Alina was unable to communicate using speech. The school also had inadequate teaching and learning materials to support deaf children. Alina had to drop out of school and lost hope she would receive an education. Growing up as a young girl who was deaf with linguistic barriers, Alina and her family were exposed to a life full of isolation and loneliness.

According to the National Federation of the Deaf Nepal, more than 300,000 people are deaf or have a hearing impairment. There are 174 classrooms within mainstream schools that act as resource bases to support learners with hearing impairments, for around 11,000 students currently.

Since 2018, an HI project has supported Alina through their community mobilizers that conduct counselling sessions with her parents on disability awareness and Alina’s education. Eventually, she received her disability identification card from the local government. The family were supported through the admission process and connections with school authorities were made. Finally, Alina enrolled in a school with a resource class for children with hearing impairments.

“When she enrolled into the resource class, she changed a lot. We are happy to see her moving up to a higher class and being more dedicated to education,” says Gauni Kumari, Alina’s mother.

“When she comes home, she completes her homework first and then only goes to play games with friends. As she could get educated, I am confident that she will have bright future, whether she is a girl or a boy. I am just worried for her further education,” explains Gauni Kumari. “She wants to become a police officer, but I am little afraid with her hearing impairment if that create an obstacle to peruse her dream. I’ll standby along with her to support at every stage. With sign language, she has developed her confidence and social participation I am glad to see all the changes in her life,” she adds.

“When Alina arrived in the resource class, she learned letters and words quickly as she had learned basic things in the community itself by the project. She is a first student in her grade. Beside the academic subjects, she is good in extracurricular activities including sports,” says Rama Thapa, Alina’s teacher. “One thing she has to improve is English language, and I’ve placed this in priority for the coming months.”

According to Rama there are more girl children at the resource class, as there are more girls in the community in Terai region of Nepal.

“Parents of the children I have met pay many concerns on their girl’s safety while staying at school, as we see growing number of incidents of violence against women such as sexual violence against girls,” says Rama. “Parents often visit school and ask me to provide vocational training after their fifth grade education, this will help them to become independent and live a dignified life in the society.”

According to her parents of girls are much more concerned on their children’s future and safety. Girls from the Muslim community are often not prioritized to have an education especially when it comes to girls with a disability.

“We have to pay extra effort to teach children with disabilities, but at the end of our achievement, this gives a real pleasure,” adds Rama. “When our children teach their parents about hygiene behaviors or other things when they go home, this gives me a real meaning of being a teacher.”

"I am hurt every time I receive an email in a pdf* format or an image. The screen-reading tool I use will not be able to read this. I need someone to read that to me, which can be disgusting," said Sujit Gurung, a person with visual impairment.

Gurung stated that while using Facebook, the captions of all pictures do not adequately describe the picture and auto-generated texts are also insufficient to understand the picture. Social media has now become part of our everyday lives. As social media use increases, both personally and professionally, it's important to ensure that your friends and followers can access content in different ways.

Accessibility is not just physical; like access to public buildings or workplaces or roads. It is also important to ensure that the messages you share on social media are likely to reach everyone. With millions of people using social networking channels worldwide, it is vital to consider accessibility online.

Fastest Growing

Social media is the fastest-growing marketing tool, allowing people to promote their businesses, disseminate public service messages and connect with friends and clients in a short time. But how can you make this accessible to all? To ensure that everyone can access your information, bake in accessibility. Adding captions to your videos or adding sign language interpretation makes it accessible for many more people.

In addition, short sentences accompanied with pictures and illustrations, called 'easy reading' format; help make the content welcoming for people with learning and memory difficulties. Easy read is information written using simple words and short sentences. This is supported by images that refer to the meaning of the sentences. It can be useful for other people too, for example, people with low literacy levels, people recovering from a stroke, or living with dementia will find the content more inviting.

Article 9 of the United Nation’s Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) gives us a guide. It states that- “People with disabilities have the right to participate in all aspects of society on an equal basis with others. That includes accessing the physical environment, transportation, information and communications, and other facilities and services provided to the public." As of date, this has been ratified by 182 countries and is legally binding for those, including Nepal. The convention recognizes the importance of accessibility to information and communication and states that information in accessible formats has to be provided as a reasonable accommodation.

