The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

Physically challenged people would get opportunity to participate in every sphere of life, if mental disability of common people could be removed. This was said yesterday at a roundtable in the city.

Action on Disability and Development (ADD) organised the roundtable on "Right to Education for Students with Disabilities: Barriers and Moving Forward to Inclusion into Mainstream" at Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban Conference Hall of the University of Dhaka (DU).

Prof SMA Faiz, Vice-Chancellor of DU, Prof Dr AFM Yusuf Haider, Pro-VC of DU, Prof Sirajul Islam Chowdhury, Educationalist, Prof Md Muinuddin Hossain, VC of ASA University, Prof M Anower Hossain, Dean of Faculty of Biological Science of DU Naimul Islam Khan, Editor of the Daily Amader Samoy, and Anisul Haque Deputy Editor of the Daily Prothom Alo addressed the programme.

Mosharraf Hossain, Country Director of ADD moderated the programme. Mozammel Haque, Advocacy Coordinator of ADD presented the Keynote papers.

SMA Faiz said civil society would be formed if state, educational institutions and corporate world perform their responsibility for the welfare of physically challenged people well.

Addressing the attending physically challenged students of DU he said, "It will be easier to solve any problems if you inform it personally."

SMA Faiz also assured a student of full scholarship on the spot and asked her to submit necessary documents in this regard.

He also said the authority of DU would set up lift and ramp at different buildings to lessen the sufferings of the students.

Sirajul Islam Chowdhury said our society was discriminatory which is patronised by the state. "We want horizontal development like the flow of the river rather than a vertical development", he said while referring to horizontal development, which includes physically challenged people.

Anower Hossain said the increase of quota for physically challenged students in the University would not help improve them until their participation in primary, secondary and higher secondary level could be ensured.

Naimul Islam Khan said the micro consciousness and sympathy toward physically challenged people would develop their conditions.

Anisul Haque said that we could be disabled at any time therefore we should change our mentality towards them and stretch out our helping hand to them.

Mozammel Haque demanded facilities of lift, ramp, reserve seat, increase of per cent of quota in admission test, scholarship, and ground floor as exam hall for the physically challenged students in his keynote speech.

Among others 61 physically challenged students participated in the programme. A few of them narrated their bitter experience of hall life.