8 December 2018
Ramallah – A. M. Qattan Foundation
On Wednesday, 28 November 2018, in partnership with the Palestine Red Crescent Society, the Science Studio of the Educational Research and Development Programme (ERDP) / A. M. Qattan Foundation held an open day to observe the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which falls on 5 December of every year.
Samar Kirresh, Senior Researcher at the Science Studio, said that the open day was titled Light, Arts and Science. The title was driven by the desire to create the so-called Surprise Effect.
Kirresh stated: “This is what we really saw among many children. We felt that this type of events was accessible and feasible for them. It was tailor-made to enable all children to leave their own marks. On one occasion, children made their own paintings. On other occasions, they posted and coloured their paintings as they liked. Children also concentrated on experimenting something for the first time.”
According to Kirresh, a large number of students with special needs join the literary stream because it is only option available in their schools. Hence, athese events furnish an opportunity for these students to learn about scientific aspects of knowledge. As a Foundation, we are preparing exhibits, which take the special needs of these students in consideration. This group of students will have their fair share in future activities. We will monitor how they deal with their senses when they have a hearing impairment. “I do not forget female students of the first class of the Sign Language programme at the Palestine Technical College when we trained them to implement events. They managed to pronounce some words, enabling them to communicate with other students.” Kirresh concluded.
Surprise, communication and learning: these are the three key words which dominated the Light, Arts and Science Open Day. Students were introduced to different scientific experiments, which put a smile on their faces and aroused their interest. Every student went back home with both learning and playing.