Globally, social media use is growing every day – even more so since the COVID-19 pandemic. Making your social media posts accessible is the right thing to do to be more inclusive to the people with accessibility needs. But what are the other benefits? Firstly, you will reach a wider audience. People with disabilities often represent the largest untapped audience in the world. Secondly, being known for a commitment to accessibility is good for any organization or business. Audiences are increasingly favouring values-led brands, especially those that genuinely commit to diversity and inclusion.

Accessibility is essential for connecting with your full potential audience. More than one billion people live with some form of disability - 15% of the worldwide population. Those numbers skyrocket when you include temporary and situational disabilities. In essence, non-inclusive content separates a large segment of the global population. Simply put: Accessibility adds value.

What does it mean to be accessible?

Don't forget that not all of your social media followers will require the same level of access to technology. For instance, those with visual impairments may use screen readers. Deaf or hard-of-hearing people may need to use sign language. Some people may have learning, reading, or sensory needs.

Online engagement is more fun when everyone can participate. Due to the open nature and accessibility of social media, people are also using it as a means of therapy, or as a way to discuss subjects that are stigmatised, such as mental health. Through social media, a more equal and open society can be developed.

You can easily make your social content easier to access for people who are blind, deaf or have an intellectual disability by doing some easy things.

When uploading images to Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, remember to add ALT TEXT. This provides a basic, written description for each image. This will be read out to people using screen-reading technology.

Screen readers may not be able to read memes or gifs. In your post text, provide a description that conveys meaning. Plain text is best.

Remember to use the first letter of each word is capitalised, and it makes hashtags much #EasierToRead for people using screen readers.

The use of captions is preferable to subtitles, since captions describe all speech and sound, including background noise and music, ensuring full access to all video content. These days, a lot of social media users watch videos with the sound off.

It may be more convenient for those with screen readers to view transcripts of videos than captions. For those who are short on time and would like to skip to the most important information, transcripts are also very useful.

Stories, such as Facebook or Instagram stories, are very popular on social media. Please be aware that text and images on stories won't be read by screen readers.

As technology and social media advance, accessibility for people with disabilities is gaining ground. A caption on your social media and website can help ensure accessibility for the Deaf community. Content that has captions tends to be more engaging than content without captions. Whether you're creating content for your personal or professional use, accessibility is key.

As a result, you will be inclusive, welcoming, and considerate of people who use different methods to access information. Use the practical tips and advice above to make your content accessible and inclusive, so more of your followers will enjoy it.

KATHMANDU (IDN) — Can a mobile app become the transformative tool that will allow thousands of vulnerable children to enjoy their right to education?

This is the bet that is being made by a consortium of agencies working in Nepal to enhance the rights of children who are deaf and hard of hearing.

If most of the children suffered a lot during the Covid-19 lockdown due to the fact that they could not attend their classroom and an alternative system put in place was not adequate to meet their needs, those who are deaf or hard of hearing, are among those who paid the highest consequences.

Sadhana, 10, acquired hearing impairment when she went through an unknown disease during her childhood. Sadhana likes drawing and sewing. Her family has been consistently worried about her education and future.

Before the pandemic, Sadhana was lucky enough to be able to attend a Resource Class, an additional class at a mainstream school to support the special needs of the children with disabilities, such as those who are deaf, blind or have intellectual disabilities.

However, at the school, both children with and without disabilities learn together with their peers. Even though there she was facing difficulties, a protected learning environment was available to her.

The pandemic changed all this.

The Resource Class was hers only hope but the closure of academics shattered their hope while creating learning loss.

Sadhana is one of the many facing daunting challenges in enjoying their right to education.

Now a mobile app, Mero Sanket, developed by the USAID supported Reading for All program, could help change the status quo.

As implementing partners, a coalition of organizations including Humanity & Inclusion, World Education, National Federation of the Deaf Nepal (NDFN), Center for Education and Human Resource Development (CEHRD), are working full steam to ensure the app will reach as many as possible children in need of it.

While a full assessment of Mero Sanket’s effectiveness will require time as it was launched just on the occasion of the International Day of Sign Languages, commemorated each year on the 23rd September, technological advancement, complemented by interventions in the sphere of policymaking, could make a true difference.

