EUROPE/ITALY – NGO together for the rights of people with disabilities

Milan (Agenzia Fides) - In the world one billion people are disabled, 80% of them live in developing countries. Of these, 93 million are children, who in poorer countries have very little chance of access to schooling because of cultural barriers as well as the lack of adequate facilities and specialist teachers.
If they manage to go to school, children with disabilities are often separated from their peers and educated in special classes, thus aggravating the situation of exclusion in which they live already.
On the occasion of the International Day of Human Rights which is celebrated today, NGO CBM Italy presents the project of the Bethany inclusive school, because in the northeastern region of Shillong there was no school for children with visual impairment. Today the school is officially recognized by the Government of Meghalaya and by the Ministry of Education. In 2013, the school experienced a nearly equal number of children with disabilities and non-disabled children (125 with disabilities and able-bodied 114). This year, 58 students were admitted to regular higher education courses: 40 students with disabilities and 18 able-bodied students. In just one year, CBM supported 47 374 students with disabilities by promoting their inclusion in inclusive schools. In addition, the NGO assists 25 million people a year in the poorest countries of the world. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 10/12/2014)