Learning Lessons from Experience: good practice case studies

Inclusive EducationTitle : Identification and referral of the Children with disabilities in Burkina Faso and Algeria

Country: Burkina Faso and Algeria

Specific Topic Area : Identification, referral and monitoring Strategies

Presented by: Estelle KOUDOUGOU, Head of IE Project-Burkina Rahima CHEHIH, Head of IE Project AlgeriaDate : May 2013

In Burkina Faso: Context of decentralization transfer of the

educational skills and resources to the municipalities Adoption of the law 012 on the promotion and

protection of the rights of the persons with disabilities in 2010

Adoption of the baseline framework document on the 2012-2021 education policy including the IE

Creation of municipal pluridisciplinary committees to better involve and empower the elected officials

Renewal of the town councils during the local elections of December 2012

Need to join forces and work in synergy towards IE at the communal level

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In Algeria:2003: beginning of HI’s interventions2007 to 2009, project on the rights of CWDsMay 2009:ratification of the UNCRPDJanuary 2010: comprehensive initiative with 3 partner

associationsDecember 2010: local diagnostic/barriers and enabling

factors of the schooling of CWDs in mainstream schools2011-2012: 7 innovative initiatives in terms of IE/ creation

of inclusive mechanisms (SNA, multidisciplinary itinerant teams…)

2012: improved accessibility of 3 pilot schools

Set of approaches used to register the children with disabilities, particularly from their families and to provide them with referral in an appropriate facility to respond their rights and for the delivery of adapted effective services.

Guidance must consider both the ability and disability of the child, his/her age, the type of his/her deficiency, the distance between his/her home and the host structure or school in order to better meet his/her specific educational needs. Therefore the child’s awakening and learning processes are subject to a regular monitoring on the basis of well-developed tools.

What do the referral, guidance and monitoring strategies mean?

In Burkina Faso Illiteracy among the community workers in charge of the identification

(difficulties in filling out the identification forms) Persistence of some parents in their negative perceptions of disability Poor reputation of some elected officials in their own constituencies

because of unkept political promises Difficulties to delineate the identification zone (some neighbourhoods or

villages are located in-between 2 primary education districts).

In Algeria The lack of statistical data on the schoolchildren with disabilities or

children at school age The lack of trained teachers The poor adaption of the teaching aids and school curricula Difficulties to formalize the pilot structures created by the associations

In Burkina FasoCreation and support of municipal committeesTransfer of expertise from HI to the municipalities, strong

involvement of the elected officials, parents, and DPOs in the implementation of the inclusive education system, and the empowerment of the municipalities during the identification-guidance-registration stage .

Community workers are trained to use the identification tools and the mayors utilise their usual communication channels for the registration of the children.

Measures taken to overcome the obstacles-Constitution of two-person teams composed of a literate

member and an illiterate one for the identification per village/neighbourhood

-Monitoring /supervision of the identification

In Algeria Local Diagnosis Proposal of a training programme for the Support

Teaching Assistant (STA) Analysis of the quality and monitoring of the interventions Raising the awareness of the institutions interested in IEMeasures taken to overcome the obstacles Feedback of the local diagnosis outcomes to the local

institutional officials + awareness and advocacy campaigns

Training of trainers Training of STA Creation of a local dialogue committee composed of all

the relevant institutional and community stakeholders.

In Burkina Springboard for providing

parents with important information about the disability and schooling

Better involvement of the community workers who become increasingly autonomous

Interaction among the different stakeholders at the local level: Mayor-Inspector-social welfare-DPOs-parents-health services

In Algeria Implementation of the STA

mechanism ( 22 persons trained and supported by an official appointed by the Department of Education)

Establishment of an cross-cutting dynamics (Department of Education, Social welfare, Associations, Parents…) to improve the schooling of the CWDs

In BurkinaSignificant increase and retention in the number of the schoolchildren with disabilities in the project area.In AlgeriaImpact on the adaptation of the teachers’ methods: teamwork with other relevant stakeholders.

Adapt the mechanism to the current policy management context

Involve the community workers Allow more time to training in the filling

out of the identification tools Control the mechanism by organizing an

assessment with the community workers Capitalize on the good practice

The experience of the community identification of disabled children in Burkina Faso and their support through the “Support teaching Assistant" (STA) mechanism in Algeria is telling of the extent which the intervention of a multidisciplinary team is important. The success of the identification, guidance, and educational monitoring process, as well as all the educational activities require the commitment and involvement of all. The sustainability of the identification mechanism remains the major challenge of both the community approach and the SNA.