The Principles and Objectives of Education
- Equal access to education without any discrimination
- Consideration of the educational needs of the individual
- Mutual regard, respect, solidarity and dignity
- General development of the personality with an emphasis on cognitive, social, ethical, moral and spiritual
values
The Rights of Children, Pupils and Students with Special Educational Needs
- The right to education with the content, forms and methods corresponding to the needs and potential of these persons, including evaluation, admission and completion of education
- The right to have the conditions created for education
- The right to the counselling assistance of the school
- The right to the assistance of an educational counselling facility
- The right to the free use of special textbooks, special didactic and compensation aids provided by the school
- The right to education through alternative forms of communication (sign language, writing in Braille etc.)
- The possibility of the extension of secondary or higher education by the school’s principal
The Definition of Children, Pupils and Students with Special Educational Needs
- A person with special educational needs is a person with a chronic health condition, physical handicap or social disadvantage
- A chronic health condition may be a mental retardation, physical disability, visual and/or hearing impairment, speech impediments, autism, simultaneous multiple disabilities, learning or behavioural developmental disorders
- A physical handicap may be a physical impairment, long-term illness and mild mental-health disorders leading to learning and behavioural problems
- A social disadvantage may be a family background with a low socio-cultural position, court-ordered institutional
care or education in a juvenile correction institution, having refugee status or being an asylum-seeker
Placement in Special Education
- Special Education is provided for pupils who have been determined to have special educational needs on the basis
of special pedagogical, or psychological, examination by an educational counselling facility or a specialised
health-care workplace with the resultant recommendation being issued by an educational counselling facility
- Special Education is also provided to students placed at schools established as a part of educational
institutions providing institutional care or care in juvenile correction institutions
Forms of Special Education
- Individual integration
- in a normal school (preferably, if the school has the prerequisites)
- in a special school for another handicap
- Group integration
- in a class or section of a normal school
- in a class or section of a special school
- Education in a separate school for pupils with a chronic health condition (a special school)
- A combination of all three above-described forms
ALL OF THIS IS CONDITIONED BY THE AGREEMENT OF THE PARENTS OR LEGAL GUARDIANS
The Organisation of Special Education
- The form and content are modified according to the pupil’s needs
- Special education and support are ensured by the school
- In a special school, section or class, pupils of two or more forms can be placed together
- In classes, sections and groups for pupils with a severe health condition, educational activity can be simultaneously ensured by three pedagogical employees, one of whom is a teacher assistant
- For the preparation of education of children with severe mental retardation, multiple disabilities or autism, a preparatory stage of special elementary school can be established
- The placement of a pupil in a school into which he/she is to be placed may be preceded by a diagnostic stay, namely for 2 to 6 months.
- The pupil’s placement in the regimen of special education, should there be significant changes in his/her special educational needs, shall be re-examined by an educational counselling facility, which, if need be, proposes revisions of the regimen.
- The non-placement of a pupil with a chronic health condition into one of the forms of special education shall be reported by the principal of a normal school or special school to the pupil’s parents or legal guardians, the regional authority and the municipality in which the pupil permanently resides.
Framework Education Programmes (FEPs) and School Education Programmes (SEPs)
- set specific objectives, forms, the length and the compulsory educational content
- must correspond to the latest knowledge on effective methods and organisation of education appropriate to the age and development of the child
- set the descriptions of material, personal, economic and safety conditions under which instruction is
implemented
Individual Education Plan (IEP)
- The IEP is prepared in cooperation with an educational counselling facility and the pupil’s parents or legal guardians or the adult pupil usually before the pupil’s placement in the school, however no later than one month after the pupil’s admission to the school or after the determination of the special educational needs of the pupil
- The IEP can be complemented and revised throughout the academic year as needed
- The IEP is to be prepared under the guidance of the school’s principal, who is responsible for it and for acquainting the pupil’s parents or legal guardians or the adult pupil with it
- The observance of the approaches is monitored and the measures set in the IEP are evaluated by an educational counselling facility, which provides counselling support to the pupil, school as well as the pupil’s parents or legal guardians
- The IEP is prepared primarily for
- the individually integrated pupil
- the pupil with profound mental retardation
- or for a pupil who is integrated in a group or for the pupil of a special school
- The IEP builds on
- the school education programme of the relevant school
- the conclusions of the psychological and special pedagogical examination of an educational counselling facility
- the statement of the paediatrician or other specialist with whom the pupil is registered (e.g. clinical psychologist, speech therapist if the child has been in his/her long-term care)
- the statement of the pupil’s parents or legal guardians or the adult pupil
Supportive Measures in Special Education
- special methods, forms and approaches
- special textbooks
- didactic materials
- compensation aids
- rehabilitation aids
- the inclusion of subjects of special educational care
- reduced number of pupils in the class, section, study group
- the services of a teacher assistant
- other possible adjustments according to the IEP
- the provision of pedagogical-psychological services
Teacher Assistant
- Main activities
- help pupils in adapting to the school environment
- help the pedagogical staff of the school in enlightenment and educational activitie
- help in communication with the pupils, in cooperation with parents or legal guardians and the community from
which the pupil comes
- The teacher assistant is an employee of the school, and the school’s principal requests the establishment of this job post from the school’s founding entity
Schools for Children, Pupils and Students with Special Educational Needs
- The following are founded with the agreement of the region (excluding schools established by the ministry) for
persons with a chronic health condition:
- independent schools with revised SEPs
- within normal schools (including preschools)
- individual (special) classes
- individual (special) sections
- individual (special) study groups
- special elementary schools (with the SEP revised according to the appendices of the FEP for pupils with mental retardation, autistic children and pupils with multiple disabilities
- The principal can establish the post of teacher assistant with the agreement of the founding entity
Educational Counselling Facilities
- ensure activities and services for children, pupils, students and their parents or legal guardians, schools, educational institutions.
- include:
- special pedagogical
- pedagogical-psychological
- preventive-educational
- information
- diagnostic
- counselling
- methodological
- aid in the selection of suitable educational approaches
- cooperate with the organs of social-legal protection, health-care facilities, courts, etc.
