SP602 Pro Electronic Balance Assignment.

SP602 Assignment
The Question Framework: a step-by-step approach to analysing social policy
1. Why is the issue or problem a “problem”?
2. Who is affected?
3. Who are the policymakers?
4. What causes the issue or problem?
5. What policies already affect the issue or problem?
6. What are the politics?
7. What new policies or policy changes are needed?
8. How will they be delivered?
9. How will we know if these policies improve the situation?
Why is the issue or problem a “problem”?
Visual impairment is also termed as visual loss and the common reason for this
visual loss is cataract. When visual impairments occur in students it hampers
their education for good as they have very limited ability to learn and observe or
provide meaning to their ideas. 90% of the child’s education is completed
through vision which is known as incidental learning. Children with visual
impairment need special guidance in their education process, yet they still
struggle in learning accurately. These children are depended on their other
senses for education; therefore they require trained teachers and special
equipped classrooms which would help them to learn. The World Health
Organization as well as the United States has stated in their conferences the
prevalence of inclusive education on international basis. In other words, all the
states should provide equal opportunities for education to those students
suffering from visual impairment or other special needs. However, it has been
found that education was not provided to the children suffering from visual
impairments. They are usually left out from the mainstream schools. The
developing and underdeveloped countries do not provide any special education
facilities for students with visual impairments unlike the developed and
industrialized states, who have been practicing inclusive education for quite
some years now. Countries could not facilitate inclusive education due to
shortage of funds and trained teachers. In some countries students with visual
impairments are made to sit in the general classrooms where students without
any disability attend classes from regular teachers. Thus, the disabled get
neglected in the class or discriminated by their friends or teachers. Until the
country makes some changes in their policy, this problematic situation will
persist.
Who is affected?
Visual impairments can affect any individual. The nature of visual impairment
and its effect is mixed according to the mentioned report (Harrington
et al.
2019). The study reflects that in regard to blind and partially blind persons,
especially in the Northern Ireland, the impact of visual impairment within the
community is underestimated. Hence the seriousness of the effect can be
measured by comparing the effect with UK regions. In the UK the percentage of
complete and partial impairment ranges between 0.53% to 0.59%. Whereas in
Northern Ireland the percentage is 0.35%.
Who are the policymakers?
Around 2.2 billion of people are affected by visual impairments across the globe.
Reduced vision or permanent visual loss impacts on every aspects of life. The
person affected with visual impairment faces difficulties in performing the daily

chores, unable to continue school, college or work, problems while interacting
with others or socializing and the individual also faces difficulty while accessing
any public service.
The World Blind Union (WBU) represents a global community consisting 285
million people suffering from impartial vision and complete blindness. The
organization has been working continuously for 3 decades to bring a change in
the lives of those 2.2 billion of people diagnosed with visual impairments. The
organizations of Ireland aims to influence the regulations and policies of the
United Nations and several other agencies which are recognized internationally.
The organization work to make this influence so that these agencies understand
the problems and needs of a blind or partially blind people. WBU operates in
around 190 countries across the world. The International Council for Education of
People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI) promotes equal accessibility of education
for all the visually impaired children so that they can develop their full potential.
The organization brings several other organizations from across the world to
facilitate this education to the visually impaired children.
Education for All Children with Visual Impairment (EFA-VI) has formed
partnership with WBU. EFA-VI is a campaign program of ICEVI for ensuring that
every visually impaired child or children with low vision can learn effectively like
other children. The resolution was made that by the year 2020 visually impaired
children will be eligible for enrolling in primary schools and taking classes
alongside other non-disabled children.
What causes the issue or problem?
Visually impaired children can have a successful school life as well as a
successful post school life. However, these children often face barriers some of
which are listed below:
• Facing negative attitudesà Visually impaired children face negativity and
criticism from the society as well as from their parents. These critics make the
children feel ashamed about their disability. Some parents feel ashamed for
having children with such disabilities and thus they avoid sending their children
to school. Even if they go to school the teachers ignore them and the classmates
bully them.
• Lack of educational support from schoolàWhen visually impaired children go to
school, they need to be given special equipped classrooms and specialized
teachers which would enable them to understand the world through their other
four senses. The partially blind children also require better attention from the
teachers to make use of their partial vision effectively. However, all these
services are not available in most of the schools.
• Lack of educational support from parentsàThe visually impaired need high
support from their family. They would need a proper verbal explanation of their
surroundings; simple skills need to be taught systematically as they cannot see.
However, in some cases parents may not have the patience or the skills.
Visual impairments can be caused due to several factors which are illustrated
below:
• Injury in eyesà Injury to the eyes due to accident or while playing can cause a
loss of vision; Especially injuries in the cornea of the eyes lead to visual
impairment.
• Eye infection à When a pregnant woman has a viral infection such as German
Measles, then the virus gets transferred from the mother to the growing foetus
during the pregnancy. The baby born will have higher chances of being born with
visual impairment or blindness.

• Cataractà Visualizing blur images from a part of the eye lens or the entire eye
lens is known as cataract. Cataract restricts the light from passing within the lens
thus leading to a loss of vision. Currently 47.8% people of the world are blinded
due to cataract.
• Diabetic retinopathyà A patient diagnosed with diabetes has high chances of
developing visual impairments as diabetes affects and damages the blood
vessels in the eye.
• Eye cancerà Retinoblastoma is an eye cancer which is caused only in children.
• Genetic inheritance à One of the most common inherited blindness is the
retinitis pigmentosa.
• Amblyopiaà This disease causes visual impairment in one eye for lack of use
during early childhood. In this case both eyes transmit different image to the
brain, resulting in the brain suppressing the images sent from the weaker eye.
This leads to a halt in the development of that eye and thus making it blind.
• Glaucomaà Glaucoma occurs due to increase in pressure in the eyes. This rise
in pressure impairs the vision permanently as it damages the optic nerve. This
mostly occurs in middle aged people above 40 years and sometimes in new born
babies when they are born with the disease.
• AIDSà Viral infections called cytomegalovirus in the eyes causes visual
impairments. People diagnosed with AIDS have moderate to higher chances of
developing this virus.
What policies already affect the issue or problem?
The policies that regulate education for the VI are, firstly, creating different
schools for the visually impaired students is itself discriminating the specially
abled child from the main stream students. Secondly, the marginalised
dimensions set by the Government including poverty, gender and class is also
restricting the education procedure for visually impaired. Finally, there are lesser
facilities to educate the family members of the specially abled child for which a
negative impact can be observed on the education procedure of the students.
The above social policies identify the needs of the visually impaired children and
therefore make communities comprising of blind people. They organize
campaigns to increase educational opportunities for the visually impaired
children. The organizations have undergone a great deal of hardship to influence
the internationally established organizations for making amendments in their
policy by figuring out the needs of the visually impaired children. However, the
social policy makers have failed to identify the gaps in their system and policy.
The needs of the visually impaired children are recognized and according to the
social policy their early schooling starts in a primary school and continues till
higher secondary. However, the policies ignore the need of post-secondary
education for the visually impaired children. There are no such social policies
which would ensure the educational rights of a visually impaired individual for
post-secondary education. The policies also do not cover any career guidance
practices for these children. Every student needs professional guidance
regarding the choice of subjects at a later phase of education, which is not
provided to these disabled children. The visually impaired children were made to
believe that the career guidance occurred at a much later stage of education. In
the developed countries the career guidance services are available to the
visually impaired children however the services are very limited.
However, the social policies proposed by the international organizations have
made it mandatory for every nation across the world to create educational
opportunities for the visually impaired children by hiring trained teachers