GEORGIA | Right to Education of Persons with Disabilities during COVID-19

On November 10, 2021, the Public Defender of Georgia, together with the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI), held an international webinar on the theme: "The right to education of persons with disabilities during COVID-19 pandemic”.

Participants spoke about the challenges relating to the exercise of the right to education of persons with disabilities during the pandemic and exchanged views, methodological experiences and best practices on high quality inclusive education. The online meeting was led by Ekaterine Skhiladze, Deputy Public Defender of Georgia, who is the Chair of the ENNHRI CRPD Working Group.

The webinar was opened by Nino Lomjaria, Public Defender of Georgia, and Debbie Kohner, Secretary-General of ENNHRI. Speeches were also delivered by Catherinne Pedreros, Acting Secretary-General of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and Maureen Piggot, Executive Director of the European Disability Forum (EDF).

Representatives of national human rights institutions/ombudspersons of Croatia, Latvia, the Czech Republic and Ireland spoke about the practices of their respective countries. Participants also talked about the problems that students, including persons with disabilities, face during remote learning, and the preparedness of states for addressing these problems; The importance of inclusive education for persons with disabilities and the standards set out in Article 24 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in this regard, as well as the role of national human rights institutions and civil society in advocating for inclusive education, were also the topics of discussion.

Source: Office of the Public Defender of Georgia