The Education for All Children with Visual Impairment (EFA-VI) is a global campaign and program of the International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI), acting in partnership with the World Blind Union (WBU), to ensure that all girls and boys with blindness and low vision enjoy the right to education. The development of the EFA-VI Campaign can be analysed in terms of the following 4 stages:
Conceptualization Stage (2003 to 2006): When the campaign was conceived, Global Task Force formed, draft Business Plan developed and the Campaign launched at the 12th World Conference of ICEVI held in Kuala Lumpur in 2006.
Experimentation Phase (2007 to 2011):
When ICEVI introduced the campaign in 12 focus countries which resulted in the development of good practices that could be emulated in other countries.
Consolidation Phase (2012 – 2013):
Which is characterised by ICEVI doing a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis to determine the strengths and limitations of the campaign?
Expansion Phase (from 2014 onwards):
When ICEVI is expected to strengthen its regions to collaborate with international agencies, larger initiatives on Education For All, INGDOs, UN Bodies, etc., to strengthen the advocacy front and also actively work with the Governments, local NGOs, organisations of Blind people etc., to facilitate quality education for children with visual impairment.
The EFA-VI is being implemented in 24 participating countries including Bangladesh, Bolivia, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Guatemala, Ghana, Honduras, India, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nepal, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Paraguay, Palestine, Swaziland, Uganda and Vietnam. The December 2014 data from 18 countries reveal that 105,472 additional children with visual impairment have been enrolled in schools since the inception of the campaign. ICEVI acknowledges that the additional enrolment is also due to the proactive policies of local governments, lobbying by our international partners and involvement of the local DPOs and NGOs connected with the disability area in general and services for persons with visual impairment in particular.
The campaign has contributed to the additional enrolment of children with visual impairment in schools. The following table describes the country wise data on additional enrolment since inception of the programme.
S. No. |
Country | Students Enrolled from Initiation till 2014 |
---|---|---|
1 | Dominican Republic | 1702 |
2 | Ecuador | 3617 |
3 | El Salvador | 741 |
4 | Ethiopia | 14767 |
5 | Fiji | 20 |
6 | Guatemala | 8198 |
7 | Honduras | 794 |
8 | Mozambique | 676 |
9 | Nepal | 4819 |
10 | Nicaragua | 15432 |
11 | Pakistan | 1710 |
12 | Palestine | 3230 |
13 | Paraguay | 1420 |
14 | Uganda | 283 |
15 | Vietnam | 43112 |
16 | Kenya | 3635 |
17 | Burkina Faso | 415 |
18 | Ghana | 901 |
Total | 105472 |
Capacity Building Programmes were organized on various themes such as Low Vision, Early Detection and Assessment, Adapted Learning Materials, Abacus, Braille, Education of MDVI, Inclusive Education, Visual Stimulation, Orientation and Mobility, Child Protection Policies, Role of Parents in Education of Children with Visual Impairment, Activities of Daily Living etc. Screening of children was also conducted and optical devices were provided. The country wise details of the beneficiaries are given in the following table.
S. No. | Country | Students | Teachers | Parents |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bolivia | 435 | 64 | 21 |
2 | Dominican Republic | 645 | 1666 | 1464 |
3 | Ecuador | 12078 | 39033 | 22505 |
4 | El Salvador | 61 | 404 | 577 |
5 | Guatemala | 9161 | 394 | 636 |
6 | Honduras | 1682 | 1265 | 193 |
7 | Nicaragua | 367 | 473 | 2181 |
8 | Paraguay | 4286 | 2115 | 729 |
9 | Nepal | 81 | 104 | 0 |
10 | Pakistan | 200 | 253 | 215 |
11 | Bhutan | 0 | 16 | 0 |
12 | Sri Lanka | 0 | 2 | 0 |
13 | India | 0 | 245 | 0 |
14 | Palestine | 0 | 30 | 0 |
15 | Bangladesh | 0 | 152 | 0 |
16 | Vietnam | 0 | 10035 | 100 |
17 | Ethiopia | 0 | 50 | 60 |
18 | Ghana | 0 | 12 | 98 |
19 | Mozambique | 0 | 114 | 254 |
20 | Uganda | 45 | 21 | 0 |
21 | Swaziland | 0 | 1 | 0 |
22 | Kenya | 45 | 79 | 51 |
23 | Malawi | 37 | 11 | 26 |
24 | Burkina Faso | 0 | 0 | 3 |
25 | Philippines | 11 | 443 | 300 |
26 | Thailand | 240 | 2302 | 591 |
27 | Cambodia | 2109 | 263 | 0 |
650 Programmes | 31483 | 59547 | 30004 | |
Grand Total | 121034 |
In Ecuador, around 4 lakh school students were screened in 14 provinces and more than 22 thousand students were provided with needed optical devices. In summary, more than 650 programmes were conducted and around 1 lakh 20 thousand students, teachers and parents have been benefited from the EFA-VI global campaign. The campaign has demonstrated that education for all initiative will become a reality when children with disabilities in general and children with visual impairment in particular are included in the mainstream education system.
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Contact :
[email protected] - President, ICEVI
[email protected] - Executive Director, EFA-VI Global Campaign