Tiraspol, 19 October. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. A workshop on inclusive education for teachers of Russian-language schools has begun in Tiraspol. Its participants are teachers and head teachers of general education and boarding schools, representatives of municipal and district education authorities. Within two days they will learn to deal with the situation when there is a physically challenged child in class. Their colleagues from the University of Management TISBI will assist them in study. This Kazan-based university has become a federal experimental platform for inclusive education. For over 15 years the university has dealt with acoustically and visually challenged students, as well as with those with serious disorders of the musculoskeletal system.
As was noted by the adviser to the rector of the University of Management TISBI, Valentina Parubina, this approach has only advantages: children with disabilities find their way in life just like their healthy peers.
«We closely follow the further destiny of our students; we do not only promote their employment, but also follow them at their first job. And we can say with confidence there are no unemployed graduates among this category of students. This is difficult, hard. This is a serious problem, but we find a solution," she said.
The Kazan specialists keep on saying that inclusive education is the only way of adapting disabled children in society; it is this very method that allows them to enjoy nearly normal life
«It is our firm position that our children must study together, that the socialisation of these children is the only correct way in modern conditions so that they could become full-fledged members of society, so that they can serve themselves, so that they could realise their professional potential. And secondary school is the most efficient mechanism of socialising such children," said Valentina Parubina.
Our republic also helps children with disabilities. As head of the department of general education of the Ministry of Education Nikolay Baginsky said, Pridnestrovie has long been implemented the elements of inclusive education.
«This depends on the diagnosis of a child, if he can attend a general education class without substantial additional assistance. If, for example, a child suffers from musculoskeletal system disorders, he can attend ordinary schools with no major differences in height. We have plenty of examples where they [schools] are attended by children mild mental retardation. There are options of home-based education designed for children with more severe illnesses. They are visited by secondary school teachers," he explained.
In Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod and other Russian cities, inclusive education is no longer exotic and quite a mundane thing. But in Russia in general, according to experts, the picture is not uniform so far. The problem lies in public opinion, the willingness of society to take such children and adults as equals rather than look down at them, in every sense of this word.
«First of all, we must work with public opinion, helping parents, the mass media, society and business adopt the very ideas and principles of inclusive education," underscored the Russian education expert.
The participants of this workshop will also promote these ideas in our republic. As the workshop's organisers, among whom is also Rossotrudinchestvo, have promised, being the first, it may well become regular.
