Resource center for education and training "1. jun" in Podgorica is attended by 105 children with special educational needs, announced the director of that institution, Željko Darmanović, and added that the lack of special education teachers makes work difficult, but that they solve it with good organization.
Darmanović said that the number of students has slightly increased compared to last year when there were 101.
"In general, the number of students has fluctuated very little in recent years. But there is a smaller number of students compared to ten years ago, and this especially applies to children who are placed in boarding schools," said Darmanović to the MINA agency.
There are 15 children in the boarding school who are not from Podgorica and, according to Darmaović, there are fewer of them in the boarding school because now they are mostly educated in the place of residence.
He stated that after the reconstruction of the school through the energy efficiency project with the approval of the Ministries of Economy and Education, the space where the children stay is much more pleasant.
Darmanović, when asked why there is an increasing number of children attending inclusive classes in elementary schools than resource centers, said that it is more about the increased awareness of parents and the local community about the existence of children with special educational needs, than about the existence of prejudices.
"Parents more easily opt for schools in their place of residence, and regular schools are more open to enrolling such students." This is the reason for the larger number of children in regular schools than in the Resource Center," stated Darmanović.
He believes that there are no prejudices towards the Resource Center either, considering the number of children who attend individual treatments in that institution.
Darmanović cited the smaller number of children in the class and the continuous work of special education teachers who make up the teaching staff as advantages of the Resource Center.
"In addition, individual work with a speech therapist, psychomotor reeducator, psychologist is possible at least once a week, children have the option of using extended stay services," said Darmanović and added that they provide transportation from home to school and back for a large number of students.
As he pointed out, Reursni Center does not fall behind in extracurricular activities compared to other educational institutions, and participates in various manifestations.
"We cannot talk about the advantage of the Resource Center over the regular school and vice versa, but it is more a question of the needs of the specific child and which institution can better respond to those needs, so the educational work with the child should be planned accordingly," he explained. Darmanović.
He said that they cooperate with pre-school and school institutions, both in the form of joint activities and socializing, as well as that they are particularly oriented towards providing support to children with special educational needs in regular schools and kindergartens in the form of individual treatments by defectologists, speech therapists, psychomotor reeducators and psychologists. .
"Currently, this type of support is available for 33 children from regular schools and 42 children from preschool institutions", said Darmanović and added that the support is also reflected in the advisory work with teachers and the preparation of adapted material for work.
The biggest difficulty in the work of the Resource Center, according to him, is the smaller number of special education teachers than is needed.
"In certain departments, due to the specific needs of children, additional support in the form of assistants is necessary, which currently represents a difficulty in organizing work," added Darmanović.
Darmanović pointed out that for the time being, the problem of lack of professional staff is being solved by good organization.
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