CONFERENCE ICEVI STRUCTURAL
MODIFICATIONS OF THE EDUCATIVE SYSTEM OF THE PEOPLE WITH VISUAL DISABILITY:
ECONOMICAL PERSPECTIVE
By Econ. Lourdes
Romero Moon.
Arequipa - Peru
Working in the National Council of Integration
of the Person with Disability of Peru, I had opportunity to talk with the
President of the Organism and I took the freedom to suggest every day would
have to go to the personnel, although they were only five minutes of a
substantial dialogue, until the moment arrived ':
Of the dialogue, there was something in special that hit to me.
... the economists have a debt with the group of disables. The doctors have
extraordinary contributions as far as rehabilitation; the pedagogue on the
special and inclusive education; and thus, the psychologists, lawyers,
architects; but, from the economy it lacks himself a proposal of productive
insertion, from integration to the market, the socioeconomic development, not
only like individuals but like social group..... From that time, the permanent
support to the people with disability is not for me pushes momentary, is
rather, a life compromise.
II.EDUCATION And ECONOMIC: EXIGENCIES OF
APPROACHES
1. A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
The first years of my primary formation I
attended them in a conventional school (for people without disability), because
my parents did not know the existence of a Special School; there my teachers
planned themselves to teach to me with wool stuck on a fine cardboard, the
different numerical characters and from text, so that he took note from the
class dictation, in tint and studied with my friends. Being my yield similar to
the one of the average.
Towards 3rd. year of primary, already they transferred me to
Special the Educative Center our Lady Of the Pillar, where I learned the
braille, eliminating completely of my tools the use of the tint writing; in
that Center I concluded my secondary formation.
Almost from the beginning, I can see that the programs trimmed the
curricular goals of other schools, because when talked with my cousins, they
being of my age, knew many things that I not even imagined that they existed.
Also, much emphasis occurred to the weave by hand, as much so the hours of
academic education were from the 8:00 to the 13:45 and, every day we attended
the weave factory (only option of labor formation for women), from the 14:45 to
the 17:45; the time to develop the little tasks that left the teachers us
limited the remaining hours, shared with the own games of the age.
With these complaisant educative conditions, the evaluation of my
yield, showed qualifying very high, as much so when I concluded 5th
Year of secondary, I received a
special decoration as the award of academic excelence, like recognition
to my permanent dedication. This distinction, allowed me to accede to a simple
evaluation that it became to all the first positions of the conventional
schools, for the free enter the university. This way, was not difficult to me to arrive at the Faculty from Economic
- Administratives Sciences from the Catholic
University Santa Maria of Arequipa, Peru.
As I said previously, to enter the University for me was quite
simple; the problems came when I was inside. First, one assumed at least that
she was an excellent student, therefore they indicated diplomas to it of first
position annual. According to memory, it was the initial class of Mathematical
I in the Catholic University, was begun with logic circuits, in a schematic
analysis and also of symbols. To my 15 years old, with the typical naivete and
little tools of socialization that it gave me, my permanence in a Center of
Special Education, did not stop to turn around towards all side to listen what
my classmates said on the subject and found that all took note and affirm with
the head, like that reviews the things. Soon polinomics equations came from 5th
degree and also, it listened that all seemed to review the subject.
In that time, when it finished leaving an artificial world that
gave insufficient opportunities me of interaction with people without disability,
did not know to disguise my feelings and, my self-esteem saw by grounds in that
first class of Mathematical: How a student with qualifying stops could be
repeating frequently God mine, what thing is this -, What I do here< ' -, in
what moment it was happened to me to take this option -, Why I did not decide
by a conventional career for blind people, like Law, Education or Psychology...
The certain thing is that in this my first contact, I left the
University with tears in the eyes, of course, agravated by the compassionates
attitudes of my classmates who did not see me like a student, but as a victim
of the destiny. In the way to house, the tears were dried and when I arrived I
greeted my family and I did not want to share my defeat to them, because
perhaps we were not sufficiently friends to throw to me to cry to seas in the
shoulder of some of them.
