By some estimates, only 3% of refugee children in Jordan with disabilities are in school
ADVERTISEMENTIt is estimated that 79% of the Jordanian children with disabilities are out of school. The figures become uncertain, however, when it comes to the refugee population. Some sources say that there are up to 15,000 refugee children with disabilities in Jordan and out of these, only 3% attend school. According to Maisa Asmar, Deputy Program Manager at the global organisation Mercy Corps, offering quality education to children with disabilities pays the country back.
Asmar told Euronews: "Inclusive education is extremely important because it provides a sense of social justice for families of persons with disabilities. They feel that they can access a basic right just as any other family that doesn’t have a child with disabilities. This even improves social stability as well. It has been proven by other countries that the lack of inclusive education, the lack of education for a person with disabilities, deprives them of the right to access the labour market, for example, and contributes to the overall GDP of the country. Missing out on that does affect the general economy of any country and actually it would affect the economy of Jordan. Therefore, inclusive education is very important and very beneficial not just for children, not just for their families, but for the entire country."