The Ability to Change
The College of Ability Development (COA) in Khan Younis is an especially important source of support and learning in Gaza, as its focus is on bachelor degrees in special education and rehabilitation for disability, community rehabilitation, vocational training and psychological counseling.
What’s more, this important institution provides services to the surrounding community, including a library, sports hall, English language courses and other workshops.
A fairly new addition to Gaza, this college was established in 1995 and went on to win accreditation by the Ministry of Higher Education just two years later. As with each of the construction projects, the college’s main barrier to its growth is due to lack of space and facilities.
Working with Qatar Red Crescent (QRC), the original proposal submitted by the COA was heavily based on relief work and making slight improvements in the college’s study environment through adjustments to the old building.
QRC engineer Khaled Zidan took the initiative to go more in depth on the details of the College of Abilities development project with us this month.
"The original scope of the project was found to be in need for re-engineering as it required us to establish additional three classrooms, four rooms for supportive facilities, an external wall for the college and restoration of windows & toilets, in addition to upgrading the library. What we found was that the physical condition of the existing library wouldn’t allow for effective upgrading.”
He continued "Therefore the decision was made to construct a new two story building, that would satisfy all requirements and allow for proper future expansion. Consequently, the QRC team took the lead and produced suitable designs with the full package of tender documents including a master plan for the college."
Faced with the opportunity to improve, QRC and Al Fakhoora took the chance to make a significant transformation in the concept of the proposal, to make the best use of the space and budget in order to provide a more convenient and comfortable facility for the college and community it serves.
These changes also encouraged the administrative board of the college to apply for a new diploma program, which would be possible to have with the new buildings and various facilities available in the future.
The dean of the College of Abilities, Jean Calder, assured that the shift in the program's course made more sense and provided the college with highly appreciated and needed improvements.
She explained further "This is not a slight improvement in the “special” educational services provided at the college to create a cadre of teachers capable to deal with people with disabilities, it’s a great deal that will change a lot, starting with the quality of services our teachers are going to be able to provide for their students, it’s a first and that’s what makes the project unique and special, it will help us more effectively understand our student's needs. The students now will have a much more convenient environment to study, learn and focus on their classes, this encouraged us to double the recruitment for this specific category of student with disabilities to apply and join our college.” Calder added.