Good, I went running to the library that we had in the third floor
(solitary atmosphere) and, after crying - no longer memory if or little enough
-, I said myself to same me that already it was embarked in the career of
Economist and, the only solution possible was to row and, that solution was to
row of good to better...
I promised myself that my time was going to be dedicated exclusive and primarily to
study, which meant that elementary necessities like sleeping, eating or to take
a walk, completely became secondary and relative.
The problems not only I found them in Mathematics, but in the
different courses between which also it is Spanish Language (it was necessary
to read and to make works kilometric and, if it decided to record in cassettes,
when it finished, the professor were in
another subject or another book, without leaving time me to at least listen to
the cassettes that had recorded)...
All it, motivated to me to have a routine of studies that implied
to rise to 2:00 of the dawn and to prolong the study from that hour to having
breakfast between the 7:30 to 7:45; soon more study; to have lunch from 13:30
to 14:00 hours, to continue studying and to get ready for the University to
16:00 hours, to be right to 17:00 hours beginning classes in the Faculty...
That routine, was infallible, without concerning the circumstances and until
Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, when no longer it went to the Faculty, it
continued studying.
The dedication to the study, rendered its fruits and when the
first examination came from Mathematics: it did not have any aid compensatory,
does not stop to read, but to write, it knew the characters in tint...
In short, memory that the Professor, began to call list and the
notes did not surpass 08 in a scale of 20 and, still worse, they were
negative..., and arrived at my last name, I raised the hand timidly and the
professor requested to me to put me of foot and, he said to all the students:
she is his classmate? they responded with their customary voice of pity: yes.
My note was 19...., then, finished the expressions , poor little thing. and,
from they began there to say to me: friend, we studied?..
2. THE COLLECTIVE REALITY
As opposed to the reviewed personal experience,
as well as of those who are in the task of promoting the labor insertion of the
blind people ones, we stated that there are serious limitations in the
educative scheme, since it is common to observe attitudes and own labor
aptitudes of a dependency culture, actual presence and reluctance to the
change, specially by ignorance of those means of the market that look for the
high competitiveness to obtain originating familiar income of the work and not
of programs of social aid.
The present population of people with visual disability ,
economically active, requires mainly, to be including in a process of integral
reconversion. In some places one comes summoning and arranging the support from
different Public Institutions specialized that they will offer resources human,
financial, logistic and technical, to give to a better sustenance to the
programs of integral qualification for the blind and people of different
limitations in general. Many come working aspects like:
· physical and psychological Rehabilitation
· Education and culture
· Formation for the work and
· labor Reconversion
The idea is to have a competitive labor supply, which it can be
put in show window and, that responds to the expectations that we pruned to
generate with the intense campaigns of sensibility to the public institutions,
to the emprise one and to the colectivity in general.
III. THE EDUCATION AND THE CHALLENGES OF THE PRODUCTIVE
INSERTION
1. STRUCTURAL LIMITS OF THE EDUCATIVE SYSTEM OF THE
PEOPLE WITH VISUAL DISABILITY
The diverse deficiencies that we experimented
still more in our formation, which they become for social and cultural
integration more well-known, when the bases for a suitable productive insertion
practically is considered like own subject of the qualification or professional
rehabilitation - other people's to the education -, situation that limits to us
of resources and that actually they push, to not few people, towards the
presence; for that reason, it not only corresponds to a personal attitude but
to the collective conscience of the associations, assuming an active roll in
the reformulation of the educative schemes.
1. THE ECONOMY AND ASPECTS OF THE PRODUCTIVE
INSERTION OF THE PEOPLE WITH VISUAL DISABILITY
Trying to have a reference frame in which to
locate the insertion productive, we outlined three aspects to consider:
· To effect to manage the productive insertion of the person with
disability and in order to design the best strategies than allows us to fulfill
an active roll in the market, will be necessary to know competitive and
comparative the advantages, in contrast to the behavior of the different
economic agents.
