Jamily Albogachiyeva's storyToday atmosphere at the secondary school #10 in the Nazran District of the Republic of Ingushetia is rather festive. An opening ceremony of a class group for children with disabilities will be held shortly. An older student is carrying Jamily Albogachiyeva, a 5-year old girl carefully on his shoulder. She is happily ringing a little bell in her hand. She was entrusted with an honourable mission: to ring a school bell signaling the beginning of a new era for the disabled children at this school. Jamily is radiating happiness and coping with the task just great. But the eyes of all those present at this joyful ceremony are glistening with tears. Jamily can’t walk on her own as she has cerebral palsy since birth. That’s why the sight of this frail girl looking proudly and happily around leaves no one indifferent. The sound of the bell ringing means so much to such children as Jamily and their parents. It speaks of the opportunity for them to be no longer isolated from their community and receive education together with their peers. Similar classes are to be launched at five pilot schools in the Northern Caucasus under the project “Inclusive education for children with disabilities” implemented by the Ministries of Education of five North Caucasus republics with financial support from UNICEF. The first two classes already opened in Ingushetia and Daghestan to be followed by the Chechen Republic, Republic of North Ossetia-Alania and Kabardino-Balkaria. Jamily’s parents attending the opening ceremony at school feel very nervous and excited. “It was only the day before the school ceremony that Jamily was told she would ring the first bell. She could not fall asleep that night and kept asking me about the bell and what she should do with it. On the morning of the school ceremony, she got up at 6 a.m. and asked me to take her to school for a rehearsal. She was so happy, she could hardly wait for the moment when we would leave home for school”, said Madina, the girl’s mother. Madina and Kureish, the girl’s parents, are in their late 30s and their only dream is to give their daughter a chance to get on her feet and walk on her own. They have been looking for help everywhere. Kureish struck a deal with a local kindergarten saying he would be paying five times as much as other parents just to give his daughter a chance to attend the kindergarten with her peers. Such a high fee was justified because the kindergarten wasn’t fitted with any special devices that could facilitate the life of a child with cerebral palsy and because such a child required more time and care than other children, particularly so as Jamily couldn’t walk on her own. Jamily’s parents have no money needed to cover the cost of expensive treatment: Madina is a nurse and Kureish is a fireman. Besides Jamily, there are two more children in the family – four-year old twin brothers Mohammed and Akhmed. The latter also has a medical problem: he has a limp because of flat feet. When he turns five, he needs to have an operation. However, the parents’ efforts today are focused on Jamily. “Most of all, we are concerned about our daughter’s physical condition rather than the lack of money. We want her so much to be in a good mood”, the girl’s mother said. Kureish said that once, when Jamily saw a group of children with schoolbags, she asked him “Dad, when will I go to school? Where is my school bag?” “This was the most difficult moment in my life”, he said. “I just did not know what to say to my daughter. I couldn’t tell her that she would never be able to go to school, because there were no such schools in Ingushetia”. Kureish and Madina thought they would hire a tutor to give their daughter private lessons at home. “But how can you compare this with school classes, where Jamily would be surrounded by her peers and have a chance to interact with them, make friends and feel like a valuable member of the community!”, Madina exclaimed. Jamily’s parents couldn’t believe their luck when they heard that there would be set up a special class group for children with disabilities at a regular school. They could hardly wait till morning when they could go to school and get their girl enrolled in this class group. The girl’s twin brothers were also happy. They called on their neighbors knocking on their doors with the news “Now, our Jamily will also be going to school!” When the girl’s parents came to the school and saw a classroom where their daughter was expected to study, they were pleasantly surprised. Madina couldn’t conceal her admiration. There many families like the Albogachiyevs in the Northern Caucasus and Russia as a whole. They are faced with the same problems as Jamily and her parents. The example of this family clearly demonstrates the importance and urgency of inclusive education. The society should not be indifferent to pain and suffering of such families and inclusive education is a solution. Such schools work miracles for children with special needs.
|
