The ONCE Foundation organises a seminar on inclusive education,19-23 July 2010
To humanise education, adapting it to people, accepting pupils exactly as they are, valuing their efforts and eliminating teachers’ prejudice; these are amongst the goals identified in the conclusions drawn up at the seminar “Inclusive Education: more and better jobs for people with disabilities”, organised by the ONCE Foundation at Menéndez Pelayo International University in Santander on 19-23 July 2010.
The seminar, which was cofinanced by the European Social Fund, brought together professionals, pupils, public authorities, representatives from civil society organisations and European Commission bodies to exchange ideas and thoughts about how to improve educational and employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
“Schools alone cannot develop inclusive education; it needs open learning and measures to strengthen links with the world of employment. Inclusive education is for everyone, and we all have to build it together”, said Rosa Peñalver, Education Ministry Director-General for Assessment and Regional Cooperation, at the seminar opening.
The five-day programme included a number of talks, including one by Pablo Pineda, the first person with Down syndrome in Europe to obtain a university degree, who called for measures to “humanise education and adapt it to people, rather than the other way around.”
Developing this theme, having described his own experience as a student, Pineda stressed that, if education is to be inclusive, “it is important that teachers have no prejudices when it comes to educating people with disabilities”.
The conclusion was also reached at the seminar that a law is needed that requires universities to provide all necessary measures to ensure that they can accommodate students with disabilities appropriately, and that funding should be reduced for any university that fails to comply with this legislation.
Emphasis was also placed on the fact that integration into employment for people with disabilities is a priority in European Union policy, and that to promote this it is essential to identify the keys to the success of countries that have made the most advances in this direction and to compile examples of good practice that other States can adopt.
Presentation of the European Network on Inclusive Education
The seminar also included the presentation of the European Network on Inclusive Education . As Javier Güemes, expert of European programmes at the ONCE Foundation, pointed out, this initiative “places on the table important and useful measures that can help to bring about changes in the field of inclusive education and help to improve the employability of people with disabilities”.
It is hoped that the members of this new network will pool their experiences and put forward proposals for actions to exchange good practices in the field of inclusive education. The project forms part of the Transnational Cooperation activities of the ONCE Foundation’s “Por Talento” programme, which is cofinanced by the European Social Fund.
- The news at the ONCE Foundation website
