Radik Kutluev is now a pale and lean 31-year-old man living in Kyrgyzstan's southern capital of Osh. Before his body failed him, he aimed for a career as an accountant. Muscular dystrophy derailed that dream.
"When I was 15, I started having problems with my legs, and a year later I could not walk at all. Since then I can only move in a wheelchair" Kutluev explained.
For Kutulev and thousands of Kyrgyz citizens like him, a debilitating handicap can mean a lifetime sentence of frustration. Kyrgyzstan does not have the resources to create an appropriate educational infrastructure for handicapped students. Thus, many young people with disabilities cannot attend school on a regular basis.
"Limited or no access to education is a real problem for children with disabilities. There are specialized schools, but there are not many, and the majority of disabled children do not attend school at all," says Tamara Dyikanbaeva, the head of the Association of Parents of Disabled Children, a non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Bishkek. "The Kyrgyz Government has not signed the 2006 UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities because after adopting it, the signatory country must properly secure rights for disabled adults and children."
"Disabled children cannot go to primary and secondary schools or colleges due to certain barriers like high staircases, the lack of entrance ramps, and a lack of programs to train teachers to work with such children," added Dyikanbaeva. "Nearly all Kyrgyz educational facilities, starting from kindergarten on up to universities, remain inaccessible for disabled children."
To provide education to disabled children, large investments are needed to construct new schools and renovate existing facilities. Transportation infrastructure must also be modernized for handicapped people. These appear to be low priorities for the government, given the current economic circumstances, observers say.
"Our authorities build new schools every year, but they are not designed for children with disabilities," says Adiba Samatova, chair of Nashi Deti ("Our Children"), an Osh-based NGO. "What these children need is not only new accessible schools; our government needs to modify existing public schools so that they can admit students with disabilities."
In addition to the physical barriers, teachers complain they do not know how to work with disabled children. "In the Soviet Union, we had segregated education for disabled and so-called 'normal' children," explained Zumrat Mamashaeva, a 42-year-old public school teacher, formerly the head of the school curriculum department. "This is why teachers need some kind of a training program so that we can be ready to have disabled children in our classes. I have been teaching for many years, but I have never had a child with disabilities."
Of the 2,255 registered dependents with disabilities in Osh, says Olga Baikalova, head of the city's social security department, "every month, they are paid between 495 and 1,055 soms [approximately $12-25]." The amount of the payment depends on the condition of the recipient.
"This money is nothing," says Lyubov Kuzina, who has suffered from cerebral spastic paralysis since childhood and thus never attended school. "A kilo of meat, for example, is 150 soms. I cannot do any work because I am disabled and have no education. If I had had computer skills and had studied accounting, I could work at home online."
"The money the government gives me is enough only to escape starvation. So, now without an education, I cannot even think of getting a good job," she lamented.
For a fortunate few, some NGOs are providing limited relief. Last year Nashi Deti granted Radik Kutluev a computer. "Radik and his sister are both disabled. Their mother is a widow and they live a difficult life," notes Samatova of Nashi Deti. "The money the two are paid by the government is not enough for them to buy a computer, so our foundation decided to grant the family one so that Radik can get computer skills and find a job."
He is now working from home doing data-entry for a local NGO. "My friends helped me to learn how to work on a computer," Kutluev beams. "I cannot say I am well paid - my salary is only 1,000 soms a month (approximately $23) - but now I have a real job."
Kutluev happens to be one of the lucky few. Unable to use her legs, Kuzina still relies on her parents for support. Her hopes of a normal life vanished long ago.
"Because of my problem, I did not have a chance to get even a primary or secondary education," she said. "I wanted to study very much, but my dream has never come true. Now I am 38. I stay at home and my mother takes care of me."
Hamid Tursunov is a freelance writer from Osh.
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