· Based on the knowledge of before referred advantages, will be
able to be determined the limits and potentialities of productive insertion and
development of the person with disability, aspects which will have to affect
the integral programs of the services of physical and psychological
rehabilitation, education and culture, formation for the work and labor
reconversion.
· Since the markets respond to the stimuli of cohesion agents,
associative models must be promoted that better adapt to their expectations and
requirements, for which it will be necessary to redefine the objectives and
strategies of the association of people with visual disability.
IV. THE EDUCATIVE PERSPECTIVE OF THE ECONOMY
AND OBJECTIVES
From the economy, it is possible to raise some
questions to evaluate the structure of our educative systems for people with visual
disability. Thus, he would be advisable to review as we are responding, among
others, to the following objectives:
1. Academic Base No-Restrictive
If we left from the consideration that the blind
person has the same intellectual abilities like those who do not have
blindness, the education would have to exclusively look for to provide elements
of compensation to the student and not to create a different world to him; for
such reason, I believe that the early inclusion from the student to conventional
schools, is healthful, being able to none put only within reach of the student
tending support to the solution of the problems that could be
presented/displayed to him, but in a paternal or protectionistic sense, but
exclusively to way of pursuit in the optimization of compensation alternatives.
I want to resort for an example of simplest, but I believe that
valid: a boy in poverty situation, does not experience in his academic
formation curricular cuts, but that the elements of support of that one their
formation, tend to be characterized by the accessibility to resources that has
the family of him. One looks for compensation elements that offer to similars
access opportunities him that those that has those students of average and high
socioeconomic levels. Thus, a boy in poverty access to the educative material,
buying books of second use, but finally, acquires knowledge similar to those of
a boy of high socioeconomic layer and, in a scholastic aid, it is possible
inclusively that the boy in poverty situation, still emphasizes on the other
student.
Of analogous way, none who have visual disability, they would have
to experience curricular cuts at the time of its or basic initial, primary
formation academic, because it reduces opportunities to us of total
integration.
In this context, it could be redefined objective, but none trim
the academic objectives, reducing competitiveness to educating; however, the
idea is to offer to the blind person or deficient line of vision, the same
abilities that educating without disability, optimizing a time and additional
effort that is required to obtain it.
1. The Times of answer
The individualized education that requires the
students with blindness, none must foment its slowness in the processes,
because the only thing that persecutes this conception, is to offer the
opportunity them to replace with the tact, what they cannot learn from the
slate or the joint demonstration.
The academic exigencies would still have to be greater, because
the formation base would have to look for speed in the inherent workings, so
that store to the use of response times similar to the employees by children of
conventional schools. Highly competitive people would have to form, still more
if we know that to a blind person she takes greater time him to make the same
things that to those who do not have visual disability.
From the perspective of the economy we observed that the
necessities of productive insertion and the reality of a highly competitive
market demand speed, so that the education must prepare us to obtain response
times similar to the people nondisability.
1. The Visual Resources Of The Surroundings
The person with disability, during the different
phases from her life, permanently must resort to visual support: in order to read
material printed in tint of diverse nature, to look for something misled, to
approach the bus, to cross sidewalks, to locate addresses or offices, to find
to a person between the multitude, in aim. Therefore, their formation and
education, must put special emphasis in the promotion and involution of their
abilities to catch of the people of their surroundings, the visual support that
it requires.
The eye is an invaluable resource. If the people we had wings we
would not need the airplane to fly, this "fictitious disability", of
not being able to fly, has a high economic cost, only the aeronautics industry
moves thousands of million dollars to the year. How much costs the resource of
the eye? The daily life teaches to us that to be able to make an activity we
requested the aid of a relative or the friends, nevertheless is possible to
harness these resources still more and, therefore the magnitude of its economic
impact.
To count on visual support, none must mean use of exclusively
remunerated human resources, but that must offer the necessary tools, so that
the person with blindness knows to catch the abundant visual resources that
there are in its surroundings and the colectivity in general. Thus, the blind
person must count on elements that allow him to catch friendships or, the
interest of his classmates that do not have visual disability, to work with him
and, of step, to put to disposition his ground visual aid to him.