The quest for a more inclusive education system in Nepal is not a minor issue considering the thousands of children with disabilities who, on daily basis, encounter barriers to their rights posed by stereotypes and exclusion.

To give an idea of the numbers involved, only students who are deaf or hard of hearing in the country are over 15,000. As in Sadhana’s case, there is a system in place tailored made to the special needs of deaf and hard of hearing kids.

In addition to the “Resource Classrooms”, the backbone of an educational system that strives to be inclusive, there are 22 specialized schools targeting children with hearing impairments.

The approach to inclusive education undertaken by Nepal, though requires considerable improvements, testifies the progress being made by the country in making its learning system more equal.

Mero Sanket could be the starting point to reinforce this system but now, its contents are only focused on children from Grade 1 to Grade 3. In a short span of time, the app introduced thanks to an extensive network of community workers, is already making a huge difference.

Abhishek, 12, acquired hearing loss when he was 6 years old. He only had the chance to get enrolled in Resource Class in the western district of Dang in 2021 but he also had to discontinue his learning due to the Covid lockdowns.

Mero Sanket helped fill the gap.

“My son used to dress up himself and wait for the learning facilitator,” told Abhishek’s father, referring to the local instructors introducing the app to the children, helping them continue with their learning during the schools ‘closure.

“We are now so happy to see the engagement and progress of our son in learning” he added. Initially, Abishek didn’t seem interested and unconvincing. Later with the facilitation and motivations from the community workers, he agreed to learn. Later he found it so interesting to learn through pictures and sign languages available at the app”.

Sapana Pokhrel is one of the learning facilitators from Surkhet, in western Nepal.

Since the launch of the app, instructors like her have been instrumental in providing educational support to deaf and hard of hearing children.

“This app is very useful for those who even don’t know Nepali sign language. They can learn and teach to the deaf children”

She continues: “The self-evaluation session in this app is very useful. This is also practical as it enables discussions on daily use activities such as greetings, food, hygiene and sanitation activities.”

With Mero Sanket slowly getting more and more traction, two challenges need to be tackled on.

First how the use of new technologies can be mainstreamed across the curriculum, complimenting, strengthening, rather than abruptly disrupting, the existing model of inclusive education.

“Children might feel bored on learning all the time with the teachers and their lectures but mobile app has made their learning more independent, fun and interesting” shares Sapana.

Perhaps the lessons that are still be drawn from the challenges of imparting education during a pandemic and the impact of such shift had on millions of children, is going to help revisit traditional approaches to education.

It is very possible that hybrid forms of onsite education combined with online, technology-enhanced sessions will have experimented further. For sure technology alone is not enough.

“Children”, shares Sapana, “should be properly guided to use mobile technology through a routine use and monitoring from the teachers so that their addiction to the phone or any negative consequences on health can be prevented.”

Finding the right balance between tailored made educational innovation and enhanced and improved traditional methodologies is not going to be easy but their opportunities are to be explored.

The second challenge is how to ensure higher education for deaf and hard of hearing children are more widely available.

“This app puts Nepali Sign Language into the hands of anyone with an interest in learning it. We wish to take more initiatives to promote inclusive education by developing an additional learning material together and to lay the groundwork for more expanded education of deaf children”, a statement of the National Federation of the Deaf Nepal explains.

We need to scale up apps like Mero Sanke as much as possible and also ensure that these new tools can promote learning materials for the entire 12 years of mandatory education as per law’s requirements in Nepal and go even further.

There are only a few options of secondary education with only three out of the 22 specialized schools for the deaf in Nepal providing the entire 12 mandatory years of education.

Compounding the problem, in the entire country there is only one undergraduate-level learning institution for deaf students and there is no master-level course for them.

Mero Sanket offers a first important step.

We hope this app and other similar that might come, can become also a catalyst for more opportunities in higher education for deaf and hard of hearing students.

For now, at least, the younger ones will surely have a better chance to exercise their right to education and develop their learning and with it, their sense of agency. [IDN-InDepthNews – 13 December 2021]

Now we will have to ensure that new digital innovations can help unblock the status quo while at the same time it is paramount to better understand how new technological devices can enhance the learning of children who are deaf and hard of hearing.

