By providing access to education for persons with disability, the country would be ensuring that support towards their inclusion is sustainable and not tokenism.
The country needs to collect and analyse the data of persons with disability who have accessed and are currently in institutions of higher learning.
Every year on December 3 the world celebrates the International Day for Persons with Disabilities. The aim is to increase awareness on disability issues, mobilise support and catalyse action to promote their rights in conformity with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The global theme for this year is ‘leadership and participation of persons with disabilities toward an inclusive, accessible and sustainable post-Covid-19 world’. Just like all segments of the population, the Covid-19 pandemic has greatly affected persons with disability. Impacts on their health, their movement and their livelihoods have been witnessed across the globe.
The effect has been to exacerbate the challenges that persons with disabilities already face in society. Consequently, deliberate policy measures to respond to the challenges brought forth by the pandemic are necessary.
It is necessary that countries interrogate their policy and operational environment for the extent to which thet have facilitated inclusion of persons with disabilities.
In Kenya the national celebrations took place at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre. In addition, the University of Nairobi organised a three-day event that sought to showcase the efforts the institution had made to enhance inclusion of persons with disability.
As part of those events, and in line with the global theme, the institution sought to ask itself how to build on the experience of disability inclusion in higher education during the Covid-19 pandemic. Put differently, what policy measures are required to deepen the inclusion of persons with disability in the higher education sector?
Inclusion of persons with disability in the higher education sector is a legal obligation stemming from the Constitution and the Universities Act. In addition, it is a commitment under the Convention on Persons with Disabilities. Further, in 2018 Kenya co-hosted the Global Disability Summit that came up with several commitments geared towards realising the sustainable development goal of “leaving no one behind”. One of the areas that Kenya committed to at that summit was inclusive education.
It is universally recognised that education is an equaliser. By providing access to education for persons with disability, the country would be ensuring that support towards their inclusion is sustainable and not tokenism. Critical policy issues that require consideration include the cost of university education for persons with disability. Some of the greatest barriers are facilities and assistive devices.
It is important that the policy framework for funding factor in the facilitation required to give persons with disabilities meaningful access to all degrees of their choice. This will avoid money becoming a barrier.
Second is data. The country needs to collect and analyse the data of persons with disability who have accessed and are currently in institutions of higher learning. This data should be disaggregated according to gender and courses of study. The results of such a process should aid in decision making geared towards increasing both the numbers and diversity of courses that they get admitted to.
There are several policy measures that the country has put in place, including tax exemptions, access to procurement, employment quotas and retirement age. However, the progress realised in implementing these measures varies across the board. Monitoring the implementation and ensuring full compliance is critical for enhanced participation and inclusion of persons with disabilities.
Within the higher education space, Covid-19 not only threw challenges but also brought opportunities. Technology became a solution for continued learning during the pandemic. In its adoption, it became evident that not all forms of technology are friendly to persons with disabilities.
Thinking through this is necessary to ensure that in utilising technology to solve the problem of physical access to learning spaces such as classrooms we do not widen the digital divide for those who are visually impaired.
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