Education for all
A M Ahad / Driknews
I am glad it is proposed to admit to school those children with special needs because of certain levels of autism etc but why are some schools allowed to reject children with the 'disability' of poverty? When visiting an excellent little NGO school in a slum area, on behalf of a donor, I discovered that only 20 out of the 160 children fitted the category of special needs covered by that NGO. I asked, “Why aren't the other 140 pupils in the local government primary school?” The answer was, “They don't want them!” Evidently, some parents of the not-so-poor make a fuss if their children are educated with the poor! I beg the Ministry of Education to train its management committees and employees to know how to explain to parents, sweetly and firmly, that schools have a constitutional and professional duty to admit ALL children and see they ALL get the best possible standards of education and proper behaviour from staff and other pupils. It is their moral obligation also to work, discreetly and devotedly, behind the scenes, to find ways of ensuring poorer children have uniforms, books etc. This is what good teachers do in all countries! How can any nation develop, if those climbing the ladder out of poverty are allowed to put their feet firmly on the heads of those following after them?
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