CAIRO: An Egyptian school is set to open in November which caters for those with disabilities such as Down Syndrome, ADHD and Autism. The school of Special Education for Advancement (SEA) is the first step taken to provide a fair opportunity for people that suffer from such disabilities. The chairwoman of SEA, Nancy Maghrabi, is pushing to enforce the 1975 Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons Act, a law passed by the government to ensure that people with disabilities are not ostracized from their communities by providing them with opportunities to overcome their weaknesses. Under the act, any business which employs 50 or more people must have no less than five percent of their total workforce consist of people with disabilities, as defined by the act. SEA plans on developing similar schools in rural areas as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility Program and is working alongside the Ministry of Education to renovate existing public schools to cater for the needs of this marginalized group in Egyptian society. “Official statistics show that five percent of people in Egypt suffer from one disability or another,” she told Bikyamasr.com. “Although in reality these statistics could be 7 percent or 8 percent.” “The building alone is 5,000 meters square and behind the Dar El Mona Resort there are another two facilities we hope to use in the future. There is also the ground on which the school is situated, along with the resort itself.” The school is set to accommodate every student according to their individual needs, as laid out in their company profile. According to Maghrabi, the age and the condition by which the students are affected will determine how to go about distributing the classrooms and creating a personal student development plan which is unique to that student. “There will be a doctor on site 24/7 and the top floor will be a boarding house,” she added. Services provided by SEA will include a boarding facility, physiotherapy, secured transportation, summer programs for the students and medical insurance, among many other services. Diet plans will also be developed to cater for a healthy lifestyle and the school will be environmentally friendly. Through their Vocational Skills Program, SEA will provide students with basic occupational skills such as accounting, computer skills, communication skills and graphic design, providing them with the opportunity to hold sustainable jobs. Being adjacent to the Dar El Mona Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Resort, located on the Cairo-Alexandria desert road means that these services are provided in part by the resort. SEA hopes to be able to provide similar services in public schools through the funds that are raised over the next five years. SEA is founded by Global Trade Matters (GTM), an Egyptian based private sector think tank, and is the brainchild of Maghrabi who is also the chairwoman for GTM. BM
