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Ankhbayar writes on the board at the non-formal education center ©UNICEF/2015/Zetty Brake
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On a cold,
Mongolian winter’s day, Aduuch and Gantsetseg bring their two youngest children
Ankhbayar, 8, and Sarangoo, 7, to school in Naliakh, 36 kilometers east of the
country’s capital city Ulaanbaatar. Ankhbayar is dropped off at the Non-Formal
and Life-Long Education Center of Nalaikh District (non-formal education
center), while his younger sister attends the primary school in the same
grounds.
“I love going
to school,” Ankhbayar exclaims. “I like to write and learn things. All my
classmates and my teacher like me”. When he grows up Ankhbayar wants to become
a music teacher.
Ankhbayar was
born premature, weighing less than a kilogram at birth. He is a bright,
outgoing boy, but because of his physical disability uses a wheelchair. The
family walks 45 minutes to reach the non-formal education center, as they don’t
own a car and there is no public transport between their ger and the center.
There are
closer schools to the family’s ger, a traditional Mongolian home, but none of
them would accept Ankhbayar, saying his disability is too severe. It was a
similar story when they tried to enroll Ankhbayar in kindergarten. “When we
approached some kindergartens they said that they couldn’t accept him because
he needed lots of care,” his mother Gantsetseg says. “We even reached out to
the kindergarten for children with disabilities, but they would not take him
because he was in a wheelchair. They only wanted to take children with
disabilities who could walk”.
Until they
learnt of the non-formal education center where Ankhbayar now attends, the
family’s only options were to send him to a boarding school for children with
disabilities in Ulaanbaatar, where they would only see him on weekends, or to
keep him at home.
Gantsetseg
explains that they only learnt of the center in early September last year. “I
didn’t think there was a school here in Nalaikh that accepted children with
disabilities, but when Narantuya (Ankhbayar’s teacher who has been working at
the center for five years) visited us at home, made us aware of the center and
encouraged us to send Ankhbayar there”.
The visit was
part of the center’s regular outreach work targeting vulnerable children, such
as children from ethnic minority and poor families and children with
disabilities, who are not attending school. During these visits, staff talk to
parents and guardians about why the children are not going to school and look
at education options, often through non-formal education centers, where there
is greater support for each child, and less discrimination.
After the
home visit, Aduuch, Gantsetseg and Ankhbayar visited the non-formal education
center. Aduuch said the family was surprised at how accessible the center was.
“I thought that I would have to carry him into the center because not many
buildings are wheelchair friendly in Nalaikh,” he explains. “But that wasn’t
the case, there was a ramp and the center has a bathroom facility for him”.
Renovations and upgrades
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Ankhbayar
and his teacher Narantuya ©UNICEF/2015/Zetty Brake
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Until
recently the center would not have been able to accept Ankhbayar either. During
the summer break in 2014, the center was renovated to upgrade the facilities
and repair damage to the building. A new indoor bathroom, with a toilet for
children with disabilities, and running hot and cold water was installed. In
addition to the renovations, sporting equipment, desks and chairs for students
and extra furniture was purchased. UNICEF Mongolia provided the funding for the
upgrades.
Narantuya
says the students are responding to the renovations well and they are able to
increase the number of children with disabilities attending the center.
“Before
around a quarter of students at the center were children with disabilities, but
now that we have new facilities that cater for them, we have seen that number
increase to nearly 40 per cent,” Narantuya says.
And the
center is not only helping children with disabilities, according to Narantuya.
“The center is a home away from home for many children,” she says. “Often it is
the only place for them to socialize with other children. Some don’t have
heating at home, so it is cold, whereas the center is warm. Many children stay
late after class, attending art, music and sports clubs, doing their homework
and using the facilities, till we tell them they have to leave”.
More needs to be done
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Ankhbayar
with his parents, Gantsetseg and Aduuch ©UNICEF/2015/Zetty Brake
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UNICEF
Education Specialist Bolorchimeg Bor says many of the children who are
attending these centers have left the mainstream education system because they
were not getting the attention or support they needed, or because of
discrimination from other students. “Others have never attended school before,
so they are much older than their classmates, making it hard for them to fit in
and thrive within that learning environment,” she says. “The non-formal
education system is providing children who have dropped out or never started
school, a second chance at education.”
“While these
centers are providing a vital service to some of Mongolia’s most disadvantaged
and in need children, they do not receive the same level of funding as
mainstream schools and are often in need of learning materials, repair and
upgrades,” Bolorchimeg explains. “This can lead to barriers which stop children
accessing education opportunities. Upgrades like the ones at the non-formal
education center are a step forward because the improved accessibility makes it
possible for children with disabilities to get an education. But much, much more
is needed”.
For Ankhbayar
the center has provided an opportunity that he would not have otherwise had, to
go to school and live at home with his family. His mother, Gantsetseg, is very
appreciative of the center and the impact it has had on her son. “The center is
a brilliant place, and please say thank you to whoever made this possible.”
Author
Zetty Brake,
Communications and External Relations Officer, UNICEF Mongolia
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