UNSEEN and unheard, people with special needs are forced to spend lives in Pakistan depending on their family members and relatives. One may ask where and how did they all vanish from our streets, offices, markets and educational institutes?

The system conspired by inaction against these vulnerable sections of the society; systematically excluding them from social and work spaces. With no pedestrians, walkways, walk signals, zebra crossings, ramps and guides on the roads; staying inside the home is their only option. Going out independently is a privilege they simply cannot afford.

Let’s have a memory drill. When was the last time you watched a visually impaired person crossing a road alone in Karachi? A person in his wheelchair boarding on a bus in Lahore on its own? A public toilet for the handicapped in the ‘Blue area’ of Islamabad? A convenient parking spot reserved for people with special needs in any government office? A separate line in banks, utility stores, or even in the government hospitals? If you are still trying to recall; most probably you won’t! The government and the civil society have conveniently overlooked these people at every step of its development.

However, the cost of exclusion of persons with disabilities is tremendous for society. Without inclusive education, children with special needs are less likely to receive any education, less likely to be employed as adults, and have thinner chances of starting a family. Even when they are employed, they are likely to be self-employed or work in an informal sector- receiving a less reliable income. These factors add to their vulnerabilities and compel them to live in poverty- the poverty gap can rise to almost 20% in some cases. For example, after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the mortality rate among people with disabilities was twice that of the rest of the population.

Beyond the economic cost; not only these people are abstained from participating in the public discourse, but also the community cannot benefit from their ideas. Excluded from politics and key government positions they are unlikely to safeguard their interests in society.

Inclusive education is the first step the government needs to take to enhance the acceptability of people with special needs in society. Schools have a pertinent role to play.

The key factor in determining disability is not only the underlying medical condition or its extent but also the interaction between the functional limitation and the environment of the child. Schools can provide a conducive learning environment for children with special needs to enable them to participate in local schools. For instance, consider a child who uses her glasses for reading. Her functional limitation is small and is easily accommodated, however, if she drops out of school due to the unavailability of glasses it will gravely impact her life. Accessibility at an early age is the key.

The current schools, however, offer no respite as they are scarce, inaccessible and ill-equipped to cater to the needs of children with learning difficulties. A shift from a special education system to an inclusive system requires proper groundwork and infrastructure.

Merely shifting children with disabilities into regular classrooms without the proper support or preparation for teachers is not inclusion. Inclusion involves moving from a teacher-centered classroom to a child-centered classroom, with associated flexibility in pedagogy and assessment where the teacher facilitates the students to be more active and collaborative in their learning.

Inclusive education ensures more acceptability for the people with special needs in the society, have a better skill set, are part of social networks, and need reduced care for themselves. This leads to lesser spending on social protection schemes and poverty alleviation programs.

In a low-income setting like Pakistan inclusive education comes with great advantages. In Nepal, for example, there is some evidence that the returns to education are higher for children with disabilities. On average, just one additional year of schooling increased long-term economic growth by 0.58%. In China, one additional year of schooling for people with disabilities is estimated to lead to a wage increase of approximately 5% in rural areas and 8% in urban areas. 

Society must break down the barriers that prevent people with disabilities from fully participating and reaching their potential.