The school belongs to all the children, is the message sent by the parents of the children with disabilities in the protests they held yesterday, on a Cyprus-wide basis. As they emphasize, "we demand here and now equal access to learning".
Parents are protesting the "violation of the right of children with disabilities to mainstream education", demanding quality education for their children, "Preventing any child from learning and participating in the school community as an equal member is clearly a violation of human rights", they say.
As the protestors say, they are saying no to zero tolerance to all those who "deceived" and "misinformed" them, to all those who "reduced" and "kicked" their children out of the classrooms.
Separation and exclusion are not "for the good" of our children, is the slogan written on the banner of the Pancypriot Confederation of Organizations of the Disabled.
Among the children, who was present throughout the protest, was the little Styliani, from Famagusta District, who suffers from cerebral palsy of the spastic quadriplegia type.
"They can't put a parent in that position"
Her mother, Christoula Antoniou-Chrysanthou, through many efforts, has been fighting all this time, as she reported exclusively on famagusta.news, so that her daughter has the right to a uniform education. He also pointed out that he is fighting for all children to have the right to learn, regardless of disability.
In a video posted by Christoula Antoniou-Chrysanthou on Social Media, she says: "It is the most common motor disability in children and appears in various forms, from weakness in one arm to an almost complete lack of voluntary movement. This particular disability is not the main characteristic of these children, as many have condemned her because of her diagnosis over the years, making her life even more difficult."
As he explains, "children with cerebral palsy, they have feelings, they have smiles, they have will, they have stubbornness, they have so much to offer. They have an inner strength of will to live that the rest of us, try as we might, can never match. These children want inclusion in society and not exclusion. Let's all join our voices together on Monday at 9 am for the right of all children to uniform education, regardless of disability."