25 July

The Seminar on Inclusive Education – Inclusion for Children with Disabilities was held at Mingalar Thiri Hotel in Nay Pyi Taw yesterday.

Union Minister for Education, Dr Myo Thein Gyi, first delivered a speech. He said the Department of Basic Education undertakes numerous tasks such as ensuring every citizen has access to education, including people living with disabilities.

Children with disabilities need support from relevant departments and organizations to have the same access to education, development, protection and social security as other children, said the Union Minister.

He said there are 1,281 students with disabilities attending basic education schools in Kachin State and Mandalay, Sagaing and Yangon regions for 2018-2019 academic year.

Of those students, the Union Minister said the Ministry of Education provides K5,000 as monthly education stipend for the 843 primary students with disabilities (K50,000 per year), K8,000 each to the 352 middle schoolers with disabilities (K80,000 per year), and K10,000 each to the 86 high schoolers with disabilities (K100,000 per year).

The Union Minister said 4 out of 24 visually impaired students, 2 out of 15 hearing impaired students, and 26 out of 111 physically impaired students passed the matriculation exams for 2019.
He said a vital component of implementing quality and inclusive education is ensuring all students are literate and capable of calculations by the third grade.

Next, Paul Edwards, UNICEF’s Deputy Representative, delivered remarks on the seminar. This was followed by a documentary photo with all attendees after which the seminar commenced. —MNA (Translated by Zaw Htet Oo)