A part of the parents of students with special educational needs (SENs) put up resistance to the educational inclusion of their children, while teachers consider these should be more open and should cooperate with support staff. The good practices and prospects in the implementation of inclusive education are discussed in a forum of teachers from regions in Chisinau during November 16-17, IPN reports.
Svetlana Cojocaru, principal of the kindergarten of Sirma village of Leova district, during 35 years of service managed to include 15 children. According to her, it is very good that inclusive education starts from the preschool education institution because the child there acquires the skills needed to integrate into society. The support and involvement of parents in the training process and their cooperation with teachers remain a problem. “The parents have fear and hide information about the state of children. Therefore, the educators need more time to know the child. The parents pay insufficient attention to children with SENs and allot not enough time even for play and the family’s attitude affects the child’s behavior,” stated Svetlana Cojocaru.
Cecilia Morohai, support teacher at the Theoretical Lyceum of Stefanesti, Floresti, said she has a rich experience in implementing inclusive education as the lyceum has worked on this since 2003, when the state policies weren’t well defined yet. Since then, a lot has been invested in the training of teaching staff. The success of the children with SENs consists not of academic results, but rather of small steps taken to socialize and get ready for life.
Victoria Isac, support teacher and psychologist at the Cantermir Secondary School “M. Eminescu”, noted that the children transferred from a residential environment to a family environment when they come to school are accepted by the other children as they are. In the education process, emphasis is placed on socialization. Among the faced problems is the absence in schools of such specialists as kinetotherapists and psychopedagogues, who can facilitate the process of inclusion of children with SENs.
Viorica Mart, senior consultant of the Ministry of Education’s General Education Division, said that after the inclusive education development program was adopted, effort has been made for the children with SENs to go to school and to raise awareness of communities and of children from community schools. They managed to eliminate the institutions for children with mental disabilities. “It was easier to reintegrate children from boarding schools. In the future, emphasis will be placed on the teachers’ capacity to socially integrate children. We are now in the process of piloting the inclusion of children with severe mental disabilities and identifying sources for outfitting the Resource Center for Children with Visual Impairments,” stated Viorica Mart.
Mariana Ynakevich, head of the Alliance of NGOs Active in the Field of Child and Family Protection, said the inclusion is a continuous process and the necessity of promoting inclusive education will not disappear when the residential system, especially the boarding schools, disappear. An inclusive school is a school that accepts all children, regardless of their race, religion, spoken language or disability. All the children should have the same type of access and should benefit from an education system that can be easily adjusted to the capacities of each child. The elimination of segregation between children is a first step towards ensuring the observance of human rights.
Inclusive education in Moldova started to be implemented in 2011, following the adoption of the inclusive education development program for 2011-2020. Until now, over 10,000 children with SENs have been integrated into community schools.
On November 17, the conference will continue with workshops and debates that will also involve parents of children with special educational needs.
