Environmental barriers in education for children with physical disabilities in bangladesh.

Abstract

The mission  of  state  government  in  Bangladesh  hasformulated  policies  over  the  years  for  children with  disabilities  in  order  to  help  them  to  enter  mainstream  society.  However,  despite  these  policies, children  with  disabilities  are  amongst  the  most  deprived  in  terms  of  access  to  schooling  and completion  of  elementary  education,  as  their  physical  environment  affecting  participation  in  home, school, and community. Knowledge of environmental barriers helps to develop solutions or strategies that  enable  participation.  This  study  assessed  the  environmental  barriers  perceived  by  parents  of school children with physical disabilities (PD, n = 03) in Bangladesh. Parents identified environmental barriers  by  structured  interview  using  the  Chinese  version  of  the  Child  and  Adolescent  Scale  of Environment  (CASE-C).  The  CASE-C  is  an  18-item  measure  of  the  impact  of  problems  with  physical, social  and    environmental  features.  Based  on  my  personal  experiences,  research  and  communication with  different  stakeholders  involved  in  the  field  of  education  for  children  with  disabilities  over  the last 15 years, this study explores the broader challenges in the current education system with respect to issues of quality of education of primary students with disabilities, lack of family resources, lack of assistance,  and  supports  outside  of  home,  inaccessible  physical  environment  e.g.  door  space  in school, ramp, inadequacy of transportation e.g. muddy road and assistive devices or equipment.Our findings  provide  evidence  of  environmental  barriers  that  inform  practice  and  policies  to  modify  the barriers and provide an accessible and inclusive environment for children with disability