SPECIAL EDUCATION IN JORDAN

In Baqa'a and Amman New (Wihdat) camps, UNRWA runs two centres for children with learning difficulties. Pupils in the first four grades who cannot keep up with their classmates in mathematics and Arabic are referred to these centres where they receive special care in an encouraging educational environment. Raja' Omar, supervisor of these two centres and the another six UNRWA opened in other areas in Jordan, says that children come to the centre for two or three hours a day, but they spend the rest of the day in their regular classes to study other subjects. "These centres may best be described as "educational clinics" where we take remedial action to enable the children to keep up with their fellow students", says Ms. Omar.

In the playground of UNRWA's school in Mashare' in the Jordan Valley, 10-year-old Mahmoud is talking to a friend in sign language. He picked it up from hearing-impaired schoolmates who had been recently integrated into the general education programme. These hearing-impaired children receive special education in a special unit in the school; but they participate with their peers in arts and sports activities and spend the breaks with their schoolmates. Similar units have also been established in UNRWA schools in Baqa'a, Souf and Irbid camps. The units are run under the supervision of the local UNRWA-sponsored community-based rehabilitation centres, in the camps. In Jordan, UNRWA supports 8 rehabilitation centres to cater for children with special needs in recognition of their right to become equal and productive members of their communities.