Disabled professor fights to give OKU students chance for success

Nur Aziatul KhaziziSun, 9 May 2021, 10:01 am·7-min read

MALAYSIANSKINI | After spending decades striving to achieve her academic goals, a disabled professor is now using her experience to ensure disabled students in Malaysia have the opportunity to succeed in higher education.

Now a professor of economics at the International Islamic University of Malaysia (UIA), Ruzita Mohd Amin, 57, said her struggles started from the day her parents tried to register her for primary school.

She lost the ability to walk after being infected with polio at the age of one.

Today, she is a wheelchair user, but when she enrolled in primary school, her mother had to physically assist with her movements at the time.

It was for this reason that some schools refused her registration.

“During that era (in the 1970s), schools did not want to accept (disabled students) because there were no facilities for them.

“My parents went around to look for a suitable school, and only one school accepted me.

“But it was with the condition that my mother had to accompany me in school, to help manage me,” she said.

Ruzita said for the first two years in school, her mother had to carry her around. It was only in Standard 3 that she managed to get a manual wheelchair with the school’s help.

The Kuala Lumpur native and her two siblings were raised by a single mother after their father passed away when she was in Standard 5.

Her mother accompanied her throughout her schooling until she successfully obtained a place at UIA, where she spent four years on a campus with no facilities for disabled people. She was part of UIA’s first cohort of students.

“Back then (in the 1980s) at the UIA Petaling Jaya campus, there were many stairs. And there were no ramps at all.

“At the time, I could still walk (using crutches). But I never go up the stairs if there’s no handrail.

“At that time, there were no handrails available in most places. So, I had to walk a long way to the residential college and lecture hall,” she said.

After Ruzita showed excellence in her studies and co-curricular activities, she was offered a spot as a full-time lecturer at the university after graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in economics.

Being a disabled student internationally

Her academic ambitions did not stop there. She later spent five years in the United States, obtaining her Masters and Doctorate degrees in economics.

Her experience there opened her eyes to amenities which should be available to the disabled.

One aspect that she appreciated most was the existence of accommodation catering to the needs of disabled students at the universities.

Unlike at UIA, the universities in the United States offered her residences with suitable facilities, motorised wheelchairs, and transportation.

The university also provided mobility vans to fetch her to class, as her residence was located far from the campus.

“(The university) said, ‘You book (the van) according to your schedule. Then you can claim the cost of transportation from the university’,” she said.

The university’s awareness of the needs of the disabled also meant that her needs were fulfilled without her having to ask, Ruzita said.

She recalled in the winter, thick snow would clog up driveways blocking front doors.

“Other people had to shovel the snow themselves, but because (the authorities) knew there is a disabled person living in my house, a truck would come in the early morning and shovel the snow off my path,” Ruzita shared.

She added that all the facilities she enjoyed abroad showed her how such amenities can be systematically included to ensure the welfare of disabled groups back home.

“That’s what I’m trying to bring to UIA. It’s based on experience. We need to bring these best practices to Malaysia.”

Policies are unfriendly to the disabled

Physical facilities in Malaysia when she was a student were not the only thing unfriendly to the disabled community, she said. Some policies were also less inclusive.

When she was studying in the United States, she was not eligible for the family allowance offered by the Bumiputera Academic Training Scheme (Slab) for bumiputera students taking postgraduate studies abroad.

She tried applying for the allowance for her father who followed her to the US to assist her in her daily life.

However, she said her application was rejected as the allowance was only for spouses or children of students, but not parents.

She said this inflexible approach, which does not take into account the needs of disabled students, still exists today.

As the head of the Disability Service Unit at UIA, she said there were times when the management was too rigid and rebuffed proposals to assist disabled students.

“These situations are frustrating. There will be times when you feel discouraged, but you have to carry on and think of another solution to solve the problem.”

Training students to become fighters

The university’s Disability Services Unit (DSU) was initiated by Ruzita together with staff and other disabled students in April 2012. It is a culmination of her efforts as part of UIA’s management for the past 20 years.

DSU was established to provide equal opportunities for disabled students to achieve excellence.

Last year, UIA had 83 students and 14 staff who were disabled.

Besides wheelchair assistance, DSU also assists in renovating student residences according to their needs, she said.

The unit also empowers disabled students through a club called Ibn Ummi Maktum (IMaC). The club is managed by disabled and non-disabled students to raise awareness of disabled people’s rights among the campus community.

“We want to train these students to become disabled rights fighters. They know the issues that need to be highlighted and can also expand their organisational management skills.”

Now, when new students are going through the university’s orientation sessions, they are introduced to the DSU. Disabled students also have the opportunity to share their experiences in the sessions.

“Our students who are on the autism spectrum or have mental health issues can also share their experiences,” she said. Through such sessions, Ruzita hopes to encourage empathy and understanding.

Her struggle for better conditions for disabled students does not stop at UIA.

She is also a committee member of the National Council for the Disabled and is involved in forming policies with the government, especially with the Ministry of Women, Family, and Community Development, the Ministry of Higher Education, and the Ministry of Education.

She was also a co-chairperson when developing the Guidelines for the Implementation of Inclusive Policy on Disabled Persons in Institutions of Higher Learning. The guidelines were officiated by former education minister Maszlee Malik in September 2019.

At the time, there were plans to implement the policy by establishing disabled units in public universities such as Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Teknologi Mara (UTM), Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM), and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).

‘I’m bolder now’

Among the disabled students who benefited from Ruzita’s efforts is Muhammad Salim Harmanain, 30, a postgraduate student at UIA.

He said DSU has provided disabled students with the platform to communicate with the rest of the campus community.

“Actually being an active member of the IMaC community or DSU itself helps me to voice my opinions. I feel bolder.

“I am more open to talking about my struggles and to share inspiring stories with the community,” said Salim, who is a regular speaker at sharing sessions on disability rights at the campus.

Zahirah Zulkifli, 24, a Bachelor of Social Sciences graduate, also shared how Ruzita helped convince her mother to give Zahirah permission to use a motorised wheelchair.

Ruzita hopes the wider community can better accept the disabled, including those with less visible disabilities like the visually impaired, those on the autism spectrum, or those with learning difficulties who are often looked down upon in society.

“In Islam, people who have such disadvantages need to be given priority by leaders.

“Today, it is the disabled community who are desperately asking for assistance while leaders do not fulfill their duties,” she said.

She also urges the disabled community to always be positive and accept their disabilities.

“We need to have acceptance and believe that Allah SWT has good intentions for us.

“So even when we face difficulties, we will feel more at peace,” Ruzita shared.

MALAYSIANSKINI is a series on Malaysians you should know about.

source: https://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/disabled-professor-fights-oku-students-020100789.html