Voices of Parents about their Out of School Children with Disabilities

Afaf Manzoor, Abdul Hameed, Tanzila Nabeel

Abstract

In Pakistan, about six million children are out of school at primary level.30
percent of them are with disabilities. Such a huge number of children
create a gigantic challenge for the government to meet the target of 100%
school enrollment. A closer look at the levers of exclusion indicates that
there are economic, cultural and structural barriers to keep children out of
school. Unless these barriers are addressed, the dream of every child to be
in school cannot come true. Any educational plan that discount children
with disabilities will doom to fail. This study investigates the perceptions
of parents about the value of education. The purpose of the study was to
collect feedback from the prime stakeholders in their own context. 433
parents of children with disabilities were selected from two districts of
Punjab to document their voices about the educational exclusion. Data was
collected through the interview cum questionnaire. The results of the study
revealed that the majority of the parents were positive towards education
of their children. Lack of school readiness, distance from special schools
and poverty were reported as major barriers to education. It was argued
that inclusive education is the only way forward