Students with disabilities drop out due to lack of disability facilities in Saudi Arabia

The majority of schools in Riyadh lack the facilities to improve the mobility of physically disabled students, a study has revealed.

It said about 86 percent of boys and girls’ schools lack special ramps for wheelchairs and about 93 percent do not have suitable toilets for the disabled.


The study was conducted by a team of researchers headed by Dr. Amer Al-Mutair from King Saud University in Riyadh with the support of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology.


A significant number of disabled students dropped out of school due to the lack of facilities. They claimed that the school environment was not appropriate and increased the burden on their families.


The researchers have called on the Ministry of Education to find out why facilities for people with special needs have not been included in the plans for school buildings.


The research team also asked schools to accept special needs children and to hire qualified teachers and physicians to help them.


The study cited research from the World Health Organization, which revealed people with some form of disability accounted for over 10 percent of the total population.


The study also referred to the fact that the Kingdom has a high proportion of young people and that there is a lack of statistics and studies on disabled people in the country.


The study focused on how to accommodate disabled children in schools after providing them with the most appropriate environment, in addition to removing obstacles to future academic success and enrollment.


The research data was collated using several surveys distributed to all public schools in Riyadh.


Researchers also visited some schools and interviewed special needs students and their families.