International Day of Persons with Disabilities: #TeacherKids - the school where teachers are children with disabilities

On the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, on December 3rd, Humanity & Inclusion (HI) and its global ambassador Neymar Jr. are inviting the general public, as well as teachers and their pupils, to take part in the #Teacherkids operation. This awareness-raising campaign aims to change the way we see children with disabilities and to show that they have a lot to teach us. By doing so, HI hopes to draw attention to the plight of 32 million children with disabilities around the world who are unable to access education and to develop their full potential.  

At the Teacher Kids school

Many children with disabilities around the world are too often victims of prejudice and unable to go to school. To challenge stereotypes, HI has launched #Teacherkids - the first virtual school where children with physical, sensorial or intellectual disabilities are the teachers.
The campaign highlights the talents and skills children with disabilities can teach other children. It aims to show that everyone has something to teach, and that children with disabilities must have access to school in order to develop their potential and to build a future for themselves.

The public is invited to visit the virtual school at www.teacherkids.org where they can learn to sing, express themselves in sign language, do relaxation exercises and more by watching tutorials posted by children in Cambodia, Togo, Kenya, France and other countries. 

More than 20,000 people have already visited the Teacher Kids website, launched on 29th October in conjunction with HI’s ambassador, footballer Neymar Jr. The video launching the campaign, starring Neymar Jr., has already been watched more than three million times. 

Take part in Teacher Kids

Children with disabilities and their parents can share a lesson by posting a short video, which will then be made available on the campaign’s website (www.teacherkids.org).

To create a tutorial, it’s simple:

• Ask a child if they would like to share their special, surprising or amusing talent with other children. The talent does not have to be linked to their disability. The aim is for the kids who watch the tutorial to learn something interesting that they can use in their everyday lives. 
• Film the child giving the lesson, on a mobile phone or camera. The video should be no more than two minutes long.
• Post the video on your social media platforms with the #Teacherkids hashtag. 

The tutorial will be identified by the HI team and posted on the Teacher Kids website. 

32 million children with disabilities don’t have access to school

Thirty-two million children with disabilities around the world do not have access to education due to a lack of support or appropriate teaching methods, and inaccessible school facilities (stairs, for example).

HI has been campaigning for accessible schools for all children, whatever their disability, since 2004. Thanks to HI’s innovative initiatives - travelling teachers and inclusive classes in mainstream schools, for example - 150,000 children with disabilities are enrolled in school in Togo, Burkina Faso, Nepal and other countries every year.

Footballer Neymar Jr.: first Teacher Kids student 

One of HI’s ambassadors, Neymar Jr., was keen to get involved in this cause by becoming its very first pupil. The footballer, who has 103 million followers on Instagram, took origami, sign language, dance and relaxation lessons with disabled children. The video featuring the footballer and a behind-the-scenes are available on the website. 

Moreover, Neymar Jr posted the Teacher Kids video on his social media (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) to share the campaign with his fans. 

On November 27, 250 students from the famous French school Polytechnique Paris-Saclay University also had the opportunity to benefit from a relaxation exercise taught by Pierre, a young man with Down Syndrome who participated in the campaign.

NOTE TO EDITORS

• Humanity & Inclusion spokespersons are available for interviews
• Photos available upon request 
• HD campaign video available upon request

PRESS CONTACT
Humanity & Inclusion (HI) UK
Marlene Manning
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44 (0)870 774 3737 | +44 (0)7508 810 520

About HUMANITY & INCLUSION (HI)
HI is an independent international aid organisation. It has been working in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster for 35 years.  Working alongside people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups, our actions are focused on responding to their essential needs, improving their living conditions, and promoting respect for their dignity and basic rights. Since it was founded in 1982, HI has set up development programmes in more than 60 countries and intervenes in numerous emergency situations.

The network of eight national associations (Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States) work constantly to mobilise resources, jointly manage projects and to increase the impact of the organisation’s principles and actions. HI is one of six founding organisations of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 and winner of the Conrad N. Hilton Award in 2011.

Humanity & Inclusion is the new name of Handicap International.

About NEYMAR JR. and NEYMAR JR. INSTITUTE
Neymar Jr. became HI's Global Ambassador at an event in Geneva on 15 August 2017. From the top of Broken Chair, the city's iconic monument, on Place des Nations, Neymar Jr. appealed to the nations of the world to create a society more inclusive of people with disabilities. To symbolise his message, he kicked a football featuring the Handicap International logo down the Allée des Drapeaux leading to the Palais des Nations.

His commitment to HI reflects his work with communities in Brazil, where he set up the Instituto Projeto Neymar Jr. in Jardim Glória, Praia Grande, in 2014. The project is extremely important to the player's family, Neymar da Silva Santos, Nadine Gonçalves and their two children Neymar Jr. and Rafaella. This is where their children lived for part of their lives when they were growing up.

Instituto Neymar Jr. was set up to help children, teenagers and their families living in the region. This non-profit organisation now provides support to thousands of underprivileged children and their families in an 8,400-square-metre education and sports complex. The INJR organises a variety of artistic, sporting and educational activities for children, and works with the whole family. Parents also receive support from qualified professionals who can help them and their children become full members of the community, now and in the future.