ARMENIAN CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES ENTER MAINSTREAM EDUCATION

Reuters Alert, UK
Sept 27 2007

Source: World Vision Middle East/Eastern Europe office (MEERO)
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Twenty children with disabilities in Talin town, Aragatsotn Region,
northwest of Armenia, attended public schools and primary educational
institutions this September after being treated at the newly opened
Child Centre of World Vision Armenia Talin Area Development Programme.

The Centre is the only professional facility for children with
disabilities in Talin town and surrounding villages where the
children receive support from a psychologist, art therapist and speech
therapist, and their parents receive counseling from a social worker
and legal advice.

‘Through Child Centres World Vision aims not only to support the
integration of children with disabilities through a number of services
but also seeks to change the attitude of the communities towards them,’
says Marina Hovhanissyan, child protection programme manager of World
Vision Armenia.

At the official opening of the Centre, the Mayor of Talin town,
Mnatsakan Mnatsakanyan, emphasised the importance of the community
members in the process of integration of children with disabilities
into mainstream education.

The Centre was established within the Talin Municipality Kindergarten,
which enables children with disabilities to communicate with their
peers and integrate into kindergarten activities.

The Centre will also provide training sessions on modern trends of
assessment and identification of child needs for the specialists of
Child Protection Unit of Aragatsotn Regional Administration.

‘Our joint efforts will bring more professional care to the children
with special needs of our region,’ says Gayane Danielyan, head of
Child Protection Unit of Aragatsotn Regional Administration.

[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and
not of Reuters. ]