Over the past one and a half years, there have been a lot of discussions on the right to education for vulnerable children and the impact that the lockdown and with it, the implications of online education, had on them.

Much neglected and overlooked instead was the situation faced by children and youth who are deaf and hard of hearing, an important component of the student population that always remains at the margins of the conversation.

It should not be this way and the reason is simple: the numbers are staggering.

In Nepal, 15,000 deaf students attend 22 specialized schools and 174 resource classrooms.

According to the National Federation of the Deaf Nepal(NDFN), there are around 4,000 students in the former that exclusively meet the needs of students with hearing impairment while in the latter, there are approximately 11,000 students enrolled.

This group of resource classrooms is a positive example of integration as we are talking about “teaching units” dedicated to deaf and hard of hearing children within the “mainstream” schools- where children with and without disabilities learn together.

The real problem is that for such a vast target group, only three out of the 22 specialized schools for the deaf in Nepal provide 12 years of school education — 1st to 12th grade.

The landscape clearly portrays an outright violation of the right to education for the vast majority of these children and youth, a situation that is further aggravated if we think that only one school, Central Higher Secondary School for the Deaf, situated in the federal capital, provides higher education but only for Bachelors’ degrees in Education and Management.

It means that for example if you are a talented female student with hearing impairments and your dream is to study engineering, your future is completely shattered and the options available do vastly limit your pathway toward a meaningful career.

In short, you have to adjust and adapt to an unfair and unjust society.

This should not happen in a nation that boasts a constitution for its inclusiveness and progressive features.

In a country where, according to NDFN, there is a population of more than 300,000 people who are deaf or have hearing impairment, this is a cautionary tale that there is only so much that children and youth with hearing impairment can do.

It should not be this way.

Moreover, only now Nepali Sign Language is being discovered though the vast majority of adults who are deaf will continue to make do and carry on with their lives without being able to fully communicate with the rest of the society.

If you consider that this medium of communication was developed in 1998, you can realize how many citizens’ lives have been obstructed and denied an opportunity for self-development.

The road toward a more inclusive, just society is a long and rough one and the rights of persons with hearing impairment, either deafness or hard of hearing, should be considered and fought for in unison with other citizens who are discriminated against on a daily basis even if no one takes notice.

We are talking about the inviolable rights of other members of vulnerable groups, not only other segments of the population living with disabilities but also those of communities who are historically marginalized like dalit, the vast majority of madhesis, indigenous groups and of course, women, a community thoroughly discriminated against.

While it is essential to pursue a common front to call for the upholding of the rights of all these key members of society, it is also vital to promote specific, tailor-made solutions focused on the unique needs of such members.

Investing in education is one of the surest interventions to start with - one that should open up a myriad of opportunities and other complementary actions.

In the case of children and youth with hearing impairment, it means more resources focused on strengthening the network of resource classes, ensuring that children attending them also have opportunities to interact and spend time with their peers attending the “mainstream” classes.

It is also about enlarging the options at higher education levels through specialized programs but also - and this should be the overarching goal - through efforts to turn colleges and universities more attentive and inclusive of the rights of students with unique needs like those with hearing impairments.

Another essential step is to create a level playing field in the domain of digital education.

We should not forget that, while the rights of the vast majority of vulnerable kids have been neglected and violated, over the entire lockdowns, those who are deaf and hard of hearing paid the utmost consequences as there was not any digital tool available to them and as a consequence, no learning happened.

Though this is shocking, it is part of a consistent pattern.

In this regard, an important step has been recently taken when the first-ever Nepali sign language app was launched, on the 23rd September 2021, on the occasion of the International Day of Sign Languages.

Called, “MeroSanket”, it was developed by a consortium including Handicap International, also known as Humanity & Inclusion in partnership with the National Federation of the Deaf Nepal (NDFN), the Center for Education and Human Resource Development (CEHRD), World Education and with funding support from the USAID.

One of the most important features of MeroSanket is that it can be used not only by students, including those at pre-literacy levels but can also be a useful tool for everyone else in society interested to learn Nepali sign language.

The fact that the federal government, through CEHRD, was fully involved and provided guidance in the development of the app, is significant and promising.

