Contributions from: Polvonazar Atadjanov - Special School for the Blind, Uzbekistan.
Abstract
The problem of Integration is one of the most actual and largest, which links two centuries, present and near future. It is known that people are social beings, and everyone's individuality is connected with the way they are included in the social life.
The main factors which provide inclusive education are: Democratic legislation; Development of the Mechanism of the Market Economy; Demographical situation. Methodology of Equal Development for children with different abilities to receive information, proceed it and use it.
Level of qualification of the staff working with disabled children. Coordination efforts between specialists, parents and volunteers. Analysing in practice the educational needs of the children with disorders in Uzbekistan, we concluded that the ways of development of inclusive education, for different disorders are also different.
Presently, in our Republic we are preparing a new rehabilitation programme for handicapped people, during the next five years (till 2006). This programme includes the plan for inclusive education in few directions: learning disabilities, hearing disabilities, visual disabilities, mental disabilities, and multi disabilities. The most difficult and new part of this programme is concerning the young people with special needs who are preparing for a future profession.
The problem of integration is one of the biggest and actual problems which conects two centuries and two mileniums together. It is known that men is a social being, and his individuality opens through social entries in the social life from an early age. History of development in Uzbekistan has very interesting samples. This examples proove varity of forms of the integrative education, which always had a place in the Republic. This forms are not dependent on the official educational polices. Analises of the local and international materials regarding this problem, show that the main factors which provide integrative education are:
In every asspect listed above, the Republic has its own achievements and problems, which have to be solved in particular. On the level of the development of the sistem of legislation, the Republic of Uzbekistan accepted a law concernig social security for invalids. This was on the first year of Independece, 18th of November, 1991. This law emphasizes that: '... middle education, high education and lower education of the invalids should be fullfiled in all of the institutions of education, and if necessary, in the special schools'. (Article No.21)
Six years later, in 29th of August 1997, the Parlament of Uzbekistan accepted the law about education which says: 'For children and teenagers with phisical and pshicological abnormalities, should be organised special educational institutions.' (Article No.23) 13th of May, 1988, the Cabinet of the Ministers of the Republic, accepted the statuses about regular middle education in the Republic, and also about full middle and special professional education. The statuses above are very valuable in the sistem of education. However, they do not reflect the ways of regulation of the process of the constant education for the youth with special needs, as a special organised process.
Because of the necesity for official recognision of the conditions of organising education for the special children, the Department for Special Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan issued an amendament about education for children and youth with abnormalities. In this ammendament, it is reflected a whole complex of rules and rights for the regulation of education for the group mentioned above.
For example: the acknowledgement for special educational needs and forms of teaching for children with special needs, teaching the personell, programs and methodology for the process of education.
Although voted by the different societies for the deaf, the blind, and the invalids, this ammendament was not accepted by the Ministry of Education. This made a barrier in the relationship between the Ministry of Public Education and the Ministry of Special Secondary and High Education, thus the Integrative Education.
From one side, most of the invalid children, lived and studied separatelly from the normal children, which makes us talk about the need of socialisation for the invalids in our society. On the other side, the process of integration became a reality in the life of our society. Children with abnormalities of speech and hearing, etc. are already studying in the special groups, but in schools for normal children. (Examples- Kindergarten No.40 Tashkent, 17 Kindergartens in Namangan area, 15 in Tashkent area etc.) About 2000 children are already involved in integrative education. In the future we are planning on developing the process of integration, especially if the ammendament mentioned above will be accepted. This will serve in the interest of the 70% of the children who live in the province. Uzbekistan includes 447,5 thousands sq.km, but even if it is equal to the theritory of France, the density it is different, and it is conected to the fact of existent deserts and ecological problematic lands. Difficulty of long distances transport for children with special needs, and also the expense of travelling etc, leads to exclusion of some children from the process of education. Some children have to live for months in the school dormatories, without seing their families, because of the lack of travell expenses.
This situation is especially traumatic for the children with deep mental and pshiclological disorders, such as Dawn sindrome etc. The instructions of the Ministry of Social Affairs, require for the children to be registred in the internats, which brings difficulties in the return of the child back to his family, as the child has no more official right to live in his own home. The child thus becomes a property of the goverment, and doesn't belong to his parents. Special pedagogs in the Republic, parents of children with abnormalities, still have to work on the society and the govermental structers, by explaining the conditions of the special education. We don't need teritories with high fences, to exclude the children from the society. Together with the lawyers, we could make according with the legislation, certain documents which will be recongnised in the present, for better ways of integration and education, which at the moment is contradictory.
