Dr Tariq Umar, Senior Lecturer in the School of Architecture and Environment at UWE Bristol, in collaboration with the Universitas Nahdlatul Ulama (UNU) Yogyakarta, Indonesia, secured funding from British Council, Indonesia to develop inclusive policies and practices for greater accessibility in Higher Education.
Statistics from Indonesia and UK indicate that disabled people from both countries are less represented in higher education and employment. For instance, people with disabilities who completed higher education in Indonesia were only 4.51% in Indonesia. Likewise, in the UK, only 24.9% of disabled people aged 21 to 64 years in the UK had a degree as their highest qualification. Disabled students in both countries are less likely to continue their degrees, graduate with a good degree, and progress onto a highly skilled job or further study.
The aim of this project is therefore to develop a road map to reduce access gap and to mainstream inclusive education practice in Indonesian higher education with the following objectives:
1. Review the current provisions, including the policies, practices, and relevant regulations in the context of higher education for disabled people in Indonesia.
2. Benchmark the provisions including the policies, practices, and relevant regulations in the context of higher education for disabled people in Indonesia with UK to establish the gaps.
3. Engage with relevant stakeholders including government organisations, higher education institutions, policy makers and society to develop a road map for reducing access gap and to mainstream inclusive education practice in Indonesia higher education.
4. Develop a support centre for the greater accessibility in higher education in UNU to support higher education institutions in Indonesia on the matters of inclusive education practice.
5. Conduct training, seminars, and workshops on how to support disabled people in society, higher education, and workplace.
While Dr Umar is leading the project, he will be supported by a number of colleagues from Universitas Nahdlatul Ulama (UNU) Yogyakarta, Indonesia including:
- Wiwin S.A. Rohmawati, M.A. (Director of Centre for Gender Equality and Social Inclusion)
- Yusnita Ike Christanti (Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Expert)
- Faidatun Nadiroh (Social Inclusion Associate)
- Erin Gayatri (Executive Secretary).
The project started in March 2024, and its duration is for one year.
For any enquiries, please contact Dr Tariq Umar (tariq.umar@uwe.ac.uk).
