3rd Workshop on Training of Teachers of the Visually Impaired in Europe,
Warsaw, Poland, 3 - 6 April 2002
by mrs Elena Mendelova
Support Centre for Visually Impaired Students, Comenius University, FMFI
Slovak legislation makes integrated and segregated education of handicapped children equal at both normal and special schools. Parents can choose freely how their child will be educated.
This equality is more formal than actual because of these reasons:
This situation leads to unregulated (wild) integration when parents decide (often from economic reasons) that their handicapped child will stay at home and attend a mainstream school without taking into consideration their child's special needs and the situation in their local school. The results often is low achievement at school of children at basic schools and of children with no or unsatisfactory parent support.
In the area of special education of visually impaired (VI) in Slovakia there are several special classes at kindergartens, 2 special primary boarding schools (Bratislava and Levoča), 1 vocational school in Levoča and there is one semi-integrated school where pupils at basic level are educated in special classes and older pupils are integrated in mainstream classes with sighted classmates. One grammar school and one nurses school has special classes for VI.
Approximately (in years 1995 - 2000) 450 children were educated in special schools. Majority of VI children and students is individually integrated at mainstream schools. There is no exact official record of integrated VI. Official numbers from Institute for Information and Prognosis of Ministry of Education SR are significantly underrated, because the mainstream schools notify only of heavily impaired children. According to the estimate of SEACs there are 1800 - 2000 individually integrated VI pupils and students in Slovakia, who as a rule study without special support.
Since September 2001 a directive for registration of individually integrated SEN pupils in mainstream school (kindergartens, primary & secondary schools) has been in use. It should help SEN students and their teachers and ensure that they will be given methodical support and that equal conditions will be provided. According to this directive every handicapped student at mainstream school has to be in contact with SEAC which issues recommendation for his/ her integration. In co-operation with SEAC schools tailor an individual studying program for each VI pupil.
Since 1990 have worked 2 SEAC for visually impaired children. Nowadays there are about 38 SEAC and 7 Children-integrating centres (aimed at early and pre-school care) for children with all kinds of impairment in Slovakia. The SEAC work at special schools. These institutions are run by State Pedagogical Institute of Ministry of Education. Unfortunately, only in 11 of them have a qualified experts for VI issues. The staff of these centres should be prepared to support handicapped students and their teachers.
Most of the mainstream schools teachers who work with individually integrated VI pupils have no graduate or post-graduate SE.
There is no one institution that prepare mainstream schools teachers for work with VI pupils (specialized courses). Mainstream teachers can study special education at Faculty of Education of Comenius University Bratislava (a form of continuing education) and obtain a diploma of special educator.
In 1995 there was a Recommendation passed by the Ministry of Education to all Institutions of Higher Education (HEI) to be included in the curricula of the future teachers some basics in Special Education. Some of the faculties, especially those oriented in Pedagogy, are offering such courses (in 1 or 2 semesters) as non compulsory. However, very few students are attending them.
Nowadays there is a project in co-operation with the Netherlands still in process of approval. This project will be focusing in the preparation of mainstream school teachers to cover the need of integrating VI children. The specialized courses shall be run by local official education centres. Supervisors will be 2 SEAC for visually impaired (in Bratislava and Levoca).
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