ICEVI - International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment

More information on the progress of the EFA-VI campaign will be posted on ICEVI website www.icevi.org.

Palestine Becomes Part of the EFA-VI Global Campaign
Report from Bethlehem
A three-day long cross sector planning National Workshop on Inclusive Education for persons with Impaired Vision was held in Bethlehem from 13th to 15th July 2010. The goal of the workshop was on program for persons with visual impairment, as part of the Global Education for All Initiative.

The Global Education for All Initiative is led by UNESCO and meant to serve the Millennium Development Goals. As part of this program, the Bethlehem Arab Society for Rehabilitation (BASR), CBM and the International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI) organized a three day National Workshop in Bethlehem.
The purpose of the National Workshop was not just the goal of informing or sensitizing the community, but to actually develop a 5-year cross-sector national program for people with Visual Impairment in Palestine. The major stakeholders were identified and roles and responsibilities were defined and divided, which resulted in a concrete time- and action plan.
The importance of the National Workshop was proven by the fact it was organized under the auspices of both the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Social Affairs. The participants of the National Workshop were government representatives, NGOs, DPOs, persons with visual impairment as well as parents of children with visual impairment.
The Minister of Social Affairs Majida Al-Masri kicked off the programme with a speech setting out the goal of the program: inclusion and empowerment of the Visually Impaired. She made clear that the ministry is especially aiming at helping out the poorest among the Palestinian population.

The Deputy-Minister of Education Dr. Jihad Zakarneh declared that Inclusive Education is a principle which must be respected and promoted, and stressed the importance of genuine partnership with the various stakeholders / institutions. At the end of his speech, Dr. Zakarneh pointed out the importance of the adoption of national policies in education based on the following: The acknowledgement of the right to education for all, comprehensiveness and accessibility for all, coordination among all stakeholders concerned, flexibility and adaptability of the curriculum and related activities and the evaluation process as well as enhancing learners' creativity.
Larry Campbell, President ICEVI stressed that the Global Campaign on Education for All Children with Visual Impairment (EFA-VI) should become an integral part of the national EFA initiatives thereby contributing to increased enrollment of children with visual impairment in mainstream schools.
The organizers of the National Workshop stated that students with visual impairments need an educational system that meets the individual needs of ALL students, fosters independence, and is measured by the success of each individual in the school and community. Vision is fundamental to the learning process and is the primary basis upon which most traditional education strategies are based. Students who are visually impaired are most likely to succeed in educational systems where appropriate instruction and support services are provided in a full array of program options by qualified staff to address each student's unique educational needs.
ICEVI is glad that Palestine is becoming a focus country for the EFA-VI Campaign.

EFA-VI Workshop on Early Childhood Care and Education of Children with Vision Impairments and Other Disabilities (ECCE VI & MDVI)
Suva, FIJI, 5th July - 9th July 2010
Background of Early Intervention in Fiji:
Currently in Fiji there are community-based field workers with the Ministry of Health and the Fiji Society for the Blind who come into contact with children aged 0 - 6 years. It appears that services for children in this age group are not adequate, and early intervention support for young children and their families is not considered a high priority. The focus of screening, identification and intervention has mainly taken place in the school-age population due to limited knowledge and skills in the area of early intervention.
A research project conducted by Dr Ana Cama from Fiji strongly suggested that prevention and awareness were key areas to address in early intervention in Fiji. Much of Dr Cama's research showed that many of the incidences of vision impairment in young children could have been prevented and there are increasing numbers of children with vision impairment in addition to other disabilities.
The vision testing currently being used with young children in Fiji requires that children are able to match symbols. This puts a limitation on Fiji's capacity to identify vision impairment in children under the age of three years, including children with additional disabilities such as intellectual or physical impairment. In 2008, the Fiji EFA-VI (Education for All Children with Visual Impairment) National Task Force prioritized training in the identification of vision impairments at an earlier age so that children and families could benefit from early intervention.
Currently there appears to be only one early intervention centre based in Suva, which caters for children with a range of disabilities, including autism, and cerebral palsy. Children can attend this centre with their parents and receive an individualised educational program. The centre appears to be functioning really well and it would be wonderful to see more of these types of centres set up around the Fiji Islands.
Cultural beliefs in Fiji play a big part in the level of family access and participation in early identification and intervention programs for children with vision impairments, and will continue to create barriers to providing early intervention programs for children less than six years of age and their families. This is an area that the community-based rehabilitation staff (CRAs and CBR field workers) will need to continually work on, promoting and developing an awareness of vision impairments and other disabilities and the importance of appropriate early intervention.

Training :
The Suva training program took place from 5th to 9th July 2010 at the Fiji Society for the Blind. The content areas covered during the week were Human development, Research of low vision in Fiji, Assessment and Programming, Visual conditions, Strategies for teaching, Low vision Aids, Pre-Braille and Early Braille Literacy, and Communication. A combination of lecture, panel discussions, audiovisual, demonstration and interactive hands on sessions were used to deliver the material. The final day provided program participants with the opportunity to evaluate what they had learnt and how they would be able to put it into practice. The final day was also an opportunity to develop a priority list of future training and activities to help grow and develop early childhood care and intervention programs in Fiji.

Trainers/facilitators :

The training program was coordinated and delivered by five facilitators: Mrs. Barbara Farouk, Director, Fiji Society for the Blind, Mrs. Vilisi Salafabisi, Coordinator, CBR, Fiji Society for the Blind, Mrs. Mareselina Tabailalai, Senior Officer, Special Education, Ministry of Education, Mrs. Maraia Matakibau, Coordinator CRA programs, Fiji Ministry of Health, and Mrs. Harzita Hashim, Coordinator, Early Learning Program (VI), Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children.

Participants :

A total of 39 participants took part in the training program, consisting of the following personnel CBR field workers, CRAs, Teachers, Principals, Project Supervisors, Parents, Lecturers, Doctors and Support staff.

Equipment and Resources Supplied :
Handouts, Booklets, CD-ROMs & DVDs, on visual impairment and related topics were provided to the participants. A kit for conducting functional vision assessments and Low vision aid activity resources were also provided to participants.

Achievements :
All participants were extremely interested in information and could see the benefits of early intervention and the need to promote awareness of early identification. Participants showed a real interest in seeing how to work with the children - the video footage taken from Australia were an invaluable resource. The "Hands-on" sessions such as the making of tactile books were really worthwhile as participants were able to take resources away with them. All the participants were able to develop a greater understanding of early intervention services that workers and families could already tap into.

Recommendations :
Several recommendations such as conduct of separate training program for parents, conduct of hands-on workshops, strengthening primary eye care, capacity building programmes, inclusive education to be made as a compulsory part in the curriculum of teacher education, revision of teacher student ratio, and to develop publications on ECCE-VI were made by the participants at the end of the ECCE - VI training program.

EFA-VI Update