1st EBU International Conference on Education, 19-23 July 2000, Montegrotto Terme (Padua) - Italy
In the modern world, marked by dynamic scientific, technological and social development, every person, also a visually impaired individual, has an undeniable right to education and effective communication at all possible levels. This can be achieved with the use of advanced access technology, recently applied by numerous countries.
The community of visually impaired persons has always been confronted with difficulties in accessing information, which has a significant impact on their education process. Therefore, this group should, more than any other, develop an active attitude to education on the one hand, but on the other, visually impaired persons in education should receive reasonable support from teachers, families, local authorities and, last but not least, organisations.
Full participation in life, including its social aspect and a vocational career, requires a disabled person's integration in society. In order to arrive at successful integration, it is necessary to start the process as early as possible, even before primary school. There is, however, some controversy around school integration of totally blind children. The arguments are related to such factors as age of a pupil, living environment and especially class of locality (rural/urban area), technical aids available at school and at home, as well as teachers' background and experience with the blind.
Following the literature, there are four parties actively involved in the process of education of an able-bodied child: the student, the school, the parents and the respective local authorities. In the case of disabled pupils it is also necessary to note an increasing role of organisations and associations, disregarded for quite a long time.
It should be pointed out that organisations usually associate the most active disabled individuals who have reached a high level of education, independence and social integration. Thus it could be worthwhile considering the role of NGOs in the process of education and school integration of the blind.
Let us recall one of the well-known pedagogical theories according to which an impaired body organ or sense is compensated for by an efficient one. As for blind persons, sight is, to a certain degree, substituted by all the remaining four senses: hearing, touch, smell and taste. In this way the affects of disability are partly reduced and further improvement can be achieved through rehabilitation which should be started as early as possible.
There is one more important factor inhibiting the consequences of blindness, namely, education. The role of education for visually impaired persons cannot be overestimated as education provides the means to acquire both knowledge and working skills which, in turn, help to get satisfactory employment - one of the best sources of self-assurance and ways of integration in society.
So there is no exaggeration whatsoever in the statement that for a blind or partially sighted person it is education that compensates best for lack of vision or visual impairment and to a great extent determines a successful life.
As was already mentioned, there are four parties directly involved in the education process of a healthy child: the pupil, the school, the family and the respective authorities (central or local). In the case of visually impaired students there is one more partner having significant influence on successful education i.e. non-governmental organisations of visually impaired persons.
Blind adults, members of associations and organisations, can contribute with something that any other party cannot offer, namely, personal experience of a blind individual gained throughout childhood and youth to reach an independent life. Such persons can best assess the knowledge and level of rehabilitation through the looking-glass of their own success and failure. That is why they can make all those involved in the education process apprehend what corrections should be made or changes introduced.
Associations and organisations of the blind and partially sighted may have an effect on all the other cooperating parties even if they do not run or supervise schools or education centres.
Over the last decade there has been a clear trend, especially in highly developed countries, towards integration of visually impaired persons in the area of education and employment. Integration, however, requires increased initiative and involvement of each of the parties listed above in order to ensure better access of the blind to information. This is the area of activity that the EBU Commission on Education examined in the questionnaire survey.
In October 1998 the EBU Commission on Education undertook to carry out a questionnaire survey among the member states with the aim of examining education opportunities for the blind and partially sighted in various European countries. The Commission received 14 answers from the largest (sometimes the only) organisations of and for the blind. Among the respondents there was one umbrella organisation (from Belgium) and one national institute for the blind (from UK). The organisations represent both big countries with high living standards and well-developed social security systems (such as Italy, Germany or the United Kingdom) as well as small ones some of which have just appeared on the map of Europe (e.g. Moldova). There is also a group of Central European countries in transition (including the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland), confronted with dynamic political, economic and social transformation which has a tremendous impact on the problems of disability and education. In this situation, even though the number of respondents was not significant, the description provided by the questionnaires seems to be quite comprehensive and representative for Europe as a whole.
The questionnaire consisted of 9 questions. Let us discuss the answers in detail in a consecutive order trying to adopt a comparative approach.
Do you see the necessity and/or chance of your organisation to get involved in the educational process of the blind and visually handicapped in your country?
