Symposium on "Disability and Accessibility in Educational Institutions" at the Faculty of Medicine

As part of the Disability and Education Initiative, and in cooperation with the Faculty of Medicine and the Disability Service Center, the Department of Community and Environmental Medicine and Industrial Medicine held an introductory symposium entitled "Disability and Accessibility in Educational Institutions", under the auspices of Prof. Dr. Mahmoud El-Meteini, President of Ain Shams University, Prof. Dr. Abdel Fattah Saoud, Vice President for Education and Student Affairs, Prof. Dr. Ghada Farouk, Vice President for Community Service and Environmental Development, and under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Hala Al-Suwaid, Vice Dean for Community and Environmental Affairs, Prof. Dr. Hebat Allah Saeed, Vice Dean for Education and Student Affairs, Prof. Dr. Iman Bakr, Head of the Department of Community, Environmental and Industrial Medicine and Prof. Dr. Rana Al-Hilali, Director of the Center for the Service of Students with Disabilities at Ain Shams University, and in the presence of Dr. Mostafa Al-Shahed, Student Support Office, at the Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, and Mrs. Reham Abdel Rahman, coordinator of the Social Solidarity Unit at Ain Shams University

Dr. Rana Al-Hilali thanks for the keenness of Ain Shams University and Prof. Dr. Mahmoud El-Meteini and Prof. Dr. Abdel-Fattah Saoud for the full support of people with disabilities. Her Excellency explained the vision of the Center for the Service of Students with Disabilities under the title "University Community Without Barriers", and indicated that the university has all types of disabilities listed in Law 10/2018. The number of cases reaches 1,400 cases of disability of various types, drawing attention For invisible disabilities and the extent of students' fear of declaring such disabilities so as not to be exposed to a sense of pity or the university's rejection of them, but in fact the university must be informed of the health status and type of disability through the Service Center for Students with Disabilities at Ain Shams University as well as the Psychological Counseling Center to take all measures to help them and provide ways Comfort and communication with them, and advice was given to everyone who suffers from a disability that people with disabilities must explain their disability.

Mrs. Reham Abdel Rahman explained the definition of the Social Solidarity Unit, which is a unit affiliated with the Ministry of Social Solidarity based on a protocol between the Ministry of Social Solidarity at Ain Shams University. Her Excellency reviewed the objectives of the unit within the framework of an integrated action plan aimed at building a positive, productive and effective personality that includes several axes, first, social protection and economic empowerment. The center provides The service of paying tuition for students who are unable, and there are criteria that determine the student who gets the service, and research is done on the student, and she confirmed that the first in the service are people with disabilities.

And the Distinguished Nursery Scholarship, which is a scholarship for students who excel academically, and it includes master’s and doctoral degrees, and the Productive Student Initiative.

And the axis of awareness-raising activities and human-building, and it includes the “Mawaddah” program, which is a presidential program for those who are about to get a passport, to raise awareness of ways to solve problems to reduce the phenomenon of high divorce rates.

She referred to the services provided to students with disabilities, including paying expenses and providing compensatory devices such as headphones and a talking laptop as educational aids, wheelchairs, etc., as well as the integrated services card provided by the Social Solidarity Unit, which is a card that records the student’s data and details of his disability and helps him in social communication, as well as services Solidarity and dignity, where a monthly income is paid to students with disabilities.

On the sidelines of the symposium, the students reviewed some of the problems of people with disabilities and the way to solve them, as well as introducing the types of disabilities, solutions and problems that hinder the achievement of their goals.

Dr. Mustafa Al-Shahed added through a lecture to students about the different methods of making educational materials available to students, especially those with disabilities, especially visual and hearing disabilities.

The symposium focused on raising awareness of students and faculty staff on how to make educational materials available to students with disabilities in the Faculty of Medicine in all fields.