Inaugurating the Students with Disabilities Center at Ain Shams University, the first of its kind in Egyptian universities

Coincide with the celebration of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Prof. Dr. Mahmoud El-Metini, President of Ain Shams University, Prof. Dr. Abdel Fattah Saud, Vice President for Education and Student Affairs, opened the Center of Students with Disabilities, which was established in cooperation with the Government Universities Scholarship Program and funded by the United States Agency for International Development and with the support of the Ministry of Higher Education and the University, and under the supervision and management of AMIDEAST and in cooperation with Helm Consulting to support the full participation of students with disabilities In university life and ensuring equal access to higher education, in the presence of Prof. Dr. Salwa Rashad, Dean of Faculty of Al-Alsun, Prof. Dr. Osama Al-Sayed, Dean of the Faculty of Specific Education, Prof. Dr. Hanan Kamel, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Arts for Education and Student Affairs, Prof. Dr. Rana Al-Hilali, Director of the Center, Prof. Emad Ragheb, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ataa Fund, Prof. Amira Refai, Executive Director of Ataa Fund, Dr. Dina Abdel Wahab, Dr. Dina Mohsen from Ataa Fund, Mrs. Quincy Dermody, Director of the AMIDEAST Public Universities Grants Project, Prof. Marwa Ahmed, coordinator of the Ministry of Social Solidarity, Dr. Life of Speech of Senator and Chairman of the Paralympic Committee, Prof. Ramez Maher, Executive Director of Helm Company, Eman Nasr, Project Manager, Yasmine Amr, Project Coordinator at Helm Company, Prof. Galal Shenouda, Maha Al-Hilali from the National Council for Disability.

Prof. Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, emphasized in a recorded speech the need to train faculty members to deal with students with disabilities, referring to their right to education and learning.

Prof. Dr. Ayman Ashour, Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research for University Affairs praised the project that comes within the AMIDEAST initiative for Egyptian-American higher education, which includes 5 universities: Ain Shams, Cairo, Alexandria, Mansoura, in addition to Assiut University, indicating that the Center for the Care of Students with Disabilities is the first center to be opened at the level of the five universities.

Prof. Dr. Mahmoud El-Metini, President of Ain Shams University, praised what was achieved today from the opening of the Center for Students with Disabilities, pointing out that students with disabilities have all the support from the university administration, explaining that they have positive capabilities, innovations and energies in many fields, which reflects the state’s interest in them, as well as His Excellency directed the necessity of cooperation with the Center for People with Special Needs at the Faculty of Graduate Studies for Childhood, praising the role of civil society institutions and their efforts with the university.

Prof. Dr. Abdel-Fattah Saud, Vice President for Education and Student Affairs, called for the need to correct the concept of inclusion, so that educational services reach students with disabilities in a manner appropriate to his disability, which makes it really required in the labor market.

Mrs. Quincy Dermody, Director of the Public Universities Scholarships Project at the AMIDEAST Foundation, has started its programs in Egypt since 2015 targeting 27 governorates and more than 600 students. She added that students will be qualified for the labor market and developed, so that they are equal to other students. The appropriate facilities so that they can get their university studies well.

Mrs. Leslie Reed, USAID Director of Programs in Egypt, expressed her happiness at the opening of the first center for the care of students with disabilities at Ain Shams University, which is the first of five centers to be opened at the level of Egyptian universities, noting that the program provided by the United States Agency for International Development He graduated a number of students with disabilities who were able to join the Faculties of Media for the first time, and some of them were also able to find good job opportunities, expressing her hope that the center could make a breakthrough in Egyptian society.

Prof. Dr. Rana Al-Hilali, Director of the Center, indicated that the center seeks to support and promote inclusive education for students with disabilities by providing a set of integrated services, which include providing sign language interpreters within lectures or any activity within the university, providing escorts, providing classroom facilities to ensure access to the lecture experience, complete and reaching the maximum benefit, such as giving the student places where he can see appropriately, facilities for taking notes and others according to the different needs of each student, providing alternative texts such as printing materials in Braille, in addition to facilitating examinations as saving additional time, converting the exam to electronic, special committees and others in proportion to each student and in coordination with the professor of the subject, in addition to providing various training for employees, faculty members and students to raise awareness about disability, providing different workshops for all students, supporting the university administration, staff and students to activate the required integration processes and remove barriers that limit the integration of students with disabilities.

The center aims to spread the culture of availability and inclusion to achieve equality among students, identify the gaps and challenges facing students with disabilities, raise the efficiency of faculty members and the aid staff and workers to deal with students with disabilities, provide educational process and evaluation methods for students to suit their needs without compromising the quality of education itself. In addition to improving the educational environment

The center also communicates with various colleges to ensure that scientific materials reach students electronically, to ensure that special committees are made for students with disabilities during the exams, to increase the exam period in case of need, and to provide someone who specializes in reading exams for students and writing answers to students if necessary, as well as doing awareness courses and workshops for faculty members in the various colleges of the university; The center is also working on reforming the educational system to facilitate the affairs of students with disabilities without distinguishing them from other students, and working on solving students' problems separately to make things easier for them in order to reach the goal of the educational process, doing intelligence tests and adaptive behavior tests for some students with mental disabilities and conducting psychological support sessions For students, making all campus buildings available for students with disabilities, in addition to presenting students whose health or psychological condition needs to specialist doctors in the university hospital.

The center has also accomplished a number of tasks in the previous period, including the completion of the executive regulations, creating an electronic database for beneficiary students, equipping the center with computers and office furniture, running modern intelligence tests for students, and a field survey of five colleges was done in cooperation with Ataa Foundation and a number was provided. Of the size chairs for students with mobility disabilities.