Nearly all the organisations (13 out of 14) see the necessity and/or chance to get involved in the educational process of the blind and visually handicapped.
Does your organisation provide any assistive services to blind and partially sighted pupils such as recording or transcription services, provision of equipment, counselling to pupils or parents, legal help, other?
The vast majority of the respondents provide assistive services to blind and partially sighted pupils, except one organisation which does not and another one which renders such assistance indirectly, through local agencies. The most commonly provided services are those suggested in the questionnaire, and thus as many as 12 countries declare recording and transcription of materials, provision of equipment as well as counselling to pupils and parents, while 9 organisations provide legal help.
Some countries also ensure a much wider range of services, just to mention music training (Greece), specialisation and refresher courses for teachers of visually impaired students (Hungary), summer schools for students (Poland), programmes of short breaks and educational holidays for students and families or assessment of pupils in specialist areas (UK).
Do you run or supervise a school, training or rehabilitation centre for blind and visually handicapped individuals?
There are two countries (Moldova and UK) where blind organisations run both schools and rehabilitation centres, while two others (Greece and Spain) run schools only. 6 countries declared that they had their own rehabilitation centres and 4 countries reported that their schools and rehabilitation centres were not linked to blind organisations.
Do you provide guidance or consultation to an institution of learning, training or rehabilitation centre for blind and visually handicapped individuals?
In the majority of cases (11 countries) such guidance or consultation is provided by the organisations interviewed.
However, the remaining 3 countries do not perform this task.
Do you have any consultative or legal influence in the policymaking concerning the education of the blind and visually handicapped in your country?
The answer of all the 14 organisations was "yes", but some of them admit that the only authority they refer to is the Ministry of Education.
Do you participate in the training of teachers or other support staff for the education of the blind and visually handicapped in your country?
In 9 countries the organisations of the blind either participate in staff training or organise such courses themselves. The remaining countries entrust this task to other institutions.
Are there any services (provided by the local authority, regional authority, health authority, etc.) that co-operate with mainstream schools in order to complete the education of the visually impaired?
According to 7 respondents the local authorities do not show any initiative in this area and one just skipped the question. However, in the other 6 countries the role of the local authorities in supporting education of the blind and partially sighted is significant. For example, in Italy teachers and readers are employed all over the country to help blind students to do their homework. Moreover, local authorities subsidise camps for young children with their family members as the guides. In the United Kingdom support given by each local authority varies enormously in size and quality. In Belgium regional authorities provide funds to pay for technical aids in mainstream education, but this kind of assistance is not available for special schools. Assistant staff are also partially paid in mainstream education.
In Germany the situation is quite similar. Local governments subsidise children in integrated schooling. There are special support teachers who help pupils in classes.
In Turkey local authorities provide such assistance as talking books and transportation to and from school.
Do families have to share expenses for the education of their children or is education free of charge?
In all the countries participating in the survey education is free in state schools. In certain cases parents have to cover part of the cost of education, e.g. books or insurance. In private schools the tuition fees are to be paid by the parents and the amounts vary from school to school.
Please add any other comments and remarks you care to make concerning your role in the educational process for the blind and visually handicapped in your country.
Only 7 respondents chose to complete their reply with additional comments. The Czech Republic attached 5 appendixes providing valuable details.
There are a few conclusions to be drawn on the basis of the above analysis:
Additionally, the majority of the countries issue information leaflets and brochures for parents and organise short training courses for family members. Legal consultation and assistance is also commonly offered by the associations of the blind. So it seems obvious that school integration would be impossible without active and wide participation of blind organisations.
The questionnaires have revealed a wide range of effective actions performed by different organisations of the blind all over Europe. Some of them are closely related to the economic situation of a given country and its administrative division. However, a large group of activities is universal and can be adopted by other countries. They include:
In order to achieve all the above goals it would be worthwhile to establish a common ground for discussion, exchange of ideas, information and experience on an international scale.
One of the areas of such international co-operation could involve the assistance of EU countries to those applying for membership in finding co-operating partners and raising funds for education and rehabilitation programmes. It seems that the EBU Commission on Education could have a leading role in designing such projects.
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