JAKARTA (ANTARA) – The Ministry of Law and Human Rights has promised to address the case of a disabled computerized exam participant who was forced to remove his hearing aid while taking a public university entrance exam.
In the May 14, 2024 incident, Nawfal Atallah, a hearing-impaired high school student, was told to do so because other test-takers suspected his hearing aid was an audio receiver to cheat on the exam.
“This incident, in which Nawfal was forced to remove her hearing aid, goes against the government’s commitment and spirit to promote the realisation of the rights of people with disabilities in national education,” the ministry’s human rights director-general Dahana Putra said in a statement received on Sunday.
“We will work closely with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future,” he added.
Putra stressed that Indonesia is a party to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CPRD), which mandates inclusive education for persons with disabilities.
Meanwhile, Law No. 8 of 2016 on Persons with Disabilities obliges the government to continuously improve the rights of persons with disabilities, and Presidential Regulation No. 53 of 2021 on the Human Rights Action Plan included persons with disabilities as one of the main target groups.
He said the incident therefore denied Atallah, who is deaf, his right to an equal and inclusive education.
Meanwhile, the Director-General said the incident involving Mr. Asara highlighted the lack of awareness among some members of the community regarding the rights of persons with disabilities and underscored the need for continued promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities for all, including in the education sector.
“It is important to raise awareness about inclusive education and respecting the rights of people with disabilities in the education sector, including among organisers of university entrance examinations,” Putra said.
He added that he has also begun working with students from several high schools in Jakarta to promote disability rights among teenagers, to raise awareness for inclusive and fair education for all, including their classmates with disabilities.
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