AKIPRESS.COM - Education in Kyrgyzstan is not inclusive for persons with disabilities, Olivier De Schutter, the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, said.
Out of 32,000 children with disabilities in Kyrgyzstan, only 10,925 are receiving an education of any kind, and even when they do, it is often in segregated or specialized schools or through home-schooling.
Children living in psychoneurological institutes have no access to education at all, with staff assuming that they are “unfit for education.”
Specialized schools often deliver “certificates” rather than diplomas, effectively barring children with disabilities from accessing higher education, the UN Special Rapporteur said.
In the course of 12 days in Kyrgyzstan, the Special Rapporteur visited Bishkek, Osh, Naryn and Batken. He met with central and local government authorities, international organizations, civil society, and people in poverty in both rural and urban areas, from various ethnic groups.