During the incident on May 14, 2024, Naufal Athallah, a Deaf high school student, was told to do so after other participants suspected his hearing aid as an audio receiver to cheat the exam.
"The incident, where Naufal was compelled to take off his hearing aid, is not consistent with the government's commitment and spirit to encourage for the fulfilment of the rights of people with disabilities in national education," Director General of Human Rights at the ministry Dhahana Putra stated, per the statement received here on Sunday.
"We will communicate with the Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Ministry to prevent similar incidents in the future," he added.
Putra emphasised that Indonesia is a party to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CPRD), which mandated an inclusive education for people with disabilities.
Meanwhile, as Law No. 8 of 2016 on Disabilities mandated the government to continually improve disability rights, Presidential Regulation No. 53 of 2021 on Human Rights Action Plan included people with disabilities as one of the main target groups.
Hence, he said, the incident has caused Athallah, who is Deaf, to be denied his right to obtain equal and inclusive education.
Meanwhile, the director general said the incident involving Athallah highlighted the lack of awareness of disability rights from several members of community and emphasised the need for continued promotion of disability rights to all, including in the education sector.
"It is important to raise awareness about inclusive education and respecting the disability rights in the education sector, including for college admission examination organisers," Putra stated.
He added that his side is collaborating with students from several senior high schools in Jakarta to launch a dissemination of disability rights among teenagers to raise awareness for an inclusive and just education for all, including their disabled peers.
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Translator: Rio Feisal, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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