Abu Dhabi: Ten-year-old Mouza Mana is more than happy to flaunt her skills on her new low-vision aid. The device helps her see and read the words in front of her, just like her friends can.
Suffering from macular degeneration, a condition that impairs vision, the device is vital for her education.
Thanks to the Abu Dhabi Education Council's (ADEC) decision to provide state-of-the-art educational equipment and learning tools tailored for students with special needs like Mouza, learning is becoming a new experience for these children.
With the same excitement as showing a new toy to a friend, she showed senior ADEC officials how her learning tool works in her classroom at the Umm Habiba School yesterday.
Her school was one of the first to benefit from ADEC's initiative.
Over the coming weeks, educational and recreational equipment which has been procured after careful assessment of the needs of these children, will be distributed to other schools as well.
Integration
The move will eventually help 173 students with special needs studying in various government schools in the city.
These children were successfully integrated into the mainstream schools over the past two years.
"All children deserve the same opportunity to study. This equipment and educational tools will help achieve this and help the students reach their learning goals," Dr Mugheer Khamis Al Khaili, director- general of ADEC, said during the school visit.
"As teachers, principals, mentors, and leaders in the education sector it is our role to create and guide students into a more accepting, tolerant and inclusive society breaking down all borders that may cause separation and discrimination," he said.
Learning tools that ADEC will be provided include scientific talking calculators, which will help those with hearing disabilities to follow their maths classes, electronic magnification kits, portable magnifiers, tactile globes, abacuses, white canes and laptops with Hal software and Hal pens.
ADEC's 10-year strategic plan, which aims to transform Abu Dhabi's education system into a system of educational excellence, will make all students more accepting while providing students with special needs the individualised education they need to be able to integrate into a school environment, Al Khaili added.
Teachers' views
Teachers were equally thrilled with the new tools that will help them teach their special children in a better way.
"During exams a teacher has to read out the questions to Mouza and the teacher will write down her answers," said Aysha Al Za'abi, her teacher, hoping that the new tool will change things for the better.
