Good morning, honourable members of Parliament.
As a person with a visual impairment, I would not be where I am today if it were not for technology. My father, who was blind, insisted I do computer science as an additional subject in high school. He was convinced that technology was the key to opening possibilities for girls and boys with disabilities beyond those stereotypical career paths, such as if you're visually impaired, becoming a teacher or a lawyer, or if you have a hearing impairment or intellectual disability, becoming a caterer or a painter.
Access to appropriate quality technologies can mean the difference between enabling and denying education for a child, enabling and denying participation in the workforce for a young adult, or enabling and denying self-reliance and social inclusion.
In sub-Saharan Africa, a staggering number of school-age children remain out of school and are denied their right to quality education due to system-level challenges, such as there not being enough schools or qualified or motivated teachers, or their schooling is disrupted due to conflict or climate change.
The situation is even more dire for children with disabilities. Compared to children without disabilities, children with disabilities are, according to UNICEF, 49% more likely to have never attended school, and they are 42% less likely to have the foundational reading and numeracy schools that are needed. They are also most often excluded from science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects, hindering their ability to be skilled for the 21st century and attain dignified work.
Technology offers a real lifeline for millions of learners with disabilities. Through accessible technology, barriers such as not having an accessible textbook or a physical textbook that needs to be transported and printed can be overcome. It's very heartening to see how major tech producers are embracing universal design, acknowledging that accessibility is not just a necessity for some, but is useful for everyone. Accessibility regulations enacted by legislators like yourselves can have a big impact at scale in developing countries.
Let me tell you about a groundbreaking initiative in Burkina Faso spearheaded by Light for the World and its partners. This visionary project harnesses technology to operationalize the Marrakesh Treaty, which is a pact that loosens copyright restraints for visually impaired and print-disabled people. The goal is really simple, yet very profound. It is to ensure seamless access to learning materials through technology. If we can succeed in one of the world's least resourced countries, there is no doubt in my mind that this can be replicated globally.
In Burkina Faso, most students with visual impairments are actually in mainstream schools, and they are supported by a school and resource centre established by the organization for persons with visual impairment in that country. Through the project, we have upskilled the centre to use more efficient methods to convert handouts and assessments into accessible formats. To lighten the load on the resource centre, we trained up both teachers and students to create accessible content and access more books using their Android devices. Tablets, laptops and affordable devices with solar chargers were distributed and accompanied by the creation of multimedia training material that meets the UNESCO ICT teacher competency framework requirements. However, more time and resources are needed to take this to scale, as well as more research for the proof of concept.
We recognize that it's really difficult for teachers, especially those who have large classes and are confined to a very rigid curriculum, to support students with disabilities. However, universal design for learning is a very creative teaching strategy that responds to diversity from the outset by offering multiple ways of engaging and expressing learning. Students with disabilities really thrive when lessons follow those UDL principles and when their disability accommodations are met. Universal design for learning, accessible ed tech and technologies can offer a unique solution for teachers, students with disabilities and those who are unable to attend school regularly.
Really, making disability inclusion mandatory in all education programs funded by the Government of Canada, particularly in this emerging field of technology, can change the life trajectory of millions of girls and boys with disabilities.
I appeal to the committee to take action and make this happen.
Thank you very much.