A legally blind Parramatta student is urging NSW public schools to become more inclusive by educating students on what it means to live with a disability.
When 11-year-old Haya Dagher and her family moved from Lebanon to Parramatta, their first course of action was to find a school that would support visually impaired students. For Haya, she only wanted one thing – to go to the same school as her sister, Rosehill Public School.
“At first it wasn’t very easy for me to make friends who understood me, who knew what I meant when I said I’m legally blind,” Haya said.
To help bridge the divide, Rosehill Public School invited Vision Australia to explain what being legally blind and visually impaired means to Haya’s fellow students.
Haya, who has since become school captain, wants other schools to follow suit when it comes to ensuring visually impaired students feel included.
“In order for Australian public schools to be more inclusive they need to add learning about disabilities as a subject. It is very important for children to know how children with disabilities can deal with it,” Haya said.
A 2020 survey from Vision Australia revealed that over 50 per cent of respondents said they have experienced discrimination, harassment or victimisation in an education setting. 27 per cent of people surveyed also believe they have not been appropriately supported by their school.
Head of Government Relations at Vision Australia Chris Edwards said that schools need to have the right strategies in place for blind and low-vision students.
“What we know is that we need to put strategies in schools to ensure that kids can access the curriculum in the same ways and have the same learning opportunities,” Mr Edwards said.
“Have things in the classroom in place where kids can use the technologies that are going to work best for them. The critical thing is recognising that everybody uses different supports to learn.”
Mr Edwards also believes that sighted people have a lot to learn from those who are vision impaired.
“You get to know someone who is blind or low-vision and you get to understand all the things that someone can do as opposed to assuming all the things they can’t do. It does a lot to change community attitude,” Mr Edwards said.
Ellie Busby is a news reporter for Western Sydney Publishing Group. A graduate of the University of Hertfordshire and Western Sydney University, she is a journalism Major. Ellie has worked with Universal Media, The Cova Project and for a range of other organisations. In 2024, Ellie was named Young Writer of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.