Yet existing provisions must be enforced. For example, Nepal’s 2017 Disability Rights Act (section 23.2) provides for special training for teachers who educate children with disabilities to promote their access to quality education but does not mention training for teachers in inclusive education. Training is focused on developing specialized teachers, rather than training all teachers in inclusive methods that will benefit diverse learners.

In addition, the act also states- “The Government of Nepal shall make freely available the educational materials as prescribed to the schools in order to ensure the access of the students with disabilities to schools and learning.” But this lacks proper implementation.

Now we will have to ensure that new digital innovations can help unblock the status quo while at the same time it is paramount to better understand how new technological devices can enhance the learning of children who are deaf and hard of hearing.

They can truly make a whole of difference but at the same time, a much stronger holistic effort at national and local levels must be made to ensure not only the rights of children and youth with hearing impairments but also those of their peers from other marginalized groups are fulfilled.

Optimistically, a digital app can become a propeller for more actions in the field of inclusive education.

People care about the words they use," my friend said in a conversation about empowerment and inclusion. “Good intentions and thoughts are more important than the words,” he added. The incident made this scribe realise that it is necessary to learn about the perspective of people with disabilities and share it with others. The writer of many media articles about people with disabilities, usually promoting some form of inspiration, often confuses us when they claim that the individual somehow “overcame” his or her disability. Why is it that despite doing something that anyone else would celebrate, the focus becomes on overcoming their disability, which in many cases is completely irrelevant? Is it not possible to congratulate people with disabilities for what they have accomplished without mentioning their disability?

Appropriate phrases

There are many conversations and platforms that contain problematic statements for people with disabilities. “An appropriate phrase for someone overcoming a disability is “differently abled.” Unfortunately, this statement holds two very important errors. Firstly, differently abled isn't the right term for a person with a disability. The term disability isn't offensive to people living with disabilities. Secondly, people with disabilities aren't overcoming their disability. This statement ineptly limits the definition of a disability to the medical model of disability, which focuses on an individual’s functions.

The achievements of people with disabilities should be used to enhance awareness of disability, but without the right wording, this isn't possible. Instead of “overcoming,” writers should describe how a person with disabilities has “challenged” an inaccessible and exclusive society and context.  Fortunately, we’re seeing a shift from the strict medical model of what a disability is to the social model, recognising that a person’s activities are limited not by their physical condition but by the environment and society.

The U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention defines disability as any condition of the body or mind that makes it more difficult for the person with the condition to do certain activities and interact with the world around them. Although “people with disabilities” sometimes refers to a single population, this community is actually a diverse group of people with a wide range of needs. Two people with the same type of disability can be affected in very different ways. Some disabilities may be hidden or not easy to see. Some may be more accepted by societal norms. In many cases, the way we describe and write about disability creates disabling effects in itself, reads a statement at CDC.

People with disabilities prefer to view their experiences from the social model of disability. This means, if they need to overcome anything as a community, it is systemic barriers, discrimination, and misrepresentation — not their disability. Throughout history, language has evolved. Cultural trends and changes have impacted the words we use today. “Language is super important when it comes to identity and community, and how we want to be represented in this world,” says Shiva Acharya, a disability rights expert. “My advice to you would be to never hesitate to use the words disability or disabled. These terms do not embarrass, break, or humiliate us. The actual live experience of disability itself does not embed terms like disability in shame, but rather the practice of changing language does,” Acharya adds.

 “I am a wheelchair user, not a wheelchair bound,” mentions Gajendra Budhathoki, a journalist, on his Twitter. Are you ever curious about what words to avoid while communicating with or about people with disabilities? Simply, put people first. For example: a wheelchair user versus wheelchair-bound, person with autism versus autistic person, person who is hard of hearing versus hearing-impaired.

First and foremost, we are all people, so it makes sense to use language that is people-centred.

Adding the phrase “person who” to your language will make it more compelling. With such changes, you illustrate your commitment to putting individuals before their disabilities. In today's society, the terms “handicapped,” “able-bodied,” “physically challenged,” and “differently abled” are outdated.

