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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 June 1999 Issue No. 434 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 June 1999 Issue No. 434
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Living Travel Sports Time Out Chronicles People Cartoons Letters 'A human obligation'
AFTER launching the annual "Reading for All Festival" last Thursday, Mrs Suzanne Mubarak on Sunday presided over a conference entitled the "Development of Education for Mentally Handicapped Children", reports Rania Khallaf. The conference, intended to discuss ways of helping an estimated 2.5 million mentally handicapped children, was organised by the Integrated Care Society."The problem of physically disabled and mentally retarded children confronts the legislative and executive bodies with a human obligation, requiring concerted efforts by all social partners: the government, NGOs and experts," Mrs Mubarak said in her inaugural address to the conference. Over the past few years, she added, special care has been given to children with special needs. "The children's law, for example, devotes an entire chapter to the rehabilitation of handicapped children. The National Council for Motherhood and Childhood also conducted research to come up with proposals for dealing with the problems of handicapped children that would be included in the government's five-year development plan," Mrs Mubarak said.
Both the government and the NGOs provide health and educational services but, in the absence of coordination, they fall short of expectations, she argued. "What we want is for these efforts to be melted into one pot, and this is the reason for our meeting today."
Inaugurating the "Reading for All Festival", Mrs Mubarak said the event would not be confined to the summer vacation, but would be extended throughout the year. She said the reading habit should be cultivated at home at an early age, promoted at school and encouraged by society. A new programme, entitled "Read With Your Child", is being prepared to serve children under the age of five, she added. Since the launch of the "Reading for All" programme nine years ago, the Integrated Care Society, under Mrs Mubarak's leadership, has helped establish 700 children's libraries as well as over 17,000 general libraries throughout the country. Remote districts and shanty towns will be given special attention this year.
