Sectoral Policies and Initiatives in Primary and Secondary Education

The issue of access to primary and secondary education for persons with disabilities is at the core of Jordan’s policy documents and initiatives. The availability of special education programmes for persons with disabilities is addressed as well as the accessibility and adaptability of the mainstream school system. The main focus, however, is on making school infrastructures accessible for students with physical disabilities.

Law No. 31 grants students with physical disabilities the right to education in the public school system and requires public schools to restructure their facilities in order to make them accessible for students with physical disabilities. The National Strategy underlines the need to enable persons with disabilities to access education without discrimination within the regular educational institutions, or in special institutions for those who cannot be integrated. Regarding special institutions, it stresses, for example, the need to license and establish special education programmes in the private and voluntary sector. With regard to mainstream schools, the Strategy underlines that the accessibility of schools should be enhanced in order to facilitate the early integration of students with physical disabilities in the public school system. The Strategy realizes the lack of information and lists the following main priorities aimed at addressing the integration of persons with physical disabilities in public schools:

To conduct an inventory of accessible schools according to national building codes;
To design a plan aimed at habilitating inaccessible schools according to national building codes;
To release tenders for the adaptation of 100 schools in order to accommodate students with disabilities;
To appoint special education teachers to follow up on the school integration programme and follow up on students with physical disabilities.

Moreover, the National Strategy addresses the adaptability of schools by emphasizing on the improvement of the curricula in order to allow them to meet the needs of students with disabilities. It also underlines the need to train teachers.

Aside from these policy initiatives, several practical initiatives are reported to be underway to enhance the physical accessibility of some schools, including the following:

An initiative by the Ministry of Education: In cooperation with AHS, the schools in which students with physical disabilities are integrated are accommodated by installing a ramp and accommodating the bathrooms. The Ministry of Education does not keep record of the schools that have been accommodated.
The Madrasati Initiative: This royal initiative aims to renovate public schools in urgent need of repair and enhance the quality of the learning environment and tools in these schools. Madrasati, which works in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and the Royal Health Awareness Society (RHAS), requested listed schools to place ramps on entrances and enhance their bathrooms. Out of the list of approximately 90 schools, the Initiative enhanced the accessibility of 15 schools across the country.
An initiative by HCAPD: As the official umbrella organization for all matters relating to persons with disabilities, HCAPD piloted a project for the Ministry of Education whereby 10 schools in Amman were assigned for “environmental preparation” in order to become accessible and “friendly towards persons with physical disabilities” in terms of, among others, resources, physical and social environment, and staff.

In addition to these specific policies and initiatives, other general policy documents pay attention to the issue of education for persons with disabilities. Their approach to education agrees with the approach advocated by Law No. 31 and the National Disability Strategy. The Executive Programme for the National Agenda, for example, recalls the right to education for persons with special needs in a suitable environment and stresses the need to improve programmes that target students with special needs. Meanwhile, the Youth Strategy emphasizes the integration of persons with special needs into educational institutes; and the National Mine Action Plan considers the role of educational opportunities in empowering mine victims and facilitating their socio-economic reintegration.