In cooperation with the People with Disability Care Office at An-Najah, the Students Union Council organized an honoring ceremony for the students with disability at the Martyr Zafer Al-Masri Auditoriums at the Old Campus. Attendees included Prof. Maher Abu Eid, Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Mr. Samer Aqrouq, Director of the People with Disability Care Office, Iyad Dwaikat, in addition to others.

In the ceremony, Prof. Abu Eid pointed out the great efforts that the students with disability have made and the excellence they have shown in their academic performance which allows them to enter the work field fully prepared. He also pointed out the 5% of the employees working at An-Najah are with disabilities.

Moreover, Prof. Abu Eid spoke about the efforts that the University makes in order to serve this group of people and give them the chance to contribute to the development of the University and their country side by side with other Palestinians. For this purpose the University has established a special office dedicated to these people and their issues; it also created a special fund for them which offers scholarships that enables them to continue their study. A special computer lab designed for the visually impaired was also established to facilitate their access to the computer. More than 51 Braille language-based courses were also made available to these students.

In addition to this, Prof. Abu Eid explained that the University has paid considerable attention to providing the students with disability with all support to facilitate their movement inside the University through establishing special facilities that makes their movement between the different parts of the University easy and safe.

Hala Jarrar spoke about the experience of the students with disability in university life and thanked all the students who cooperated with their colleagues with disabilities with whatever they needed. She also thanked the University for its efforts to support and guarantee the rights of this group of people.

Mr. Aqrouq said that the number of students with disability at An-Najah grew from 9 back in 2008 to more than 68 in 2011 attributing this increase to the many facilities and efforts that the administration of An-Najah made to create a more suitable environment for these students to study and excel.

In the ceremony, a short documentary was screened titled “The Breeze of Will” by Ala’ Al-Shanti, a student from the Faculty of Media, which described the will that the people with disability possess which enables them to overcome all obstacles and challenges of life. The film also told the story of Mustafa Al-Jouhari, a visually impaired student who excelled in his university study and now works as a presenter of programs that target the people with disability.

At the end of the ceremony, Prof. Abu Eid and Mr. Aqrouq were honored for their substantial efforts to support this group of people. The students with disability were also honored at the conclusion of the event.