The Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (Education Department) implemented, on March 6, 2024 at its headquarters in Tunis, a Study Day on “Education and integration in educational settings for the blind in the Arab countries”.
In his opening remarks, H.E. Dr. Mohamed Ould Amar, Director-General of ALECSO, welcomed Dr. Walid Zidi, former Minister of Culture, and all speakers and participants in the Study Day. He stressed that ALECSO is fully aware of the situation of the blind, and the disabled in general, in the Arab countries, despite the efforts exerted to improve their conditions at the legislative, social, economic and cultural levels. He underlined the fact that the blind still encounter many difficulties in all fields, including in education, that prevent them from achieving full integration into their social environment, and curb their ability to perform their work as effectively as possible. These difficulties, he added, increase in times of emergency and crisis, such as wars, displacement, and refugee situations.
The Director-General underlined the duty and responsibility of all of us to intensify efforts in order to develop practical solutions that can help the blind in the Arab countries achieve full integration and effectively fulfill their roles within their societies. He indicated, in this regard, that ALECSO is keen to contribute to developing policies and supporting programs designed for the blind, as well as to leverage modern technologies to produce knowledge and ensure access to it by the blind, improve educational opportunities offered to them by developing approaches, methodologies, and programs, enhance their access to the labor market, and raise awareness, among decision- and policy-makers and all components of society, of the significant role of the blind in promoting the development and advancement of their country. He highlighted, in this regard, the significance of the Tunisian experience in terms of social integration of the blind.
The Study Day came out with a set of recommendations, including in particular :
- Launching the ALECSO laboratory to develop education for the blind, as part of the vision for transforming education into a more equitable and inclusive quality education for all by 2030;
- Organizing an annual Arab educational conference on ways of improving education for the blind;
- Building an Arab strategic vision to develop education for the blind;
- Implementing specific training programs for teachers of the blind;
- Facilitating the access of blind people to the digital world.
