The Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at the University of Gondar had formed committees in previous months that dealt with accessibility issues and how to create a more suitable environment for people with disabilities. And recently, the committee that mapped out the entire Maraki campus submitted their long-awaited results and addressed them in their assessment document. Upon the consummation of the results, the research that was conducted was presented and later discussed at Florida Hotel.
The mismatch between the number of students with disabilities and the educational system in terms of access to resources, supportive learning settings, and education is acknowledged as one of the major challenges in the Education Development Roadmap. Ethiopia has done pretty well in terms of fulfilling universal goals for basic and secondary education during the previous ten years and has attained this universal target. This has helped to decrease these educational, environmental, and service access difficulties. For students with impairments, the lack of higher education institutions and the incredibly low enrollment of students with disabilities in these institutions continue to be obstacles.
However, education institutions all around the country have expanded significantly in recent years. Additionally, there has been a discernible improvement in recent years in the inclusion of students with disabilities in institutions of higher education, particularly at the University of Gondar. Therefore, higher education institutions should offer accessible learning environments to students with disabilities.
The Maraki Campus of the University of Gondar conducted a disability access audit with the aim of evaluating the accessibility of learning environments, services, administrative, and organizational issues, as well as the extent to which environmental accessibility is common or needs to be addressed to support the inclusion of people with disabilities. The committee’s work on the disability access audit offers important advice for conducting a disability access audit assessment, planning and carrying out an accessibility audit, and suggesting the actions, resources, and accountable parties required for the interventions necessary to create a welcoming learning environment for students with disabilities.
