The nursery school has been very inhuman in their treatment of the little girl and her family, who are facing other hardships as well.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on September 29, 2019. It has since been updated.
So many of us take our education for granted but there are some people who are not given even that basic right because of arbitrary decisions. In an unfortunate event, a two-year-old girl, with an unknown condition which makes her look different from other children, was banned from her nursery school. Her mother was told that she would frighten other children.
The mother was told that because of her daughter's enlarged skull, other children might get scared. Sofya Zakharova was born with a deformity in which her fingers and toes are also fused together. Her parents were told that she would have to get surgery before she is accepted into the school, according to Metro UK. Sofya lives in the village of Alatany in Bashkortostan, a federal region of Russia, with her parents Svetlana and Rasul.
Her parents have been fighting for their beloved daughter to get a place in the school. There were operations scheduled for her but they have been delayed. Meanwhile, psychologists said that she would need to mix with other children to have normal development.
According to Mirror UK, the staff at the school told her mother Svetlana Zakharova, "First, you need to arrange an operation so she can go to nursery school like an ordinary child." A local charity called Rainbow of Goodness has been fighting for the family who just wants to be able to send their little girl to school but the school has been persistent in their demand. The family also said that they receive no disability benefits for their little girl.
According to Metro UK, Sofya’s grandfather Sergei Mikhailov said, "They have such a catastrophe here. They said they would do the operation, but then were silent about this."
Ekaterina Belan, an educational psychologist, told local media, "The sooner she gets the experience of interactions, the easier it will be for her to cope with the conditions in which she lives and grows. The more interactions she gets, the easier it will be for her to accept herself for who she is."
Not only is the family of three going through hardships because of the school but they are also living in a house with no running water, stove, or central heating. They live with her grandparents currently. Local authorities have started investigating why the school did not accept her and why her operation has been delayed multiple times. They are also trying to find a new home for Sofya.
Head of the Republic of Bashkortostan Radiy Khabirov said that officials visited the family and they are trying to find them a house so that they are not forced to spend the winter in a cold house. "I understand that if it were not for the intervention of the charitable foundation, there would have been no meetings on this and no relocation. It's already clear that the rights of the child and parents are violated, and there will now be an appropriate legal assessment," he said, according to Daily Mail. He added that he would personally make sure that authorities are on track with it.
References:
mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/disabled-girl-banned-nursery-her-20174097
https://metro.co.uk/2019/09/26/girl-2-banned-nursery-deformed-skull-scare-children-10809982/
