Taken from fatherhood today
"Ed School is not for everyone, so it would seem from this article. An Act of '94 has established that students with disabilities of various kinds have the right to attend mainstream schools "so that students can integrate with difficulty and not be ghettoized. As this law is at the forefront in Italy and around the world, is not supported by facts. The support teachers if there are missing or are replaced or moved frequently. Many parents of children with learning difficulties, are seriously considering abandoning the public school "normal" and return to enroll their children in 'special' schools.
This article discusses the reasons for this educational jungle "
Monica in Varese:" I tried for three years but this school is not for us. My daughter was aware of not being "normal" and lost self-esteem. For this reason, next year I will send a special school. I found a very nice with all kinds of support and qualified personnel, but mostly I saw children smiling, happy to be there. We believe in ' integration and are very ready to retrace my steps if things will change. " Adds Laura Vicenza, mother of an autistic child: "During playtime Simone is always alone, while his companions play on their own without involving him: is this integration? Last year my son has changed two assistant teachers. And to think he was making progress. Every teacher who leaves is a step backwards. If it finds one, it would send a special school with specialist teachers who understand why the boy punches him or banging his head. "
PARENTS disappointed - Laura and Monica are two entries from the pack, but the expression of a more widespread unease among parents, disappointed by a school that fails to welcome their children as 'special' because they lack the tools to do so. Overcrowded classrooms, teachers who work to support precarious position moving from one school to another, poor teacher training curriculum integration, barriers still not removed despite the pre-registration takes place 6-7 months before the start of the school year. And then, in recent months in battles of stamped paper and recommended shots, with appeals to regional courts to get the administrative support hours cut. So parents are convinced that their children could get better in specialized structures, and perhaps it is time to abandon the "school of all." Yet inclusive school is one of our country the most advanced in the world. For over 30 years has paved the way towards integration, exceeding by more ad hoc model of special schools, although the text only in '94 did not abolished.
Night Shift - A decade ago, about 5 000 students attended. Today there are still, even if you do not know how many. Lacks a census date because - they say the Ministry of Education - are now endangered. Some have changed their name, such as schools for the deaf. The main, for example, is called Institute of specialized education for the deaf (Isiss) and meets several state education institutions: childhood, primary, secondary and second degree. It is in Rome, Padua, Turin and receives about 500 pupils in 55 classes. Explains the head teacher Francesco Di Tullio, "In every class there are a maximum of 8 students, all deaf. It is specialized because the teaching is done with specific methodologies. All locations have computer and multimedia equipment, such as interactive whiteboards. There are also 'special' level playing field, such as the school Fortunata Gresner in Verona, the company run by the Sisters of Mary. Free until a few years ago, now pays an annual fee of 200 € for non-renewal of contracts with local authorities. It is organized and integrated into mainstream classes class groups of students with disabilities, with a program tailor- and opportunities for integration with non-disabled students. The property also provides other services such as speech therapy, physiotherapy and rehabilitation in water, meals, transportation centers, summer fun with an extension of the school year to 31 July. Other schools 'special' are diffuse patchy throughout Italy.
ENVIRONMENT 'NORMAL' or 'protected'? - "If the first were a tiny minority, are the rise again today because the parents do not find adequate answers in the school for their children - says Salvatore Nocera, vice president of the Italian Federation to overcome handicaps (Fish) -. They think, in fact, that may be less discrimination and better followed in special schools. " In short, more secure. Yet he chose because it was decided to include the integration of disabled children in a normal environment rather than protected. A choice of leading and winning, to say the experts. Explains Renzo Vianello, professor of developmental psychology and cognitive disabilities at the University of Padua and president of CNIS (National Coordination of specialist teachers): "It is true that in our country there are many problems, but the parents would make a serious mistake to send their children to "special". Decades of studies show that the variable "living in normality compensates for these defects than the alternative 'safe environment' special schools. We found, in fact, that children with Down syndrome included in regular classes have an IQ higher than their peers from other countries who attend special schools, but continues the expert -. The presence in the class of able-bodied children helps develop intelligence, but also has an effect "surplus" mental age, that is, than predicting the IQ tests, both are better academic performance and adaptive capacity in life ".
cost issues? - Add Raffaele Iosa, a school inspector in Emilia Romagna: "In Germany, where the boys down, placed in special schools, have a quotient intellectual 30% less than their Italian, he still spends twice as much to our country. " Already, the cost: they are really affecting the Italian education, jeopardizing even the school integration? "Surely the school system is experiencing a period of suffering and families are affected - the CGIL Lami says Benjamin School -. Decreased teacher presence, school time, while increasing the students in the classroom is able bodied and those with disabilities. But the return to special schools would be a remedy worse than the disease. "
CLASSROOMS CLASS overcrowded and 'H' - Current law provides that in a class with 20 to 25 students can be inserted only a disabled student, but if there are two disabled students, the class must be composed of fewer than 20 students. "No class that welcomes students with disabilities will be made up of more than 20 pupils and will not be cutting the number of support teachers," reiterated a statement issued last year by the Ministry of Education. "In fact, however, was not the case - argues Nocera -. The classes are a bit overcrowded 'everywhere. According to the same data of the Ministry, last updated in January, 5500 are well in classes where there are more than two pupils with special needs. " "In Campania, according to a monitoring Councillor education, there are over 950 classes of three or more students with disabilities and able-bodied students over 30 - adds Nocchetti Antonio, president of Tuttiascuola, an association of parents of disabled children -. The situation foreshadows a return to special classes. " Already at the beginning of the school year, the Fish had reported the presence of 5-6 in various Italian schools for disabled children concentrated in one class. It means that "teachers can hardly take care of students with disabilities whose parents want more support hours - Nocera notes -. But on the other hand, even an excess of hours would be contrary to integration. "
TRAINING WANTED - The disabled child, in fact, it should be borne by all the school team, as also provide for the ministerial guidelines. But training on disability issues is often lacking: only about 30% of school managers and teachers curriculum, according to 2006 data Invalsi (National Institute for the Evaluation of the Education and Training). "There is no obligation, so it happens that teachers unprepared integration problems downloading on colleagues for support. And if these do not exist or continue to change, parents are desperate rightly - says Paul Bands, support teacher and representative of the school committee precarious Liguria -. The lack of educational continuity, however, weighs more its most vulnerable children. "
HALVED SUPPORT - Another sore point: the hours of support halved. Parents have used the Tar throughout Italy, almost always resulting in the restoration of hours of support. Marisa Melis says the national forum "Parents tough in all places": "My daughter had 9 hours of support instead of 18 last year. I resorted to the TAR and won. Unfortunately, sometimes you have to meet up with school administrators who do not know the rules or do not want to apply it. For example, the assistant to personal hygiene is lacking almost everywhere. Who accompanies the child to the bathroom? For school employees were provided training courses, not being mandatory, they have made a few. "
JUDGEMENT OF THE COURT IN THE JOURNAL - To reaffirm the right to education of students with disabilities is also the Constitutional Court intervened. In a recent ruling, the No 80, February 26, declared illegal and the maximum limit for the posts of teacher support and the prohibition to hire fixed-term, notwithstanding the relationship between teachers and students established by the legislation, where there are severely disabled students in the classroom. The ruling was published in the Official Gazette on March 3 "The Court reiterates that there are budgets that take in the presence of a constitutional right, namely that the study - said Nocera -. Something must change, if not now, at least with the new school year. "
source: corriere.it
article by Maria Giovanna Faiella
