Romish is a 10-year-old boy, who has a cerebral palsy. Last year he was enrolled into school but had to be home schooled due to the lack of accessibility at school. Sometimes his classmates visited him for a short time, and was also invited for the social events at school, but he was sad that he couldn't be with his peers, interact and learn with them every day.
His mother visited the school several times to talk to school authorities asking for assistance so that her boy could study at school with other students. The director of the school had also received some requests from parents to promote Inclusive Education in his school. He wanted to provide a barrier-free friendly environment for children with disabilities at school.
In the summer, our organisation received a request to build a ramp and an accessible toilet at this school to allow the school to accept children with disabilities so that they could socialise and study with their peers.
Our partners in Tajikistan responded to this request and have built a ramp and the accessible toilet. The ramp at school is beneficial not only for children with disability but also to elderly people and others in the school community members. When Romish came to school and walked on the ramp, He said: “I am so happy to be with my friend every day. I like reading and Art lessons when I am in class. Thank you for giving me this opportunity!”
An elderly teacher also expressed her appreciation and said: “I love teaching children! I have been working in this school for 10 years. This a real development and taking the consideration the needs of all in our school. It will help not only children with disability but also other school members to move around the school much easier!”
