Grantee Partners

EGED/Egitimde Gorme Engelliler Dernegi (Association for Visual Impairment in Education)

Context:

Children and youth with disabilities (especially girls) are at a great disadvantage in terms of access of education. Barely 50% are estimated to be enrolled in school and barely half of them continue on to high school (official data suggests approximately 82,000 / 63% male and 37% female).  According to official data, only an estimated 7% of visually impaired youth in Turkey obtain higher education. This is due to several obstacles mainly lack of accessible preparation materials , and lack of encouragement- in fact the youth that do pursue this dream are openly discouraged from entering math university exams, and instead encouraged on verbal exams. With a very limited number of youth organizations working to support this population and their continued education – which is critical for their future independent livelihoods- EGED , being youth-led themselves, plays a very critical role in the empowerment and support for inclusive education for visually impaired youth.

Organization:

Starting initially as an online knowledge sharing community to support one another in their educational pursuits, formally established in 2013, EGED is a non-profit organization aimed to promote equal access to education for visually impaired youth. Based in Ankara (capital of Turkey) through programs which include supporting students, teachers and parents as well as advocating for improved policy and services in educational access. 

Current Grant:

EMpower's first grant to Association of Visually Impaired in Education (EFED) will fund the creation of accessible university entrance exam educational materials (in Maths), which will be accessed via a website developed specifically for this purpose. At least 200 youth will be targeted to use the tests and many others, including educators will be able to have free access, through EGED’s  extensive network.

Primary Location: Ankara

Website: https://www.eged.org/

Funded Since: 2022