Happy Holidays! Thank you for all your support in 2021

This is our final newsletter of the year. So we’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support for Theirworld and the work we do to unlock big change for young people.

2022 is our 20th anniversary year and we can’t wait to share news with you soon of more innovative projects, inspiring activists and exciting events.

If you missed our end-of-year video, watch it here to see the amazing things we achieved in 2021.

Children with disabilities must have the same educational opportunities as others

Vibhu Sharma was born and brought up in Delhi, India. After earning a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature, she moved to Scotland, where she achieved a Master’s degree in Inclusive Education from the University of Edinburgh.

Vibhu now works with Theirworld as a Disability and Inclusion Research Consultant. She leads a project on assistive technologies and guides the organisation’s initiatives on making them accessible to people with disabilities.

In the latest in our Spotlight On... series, which features inspiring people from the world of education, Vibhu talks about the importance of inclusive education and the support that students with disabilities need to be successful in education.

Why is prioritising inclusive education important to you and what specific actions do schools and governments need to take?

Inclusive education is very close to my heart. I feel that every child has a right to inclusive education, be accepted in a school of their choice, and be enabled to access the same materials as their non-disabled peers.

Being a person with complete blindness and growing up in India, I had to face discrimination in the education system. Schools are not willing to accept children with disabilities in mainstream schools. Even if they are admitted, children with disabilities face a number of barriers, such as untrained teachers, inaccessible reading materials and lack of access to assistive technologies.

While I had these struggles, I also had the opportunity to represent inclusive education in India at national and international conferences. As I progressed, I realised that the struggles were not mine - they were the struggles of the 40% to 80% of children with disabilities who are either out of school or facing challenges in developed and developing countries.

I realised I had been the privileged one. Although there have been many challenges despite my enrolment in a mainstream school, I had been able to overcome them.

Governments and schools need to work in collaboration. For instance, governments could mandate that teachers must be trained in accommodating students with disabilities in a mainstream classroom. Schools need to ensure they have sufficient resources, like assistive technologies, accessible curriculum and infrastructure.

What kind of support do students with disabilities need to be successful in their education?

Students with disabilities are, first and foremost, students who happen to have a disability. They must have the same educational opportunities as a non-disabled student.

It is necessary to assess what kind of support a student with any disability requires and respond to their specific needs. For example, a student who has visual impairment might require Braille and/or a screen-reading software with accessible materials.

Schools and teachers need to understand the needs of the student through talking to the student, their parents, organisations of persons with disabilities and assistive technology experts - and then develop a needs-based plan for the student.

It is also important to understand that these needs may change over time.

What one piece of advice would you give to leaders trying to make their organisations, companies or communities more inclusive of people with disabilities?

People with disabilities are people. They are an asset to any organisation or community that is sensible enough to understand their specific needs and respond to them.

Business organisations, for example, need to see making their products and services disability-inclusive and see disability inclusion as a source of market opportunity, not as mere compliance.

If organisations are serious about disability inclusion, they need to hire persons with disabilities to work for them and create enabling work environments that facilitate employees with disabilities to perform their job and allow them to grow professionally.

Why is celebrating Disability History Month important? 

Because it is the time to recognise the achievements and contributions of persons with disabilities and highlight their value to the rest of the non-disabled world.

The achievements of persons with disabilities tend to get lost either because the non-disabled world views them as objects of sympathy or charity.

When working with organisations like Theirworld, what is your main goal?

I was hired by Theirworld to work on the project that will help map what assistive technologies are used by students with disabilities and develop policy briefs to ensure that such technologies can be made available to a larger number of children with disabilities, especially in developing countries.

I was also hired to help the organisation include the lens of disability inclusion across its other initiatives, such as early childhood education, education of refugee children and the Global Youth Ambassador programme.

My goal is to assist the organisation to have initiatives that are disability-inclusive, that are not just cognisant of children with disabilities but are also prepared and ready to accept and accommodate them in Theirworld’s programmes.

What achievements with Theirworld are you most proud of?

I am proud that the organisation has stepped ahead in its approach towards disability and inclusion and hires persons with disabilities on their capability and value.

I am also proud it has become more agile and nimble to the needs of employees with disabilities. For example, it uses more accessible technologies. Our platforms are becoming increasingly accessible and many of our Global Youth Ambassadors are now young people with disabilities.

We have our two forthcoming reports - one on assistive technologies and a task force report on education, employment and training for persons with disabilities - to be proud of as well.

A fuller version of this Q&A will appear on Theirworld’s website.

Businesses step up to help young people find job skills

We know from feedback that many of you value our weekly roundup of global education news. In our last one of 2021, we look at how major companies are stepping up in a big way to help young people find the skills they need for employment. A pledge driven by the Global Business Coalition for Education, an initiative of Theirworld, has been gathering support at the RewirEd 2021 Summit in Dubai this week.

We also cover a UN call for countries in South Asia to fully reopen their schools before the effect on children's learning becomes catastrophic.

💬 Quote of the week 💬

"Funding education for every single child on the planet by 2030 is attainable and practical during the pandemic recovery."

From the Theirworld Education Finance Playbook - a practical guide for governments, donors and philanthropists to fund quality, inclusive education for all by 2030.

Did you know? 🤔

60%

Almost 60% of refugee or displaced learners who were enrolled in school before the pandemic were not supported by any digital or home learning programme during school closures. Learn more

📖🎧 What we're listening to and reading this week

🧑‍🏫 How inspiring teachers can change the world, one student at a time. An episode of Sideways, the BBC podcast that explores the ideas that shape our lives with stories of seeing the world differently. Check it out

🇺🇸 Which American city's residents have the lowest average age? Which US city has the highest youth earnings? The answers - and many more - are in a new report by the Global Business Coalition for Education, as part of its Skills Friendly Cities initiative. Read more

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Thank you,

The Their News team