The education must prepare us to detect visual resources of the
surroundings, with techniques of mutual aid or I interest shared. How much it
costs to have a person who reads a book to us? What amount of hours man.
For example, we know that
between the curricular exigencies, is there the preparation of allocations and,
which the person with blindness has a competitive advantage, as is its speed to
type, because from early age him standard types (to differentiates from the
pupils without visual disability), it of course, if one is used suitably, can
be an element of pick up of ground visual aid, because the blind student, can
negotiate with his classmates: you look for the material and you read me it and
I, can quickly take note from whichever dictate to me in the computer; if we
want to catch aid, is necessary to arouse the interest.
Something truely valuable, will be to mainly foment in the person
with blindness a great human quality that allows him to have facility to make
friends, changing the tradition to attract the people being looked for its
compassion, why to resort to it, if other great qualities of the blind person
can be exploded, who from the beginning, can be constituted in sensibility
elements that to future promote it like a valuable human resource that there is
to catch for the sake of contributing to an optimal bussines performance.
4. The Formation by Demand
I agree totally with those who affirm that with
the academic education, she must be prepared so to the people with visual
disability of way that they can be inserted labor, with promptitude and to
finance of that way its superior formation or its own necessities and those of
its family, because unlike the developed countries, in our means the inherent
problem to the disability, is gone deep by the poverty.
Nevertheless, I differ in which to this group, like a people with
other disabilities, for does not occur them to a technical formation demand,
but por supply. and, at the time of the productive insertion, we found that
they are not enabled in agreement with the requirements of the market and, all
the investment of time, effort and financial and technical resources, do not
serve to give real and not even partial solution their problematic one.
I still consider that all center of education must count on an
area of formation for the work and, more good, must count on advising
specialized in the matter, to effect to permanently reorient the options of
qualification that are distributed, with a futurist vision, because at the time
of the labor insertion one is due to be able to give to the employers or the
independent work or creation of little bussiness, solutions and none,
unsalvable problems.
5. Gremial Factor
The Associationism, like collective expression
of the people with disability,it can generate a force of will and capacity of
extraordinary overcoming, or also it can create an image of division and
conflict. To stimulate the development of an image based on values, is not only
the culture of a resource for the productive insertion but for the complexity
of the same life. To affirm to the sense of overcoming and the force of will,
can be defining the social identity of the people with visual disability
From the perspective of the economy, the education must prepare us
to cultivate values and image like strategic resources that they allow to
better levels of confidence and social recognition, considering that it will
have a powerful impact in the market. Thus, the agglutinates characteristics
that the unions fulfill, must be valued like partners in the formation
processes.
V. THE ICEVI AND INNOVATING THE EDUCATIVE ADVENTURE AND MULTIDISCIPLINARY
In the City of Arequipa, the people with
blindness we have understood the importance of unifying to obtain profits to us
to all level and, specially those that talk about to the improvement of the
quality of life of all and each one of the blind of the Region.
In this sense, in occasion in that Special the Educative Center
and of Rehabilitation for Blind Our Lady Of the Pillar, crosses by a propitious
conjuncture for implementation of radical changes, since the institution that
for more than fifty years became position of the education of the blind,
apparently would retire of this work by personnel deficiency. Thus, taking the
conduction from the Center Our Lady Of the Pillar, we will be assuming a
commitment to seat solid bases for the total inclusion of the future
generations.
Already, to finalize, I consider indispensable that in the
education of the people with blindness and visual deficiencies, take part
different professionals where each one, from its competition, contributes to
formulate an integral and futurist educative system.
For that reason, motivated by the dramatic situation that we tried
to change, I am thankful to the ICEVI in its XI World-wide Conference, by this
opportunity to participate in the necessity to submerge to us together in the
multidisciplinary adventure educative that I propose.
Please send comments or questions to webmaster@icevi.org.