You should never use the word “normal” to describe people without disabilities in contrast to people with disabilities. You should instead say “non-disabled.” In this example, do not use “She did just as well on the exam as the normal students.” Instead, use “She did very well on her exam.” The words “victim” or “sufferer” should never be used to describe anyone with a disability or a disease, as they imply helplessness and dehumanise the individual. A person with HIV/ AIDS is not an “AIDS sufferer.” Rather, use “person with HIV/AIDS.”

Dignified terms

Even without realising it, the words we use depict our approach and the mindset we are already bringing to a project, conversation, or relationship. It influences how disabled people are perceived and treated in society. If you are in doubt about what language you should be using, just ask someone from the disability community.

Disability inclusive language choices foster respect, access, autonomy, equity, self-determination, opportunity, inclusion, and interdependence for the disability community. On the official website of the National Federation of the Disabled- Nepal, you will find an overview of dignified terms used in Nepal. “While addressing people with disabilities, knowingly or unknowingly, many of us use undignified and incorrect terminologies. These words will have negative impact on both the personal and professional development of people with disabilities,” reads the statement on the organisation’s website.

Gurus not only teach us but also believe in us. Gu and Ru are the root words of the word Guru. Gu in Sanskrit means darkness or ignorance, and Ru means remover. The word Guru can be described as one who removes the darkness of ignorance from our lives. It is common for people to view their Gurus as the most meaningful part of their lives. This is the day when disciples pay homage to their Gurus by performing pooja.

Learn from everyone

Our lives are filled with learning. From the day we are born, we learn from others. We meet people, build connections, find mentors and get advice from them. In fact, every person that we meet knows something we do not know. The people we cross paths with in our lives have something to teach us if we are open to gaining knowledge from them. They have explained everything to us in the most efficient way possible. They have imparted to us all the basic manners and etiquettes of discipline, punctuality, kindness and empathy. They encouraged us to be fearless.

They have empowered us to stand up for ourselves and speak out when something seems wrong. We have learned to always have faith and confidence through them.

Feeling thankful

At every turning point in our life that required guidance, we have been fortunate to have people who have served as Gurus. Our parents, brothers, sisters, wife, teachers, friends, bosses, colleagues, and even random people have pushed us forward or taught us something valuable in a short period.

Therefore, in that way we need to realize we are very thankful for having such people in our life. No matter what, all of us may not have had the same Guru, but these are the people we ought to consider as our Gurus. Moreover, all the directors we have worked with are very competent, and we need to consider them to be our Gurus as well.

Understanding one’s worth

They have guided us to know and understand our worth. They have taught us to never give up and always believe in diligent work. They have demonstrated to us the power of spirituality. They have also taught us to be independent and empowered us to make our own decisions. They have always stood behind us as a rock and will continue doing so as we face the real world.

Guru Purnima was the morning I first got in touch with my first Guru, who taught me alphabets, numbers, voices, grammar, and so on. I knew he was hospitalized, but he is recovering well and will be discharged very soon. In the afternoon, I drove to meet with my spiritual Guru in person who taught me the value of truthfulness, mental peace, brotherhood and cooperation. Later in the evening, I was able to attend a spiritual program with my childhood friends. The day was a bit busy but it was worth it because I needed it.

Stress and worry destroy the mind and body. Identify the stressors in your life and remove them from your inner sanctuary in order to reduce stress and stay healthy.

Without value for yourself, your work, your time, and your health, others will take advantage of you. Focus on valuing yourself and keep those who respect those values close to you. Cook more at home. Dining out should not be the norm, but an occasional treat every now and then is totally fine.

Place yourself first on your care list before taking on the needs of others. Taking care of yourself is just as significant as helping those around you. Reserve time to rest and be quiet. You can reenergize yourself by setting aside a day each week or time each month.

As we celebrated Guru Purnima this week, by honoring the contributions of our Gurus in our lives, we would need to thank the almighty for putting us in the hands of such people who have sacrificed endlessly for us.

Our parents instilled the highest values in us, making us the person we are today. To the ones who always guide us down the right path; wish all the Gurus, a Happy Guru Purnima. Who do you think has been the most influential Gurus in our lives? Throughout the rest of our lives, we will strive to continue to make them proud and look up to them in everything we do and achieve.