* Uzbekistan, like any other country from the ex Soviet Union, it's been for the last 10 years in a program of economical reorientation. Those very few factories which were supplying special technology for better special education, are not managing to supply all the needs. Cans for the blind, hearing aparats, special paper for the blind, wheel chairs, etc, come to Uzbekistan from other countries, but are not enough, since the need is higher than the supply.
Practically, we are totally dependent on the outside supply. This slows down the development of the process of integration.
In February 1998, in Uzbekistan was accepted a new SNIP. According to this, each enterprise should agree together with the society for the invalids. Also there were received different projects for the invalids, but in the present, the invalids are active by themselves in creating conditions for development in society. The first results are already obvious.
The city started to be adapted for the needs of the invalids, especially in the public places. Still, the sistem is not yet fully developed for education. Blind children, and children with fizical disorders can not be included in normal schools, because of lack of certan infrastructure and transportability.
The development of the economical mechanism of the local production and different support fundations, foreign relations and conections, and including of the invalids in it, should play a positive role in the future.
* The population of the Republic is about 24 milion people. 60% is younger than 18 years old. According with the demographical situation, the normal classes in school consist from 35-50 people. With such an ammount, the teacher can not provide attention for the special children. To give full educational material to the abnormal children, should be provided by additional education from the side of the parents, or special pedagog which should be included or employed by the parents. Throught the initiative of the parents, inclusive education in one class of the normal school, on different levels, prooved the necesity of a corectional teacher in the regular education of the children with special needs. If the parents have the posibilities to provide such measures, a special child could finish a normal school. For right now, to provide such corectional conditions it is not financially feazeable for the goverment. But by giving rights and possiblities to the parents and volunteers, it provides the practice of education for special and normal children in one classroom. The organs of education are paying special attention to practice of developing special groups and classes with a small ammount of children in secular schools. In such conditions, the teacher provides corectional education by the special program, and the special children have a chance to socialise with their peers. Also they have a chance to receive fellowship, love, attention etc, and the normal children receive regular positive and objective outlook on life. For now, such projects are not numerous, but priorities. Special pedagogy based on the ideas of L. C. Vigotsgovo, answers on the question about how to unite the children who have different possibilities. The child needs special regime for adaptation of educational and social integration. This child needs special observation from the team of specialists, for predicting abnormalities in development etc.
* Methodology of education for children with special needs was made by the team of different intelectuals from the ex Soviet Union, and was translated in the languages of the Union. Even now, it is usefull for the whole World. Uzbeksitan put it's input and tried this methodics as well. In our times, the Republic is oriented on developing the methodology which was made during the Soviet Union times. The programs, standards, methodics, are adapted and translated in the Uzbek language. Different international materials are translated and adapted to Uzbekistan.
* One of the biggest problems of Uzbekistan since a long time it is providing the personell for the special education. The numbers of specialists from Universities for the last 10 years, decreased four times. Also the active migration of the specialists and the demographical deformation. More than half of the graduating students for the special education, do not work in their speciality. At last, the Republic has a very high defecit in special educated personell.
According with the law from the Cabinet of Ministers No.203, 13th of May 1999, in Uzbeksitan was created the Republican Center for Diagnostics and ProOrientation. 211 filials of this center are located in all the regions and cities of the Republic. Constantly active comisions, include the work of a team of:
The goals of this center are to provide coordination of the methodological, financial and informational pshicodiagnosis, and the support of the children according to their abilities. The deficit of personell in this structure leads to the lack of diagnostical functions of the Center, and they are doing the same work as the medico pshicological pedagogs comissions which already exist in the National education. This leads to a dubble work which actually stops the process of integration, because the role of the medical psichological comission is to provide the special schools with students.
* Over the last years, the NPO is growing, including foreign and local representatives. Experience showed over the last year, that not one NPO project could pass without the counsel and participation of the govermental structures. Mainly it is conected with disabilities to move the projects through the administrative and birocratical labirints in the govermental system. The development between the govermental and non govermental structures, like professionals and volunteers, in solving the problems of the invalids, became a reality. For example, the Republican Center of Education works with 15 projects from international socities, which mainly are providing administrative and informational support.
Any integrative process, even a camp for normal and special children, or a regional program for inclusive education, requires the joining together of sourses of information, finances, personell, etc. This objective reality shows the main perspective and strategy for the development of inclusive education in Uzbeksitan for the future. No matter what combination of govermental and non govermental structures in integrating the invalids from the young age, will help the society to realisticly move ahead by the way of national unity, humanity and democracy!
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