Support from TİKA to Special Education in Tunisia

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) provided hardware and education materials to the special education class in the ERRAJA Training Centre Directorate of Local Korba Association for Disabled Individuals to improve children’s psychomotor skills in Nabil, province of Tunisia.

“ERRAJA Training Centre Directorate of Local Korba Association for Disabled Individuals”, established in 1992 in the Nabil, province of Tunisia, under the Tunisian Ministry of Social Affairs, provides mentally and physically disabled individuals aged from 3 to 30 in the Korba region with special education, psychotherapy, ergotherapy, professional training and social-cultural services. In a year, an average of 100 people benefit from the services rendered by the training centre that supports the social integration of disabled people.  

Giving support to the training centre with its projects, TİKA equipped a class, which was designed to improve the psychomotor skills of children aged from 5 to 13, with special furniture, toys and educational materials. 

Çağlar Fahri Çakıralp, Ambassador of Türkiye in Tunisia, Ali Fuat Cebeci, TİKA Tunisia Coordinator and Hazer el-Garbi, President of the Local Korba Association for Disabled Individuals participated in the opening ceremony of the class along with the guests.

Ambassador Çakıralp stated, “TİKA has been carrying out very important projects in Tunisia for long years, trying to contact people directly as much as possible. Abled or disabled, all children are our future; therefore, they mean a lot to us. In the coming years, we want to keep on implementing such projects. As the embassy, we work hard with all of our institutions, primarily TİKA, in all Tunisian towns. As you all know, we have very deep historical, cultural and human connections with Tunisia. It is of great importance to pass down these connections to next generations.”

Cebeci, TİKA Tunisia Coordinator, pointed out that TİKA started its activities in Tunisia in 2012 and added: “Since the opening of TİKA in Tunisia, we have conducted approximately 200 projects and activities. Of them, 8 are aimed at disabled people. With the project we have realized today, we aim to help 60 children aged from 5 to 13 with different talents obtain psychomotor skills and integrate with the society. From now on, as TİKA, we will add to our social projects to promote disadvantaged communities.”

Hazer el-Garbi, President of the Local Korba Association for Disabled Individuals, said "In this association, we focus on the education of disabled children with special needs. At this centre, we have been giving education to our children from preschool to employment. Our biggest objective is to prepare our disabled children for life. We put efforts to help the disabled children who receive education in our centre continue their lives without having to ask for others’ support. We thank TİKA for their support and confidence in us.”  

Garbi emphasized that the classroom equipped by TİKA will greatly contribute to the development of children’s psychomotor skills and added that the playground will accelerate the development of children’s psychomotor skills.