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View all search resultsVisually impaired students in limbo following Wyata Guna's status change
The evictions followed a change of nomenclature for Wyata Guna – the oldest special education provider in Indonesia – from being a social house to becoming strictly a rehabilitation center. Under the new status, Wyata Guna can only hold short courses.
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Nowhere to go: Visually impaired students sleep on the sidewalk in front of the Wyata Guna Social Rehabilitation Center for the Blind on Jl. Pajajaran, Bandung, on Wednesday night. (JP/Arya Dipa)
D
ozens of visually impaired students were forced to vacate their dormitory at the Wyata Guna Social Rehabilitation Center for the Blind (BRSPDSN) in Bandung, West Java, on Tuesday evening, leaving at least 30 of them homeless.
The evictions followed a change of nomenclature for Wyata Guna – the oldest special education provider in Indonesia – from being a social house to becoming strictly a rehabilitation center. The status change was based on Social Affairs Ministerial Decree No. 18/2018 on technical operations of social rehabilitation.
“We don’t take any issue with whether [the institution] will end up being a social house or a [rehabilitation] center, but what’s the solution [to our situation]? Don’t disabled people have a right to express their opinions?” said Elda Fahmi, one of the students driven out of Wyata Guna.
Some of the students have since tried to find a kost (rooming house) or other forms of accommodation, while about 30 others who do not have enough money were forced to spend Wednesday night on a sidewalk in front of the rehabilitation center on Jl. Pajajaran.
Some volunteers and members of the public helped the students set up tarpaulin tents and provided them with food and blankets. Near the sidewalk, two ambulances and health officers were on standby.
West Java Deputy Governor Uu Ruzhanul Ulum had offered to let the students stay in dormitories near the province’s Social Affairs Office in Cimahi, Bandung regency. The students declined the offer, noting the dorm's lack of facilities for the visually impaired and its location, which is far from their campus.
“We need a facility that could give us education, assistance and rehabilitation, not merely a stop-by place for sleeping,” Elda said.
