I.C.E.V.I.
REPORT ON THE REGIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE ICEVI EAST ASIA REGION, SHANGHAI, 25-27 JULY, 2001
Nandini Rawal, Secretary, ICEVI
The International Council for the Education of People with Visual Impairment(ICEVI) was set up in 1952 to promote the education of the blind at the global level. The ICEVI carries out its activities through its 8 regional offices. These are :
Africa
Asia
East Asia
Europe
Latin America
Middle East
North America-Caribbean
Pacific
Every Region has a regional Assembly once in every five years. The Assembly of the East Asia Region of the present Quinquennium 1997-2002 was held at Shanghai from 25-27 July, 2001. Grace Chan , the dynamic Chairperson of the Region went out of her way to ensure the success of the Assembly by her deft handling and generous hospitality.
The organizers and co-organizers of the Assembly were-
Organizers: Education Commission, Shanghai Municipal
People's Government
Co-organizers: East China Normal University, China
The Hong Kong Society for the Blind
A total of almost 300 delegates from all over China, Taiwan, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam remained present in what is perhaps the first and the largest such Assembly in the China region. The Assembly was organised at the prestigious Shanghai Municipal Library which has state of the art conference and audio visual facilities.
Prof. Zhang Min Sheng, Deputy Director, Education Commission was the Chairperson of the Inauguration ceremony and Mr. Zhou Mu Yau, Vice Mayor, Shanghai Municipal People's Government remained present, along with Mr. Li Tien Shun, Deputy Director General, Fundamental Education Branch, China Ministry of Education. On behalf of the ICEVI, Mr. Larry Campbell, President, I as the Secretary of the ICEVI and Ms. Mavis Campos, Deputy Chairperson, ICEVI East Asia Region remained present. In his keynote address Larry Campbell called upon participants to engage in an exercise of a self-reflection by looking at 6 critical questions that will in large measure determine whether qualitatively and quantitatively we are able to improve our current services and effectively reach out to the majority of blind and low vision children who still have no access to formal or non-formal education.
Do we begin early enough?
Do we use all available programs for the children?
Do we encourage children to use their vision?
Do we value children with multiple disability?
Do we encourage new technology?
Do we prepare our children for world work?
There were a total of 8 Sub-themes and 8 Concurrent Sessions on Day-1and 12 on the second day. The topics for the Sub-themes were as under:
The Psychology of Visually Impaired Children and Pre-school Education
Advanced Technology in Support of Learning
The Professional Development for Teachers
The Theory and Practice of Education for the Visually Impaired
Continued Education & Vocational Education
Developments in inclusive Education for the Visually Impaired
The Education of Multiply-Handicapped Blind Children
Low Vision Rehabilitation
There was a visit to the Shanghai School for the Blind which is almost one hundred years old. It was very heartening to see the involvement of the government in Integrated Education and their emphasis on upgrading the education levels and teacher training.
I presented a Paper in the Concurrent Session of Sub-theme III on 26 July, 2001 on the Professional Development for Teachers. The Topic of my Paper was " Human Initiatives Work Where Resources Are Scarce --Professional Development In Education". The Paper was very well received and there were a great number of questions on how to develop teachers, how their skills should be upgraded and how one can monitor progress of education. I also chaired a Session on the same day on Sub-Theme V on the topic, " Continued Education and Vocational Education".
The delegates were very enthusiastic and it was noted that attendance was full in all Sessions. The Conference Organizers had also organized a sight seeing visit to the Pearl Orient Tower and Yuan Gardens. A farewell lunch at Tian Tian Garden Restaurant on 27th July'01. The organizers were very hospitable, courteous and friendly and went out of their way to make people feel at home in China.
Learning Value:
The Assembly provided a very valuable opportunity to delegates to meet one another and exchange information and experiences. I realised that in India we have a great deal of experience and expertise which can be exchanged with delegates particularly from China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Taiwan. They need training courses of varying duration's in the following topics
Practice of Integrated Education (I.E)
Monitoring and control in I.E.
Development of various cadres of personnel in I.E.
Community involvement and development of leaders for sustainability of I.E.
Adaptation and development of indigenous methods
Social animator training
Even the Chinese authorities had problems in classroom management, role of Itinerant Teacher and Class Teacher and other such practical problems associated with smooth implementation. Provision of assistive devices and more importantly use of such devices also seemed an uphill task to them.
If the ICEVI and INGOs like the CBM, Sight Savers, Dark & Light Blind Care could come together and formulate such a need and arrange for such courses, it would be very enriching to the recipient countries.
I thank the CBM for enabling me to participate in this Assembly.
A CD Rom of Conference presentation is being prepared and those materials will soon be available on the East Asia page of the ICEVI Website.