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Health Condition of Children at Special Schools is Alarming

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  • Health Condition of Children at Special Schools is Alarming

    A1 Plus | 14:48:08 | 18-11-2004 | Social |

    HEALTH CONDITION OF CHILDREN AT SPECIAL SCHOOLS IS ALARMING

    Children with special needs placed at special/boarding schools in
    Yerevan face myriad health and development problems, according to the
    Assessment of Health Condition of Children with Special Education Needs
    conducted upon the request from the Ministry of Education and Science of
    the Republic of Armenia by the Children's Health Care Association with
    UNICEF's support.

    The study which provides an in depth analysis of health and development
    problems of children was carried out at Nubarashen No. 1 and 11 schools
    for children with mental retardation, school No. 9 for children with
    hearing impairments and Nubarashen No. 18 special school for children
    with behavioral problems.

    The objective of the study was to assess health condition of children,
    identify whether children are placed in a proper special school and meet
    new admission criteria recently adopted by the Ministry of Education and
    Science.

    Out of 514 children registered in the surveyed schools, only 391 (76%)
    were available for screening. Over 60% of children were from Yerevan,
    while the rest were from neighboring regions.

    The screening revealed that along with children with special educational
    needs, schools also accepted their siblings without such needs solely on
    the basis that they belonged to the same socially vulnerable families.
    On the average for 16% (62 children) of the surveyed children the
    schools that they were placed in were not appropriate. However, the
    reintegration of those children into mainstream education is already
    impossible.

    According to the study findings, poverty (50% of children) and family
    problems (62 % in Nubarashen No. 18 special school) are major causes for
    placement of children in a special school.

    Many of the children suffer from chronic diseases, including cases which
    require immediate medical intervention. In particular, up to 17% of the
    surveyed children have hearing problems caused by chronic tonsillitis
    and otitis. In many cases, however, school administrations were not able
    to provide relevant medical assistance to the children due to the lack
    of qualified medical personnel and absence of legal power to authorize
    specialized medical intervention.

    In addition, the study indicates that out of 391 children 28 (7%) were
    subjected to physical violence within their families, whereas 9 children
    (2%) were subjected to violence at the schools.

    The assessment once again brings up the importance of regular medical
    checkups of all children in special schools as well as the need to
    revise curriculum in those institutions. Moreover, the development of
    the state policy on early identification of childhood disability and
    early intervention will lead to timely integration of children with
    disabilities into the society, thus preventing many children from being
    placed in special schools.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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