PANEL: THE ROLE OF PALNETWORK IN ENSURING THAT NO CHILD IS LEFT BEHIND Integrating disabilities into large-scale assessment of learning outcomes in Pakistan SEHAR SAEED, ASER PAKISTAN

BACKGROUND Disability, a cause and a consequence of poverty Children with disabilities face far greater barriers in terms of access to education Dearth of knowledge for those who are in schools and challenges being faced Issue remains fragmented in Pakistan No comprehensive legal policy

RTE Acts and Provisions for Special Education in Pakistan 3 provinces and the Federal Capital of Pakistan have passed Right to Free and Compulsory Education Acts Of these, the Federal, Sindh and Punjab Acts all address children with special needs and provisions for special education ITA in collaboration with professional lawyers has drafted Shadow Rules of Business for the Sindh, Punjab and Federal Acts. These rules further elaborate in detail procedures for provision of special education. ITA is currently advocating for a speedy notification of these Rules.

ASER Mobilizing partners & community

ASER casting a nationwide footprint-2015

INNOVATIONS IN ASER 2014 & 2015

In collaboration with our senior ASER Fellows at Cambridge, London and Oxford Universities, one separate sheet comprising of 7 questions on disability/health and functioning was developed. Disability / Health & Functioning Questionnaire was first conducted across 9 districts in 2014 as a pilot study. In 2015, the questionnaire was conducted across 36 rural districts of Punjab. What’s new in the tools DISABILITY QUESTIONNAIRE

Disability Questionnaire They are only meant to be indicative and a source of furthering future discussions and data collection efforts. Questions drew on the Washington Group Short Survey Questionnaire, with adaptations in language based on the UNICEF-MICS insights. The study was fraught with challenges and the results presented are no way generalizable. These tools piloted in a sample of surveyed households. Assess a child’s functioning in seven areas: sight, hearing, mobility, self-care, speech, memory and finally in their use of any aids such as spectacles, hearing and mobility aids etc.

Findings of 9 Districts Some rural and urban areas: Quetta Rural, Quetta Urban, Shikarpur Urban, Bajaur Agency Rural, Peshawar Urban, Lahore Rural, Lahore Urban, Multan Rural, Multan Urban. Almost 8% of the sample from which these data are drawn, report sight impairments ranging from mild to significant. The incidence of hearing, mobility, speech and memory are reported to be 5% among the sample on whom disability questions were administered.

ASER Punjab Sample Size

Findings of 36 rural districts of Punjab Additionally, drawing on field experiences of the previous year, the questions for 2015 were slightly modified to account for difficulties in translation. One of the biggest challenges faced last year was how the question was misinterpreted by some enumerators and hence it was translated.

Findings from Survey study Based on the analysis of approximately 60,000 children in 36 rural districts of Punjab, 1.15% of children were reported as having a moderate to severe difficulty in seeing, hearing, walking, caring, understanding or remembering. Of these the majority of children were reported to have difficulties in caring, (0.42%). A higher percentage of girls being reported as having moderate to severe difficulties in comparison to boys. Also 3.8% of children reported ‘mild difficulties’ in seeing, hearing, walking, caring, understanding or remembering. Majority of the children reported to have mild difficulties were in the category of caring (1.41%), followed by seeing (0.90%) and remembering (0.87%).

Findings from Survey study While 78% of children identified as not having any difficulty are currently enrolled in school, a similar percentage i.e. 75% of children reported to have some difficulty are currently enrolled in school too. The most notable difference is in the never enrolled category wherein 20% of children reported to have some difficulty are never enrolled, in contrast to 16% of children without any difficulties. Children reporting mild difficulties are more likely to be attending government schools (58% in comparison to 39% in private schools), a pattern which also holds for those without any reported difficulties. Interestingly, children reported to have moderate to severe difficulties are as likely to be enrolled in government schools (49%) as private schools (48%).

Conclusion PAL Network assessments in Pakistan, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda provide information on disability prevalence amongst children in the areas of physical, mental, visual, and hearing disabilities with Uwezo also having introduced visual acuity tests The generation of such statistics on disability plays a crucial role in monitoring equality of opportunity and accounting for achievements at the economic, social, political and cultural level. This information is also vital for identifying areas of intervention and for planning and implementation of policies and programmes which promote and protect the rights of persons with disabilities. Finally, capturing data in relation to persons with disabilities is a powerful way of developing a complete understanding of their status, which can become an advocacy tool and hold systems accountable for addressing the needs of all its citizens, irrespective of their ability status. The time for such action is now!

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