We ring the bell 2022 in India

We Ring the Bell

A worldwide initiative of the Liliane Foundation that runs in 20 countries to raise awareness for the right to education for children with disabilities.

Right to education for all children

Since 2021 – annually – thousands of children, teachers, and parents ‘ring the bell’: they make as much noise as possible to ensure that everybody knows that all children have the right to education, including children with disabilities. The message of our awareness campaign reaches a large number of local leaders and government officials every year.

In March, April, and May of 2022, thousands of children at schools in Africa, Asia, and Latin America rang the bell again, together with the Liliane Foundation. By making a lot of noise, we drew attention to the urgent fact that many children with a disability are unable to, not allowed to, or do not dare to go to school.

This year, we will Ring the Bell during GCEs Global Action Week for Education (GAWE), which takes place from place the 29th of May – 2nd of June 2023. We focus on Inclusive Play-based Early Childhood Education (IPECE).

Research has shown that Early Childhood Education is crucial to the development of children and benefits them and society for their whole lives. Especially for children with disabilities the benefits can be tremendous! We are campaigning for the acceleration of IPECE, highlighting the importance of making it inclusive from the get-go, because inclusion is not an add on, but a transformation from within!

Disability awareness India

Mary lives in India. She was born with cerebral palsy. At school, people did not acknowledge her, and teachers took no interest in her studies. The “We Ring The Bell” Campaign increased disability awareness among her teachers, Mary says. Now, she is treated equally by her teachers. They always help her and appreciate her for who she is.

Sign language training Togo

At high schools in Bè-Plage and Agbalépédogan in Togo, students with a hearing impairment often drop out because there are no teachers with specific skills to help them. After the “We Ring The Bell” campaign in 2018, both high schools made up a list of teachers who voluntarily wanted to receive training in sign language. The parent associations of the schools inserted a budget line in the annual budget to financially support these teachers in making education more inclusive at their schools.

Disability rights Vietnam

At the Ngoc My A primary school in Vietnam, officials, the school board, teachers, students, and parents learned about the rights of children with disabilities during the “We Ring The Bell” campaign. Evaluation after two months showed clear improvements in disability awareness and inclusion at the school: children with disabilities felt less timid and alienated and had more positive interactions with their peers without a disability.