Vujačić: Children with disabilities do not have the same quality of education as their peers

Children with disabilities in Montenegro are included in the educational process, but they do not have the same quality of education as their peers, said Marina Vujačić, executive director of the Association of Youth with Disabilities (UMHCG), while Dragan Mijušković, director of the Nikšić Gymnasium, emphasized that improving inclusion requires systemic improvement and better inter-sectoral cooperation.

Vujačić, in a podcast by the MINA agency, said that it is significant that inclusive education at the level of theory, that is, what is the strategic framework and commitment of the state, has been implemented in Montenegro for more than two decades.

She pointed out that it is not enough to talk about the accessibility of schools, which is still not sufficient, or about absenteeism in classes, which has been significantly improved, but is still not a complete segment of inclusion, because there is no individualized approach to each student.

"Our legislation is still not aligned with international standards, but we are lagging behind, we still have a more integrated approach - that children with disabilities are represented in the educational process, but that they do not have the quality of education that children without disabilities have, that is, that they do not receive equal opportunities to acquire educational qualifications that students without disabilities have," said Vujačić.

According to her, this happened because the attitude towards the phenomenon of disability and people with disabilities in general has not been transformed, and this is reflected in children as well.

"Certain segments of society view us as less capable of something, in this case education and certain educational profiles, which is why we still have a situation where we have guidance in the educational process," said Vujačić.

She emphasized that, unfortunately, in Montenegro, not all children are still enrolled in regular primary education, which is mandatory according to the Constitution, or there are those who are formally enrolled but do not attend classes regularly.

"There are many problems, but inclusion has no alternative and the fact that Montenegro has opted for inclusive education is something we should be proud of as a society," emphasized Vujačić.

Mijušković, who until recently dealt with the issue of inclusion at the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MESI), said that it was challenging to take over and implement inclusive education in Montenegro, because there are a lot of unorganized documents and even laws that should accompany it all.

He emphasized that not everything depends predominantly on the Ministry of Education and Science.

"In order to make inclusion real inclusion, not just inclusion on paper, we must have cross-sectoral cooperation, we must talk to representatives of those institutions that are supposed to protect the rights of people with disabilities and children with developmental difficulties," said Mijušković.

He added that, unlike in previous years, inclusion is now completely different, stating that there is also an increased number of children on the autism spectrum.

Mijušković said that UNICEF created the position of teaching assistants, which gave them additional input to be able to change the Law on the Education of Children with Special Educational Needs.

"This law has been slightly improved in the sense that teaching assistants now do not work eight hours with children as they used to, but rather six hours of direct work, two hours are planned as breaks, and, of course, the rest is cooperation with school professional services, with teachers and, most importantly for us, with parents," said Mijušković.

He said that one of the achievements in the previous period concerns teaching assistants, because previously there was relatively short training for teaching assistants.

"During that period, assistants were not able to be adequately trained to help people with disabilities or children with developmental disabilities. Now we have a completely new program that the National Education Council has adopted and which will certainly provide certain improvements, because we have tripled the number of practical teaching hours," said Mijušković and explained that now every assistant will have to pass this practical part in order to obtain a certificate to work and help with inclusion.

As he said, not all schools have access to people with disabilities and this has been noted from the beginning.

"It is gratifying that we have additionally adapted some schools, that we have built ramps, that we have installed tactile strips, and that is some progress that we have made. Now all new schools are being built to the highest standards, they have elevators, they have access ramps and everything that a modern facility should contain in order to be accessible to people with disabilities," said Mijušković.

Speaking about the achievements, Vujačić said that there are now somewhat more diverse educational programs that include children with disabilities compared to the previous two decades, but that children are still directed into certain educational programs, which limits their further education and continuation of schooling.

As she stated, there is less hesitation now than when she went through the regular education system, when inclusion was only "mentioned" and when there was no mention of enrolling children with certain disabilities.

Vujačić said that it is still not possible to say that children with disabilities are completely accepted, because they are not.

"I know that even educational staff, if they were completely honest - often some would unfortunately rather not have children with disabilities in their classes than have them. I know that school administrations are not completely sensitive and open when it comes to children with disabilities, nor is the entire society and system," said Vujačić.

According to her, parents of children without disabilities often have the impression that the quality of their children's education is being lowered, allegedly due to working with children with disabilities, which, as Vujačić stated, is nonsense and should not happen because then we are not talking about inclusive education.

She raised the issue that people in Montenegro are not yet professionally trained and educated to work with every child with a disability, regardless of the type of impairment and condition.

Vujačić emphasized that she is looking forward to the promotion in the teaching assistant segment because, as she stated, there have been uneducated assistants until now.

As she said, in addition to their formal education, educational staff must also have informal education and must undergo various training and programs that involve working with students with disabilities.

She emphasized that the employment of people with disabilities themselves in the education system should also be represented, stating that this would also affect the quality of education and the transformation of society and the system.

When asked what the most common obstacles that people with disabilities face in the education system are, she replied that they are numerous, regardless of the improvements that have occurred in the past period.

Vujačić believes that, especially when developing a new inclusive education strategy, an evaluation should be carried out first, so that the future strategy or some strategic documents can be based on the situation on the ground and challenges in practice.

She warned that Montenegro did something wrong from the start - that children were enrolled in the educational process without creating opportunities for their real participation in the educational process.

"And when I say that, the number of children enrolling and the number of children completing education has increased significantly compared to some period before. But I claim that the quality of education has not increased compared to the previous period. On the contrary, I believe that it is significantly lower than it was before," Vujačić stated.

Vujačić believes that the way resource centers function should also be changed, because they should only be an additional expense to regular education, and not educational institutions in their own right.

She believes that in Montenegro in general, not only for people with disabilities, the education system and other systems must be transformed differently, that there is professional orientation and that children are guided from an early age towards what they are talented and interested in.

As she stated, parents of children should be consulted and asked about education, but the interests and wishes of the child should take precedence over the wishes of the parents.

When asked what the key priorities of the Ministry of Education and Science for improving the inclusion of persons with disabilities in education were, Mijušković said that while he was at the Ministry, it was his practice to speak once a month with representatives of parents, not only of children with developmental disabilities, but also of persons with disabilities.

"And I believe that the only way we can solve problems is through conversations and through constructive dialogue. What we are sure is missing is this central registry through which we will have appropriate data on the basis of which you can create policies in a certain system. We currently do not have a centralized system," said Mijušković.

According to him, when there is no accurate data, no decision can be made, no policy can be created, and no assistance can be provided.

"You can only talk like this, which is good, but it is not enough. So, you need to have relevant data to be able to do something," said Mijušković.

He said that the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology had previously licensed the faculty in Nikšić for special education and rehabilitation, which would train appropriate staff, stating that they had to somehow retain that staff in the system.

Mijušković said that there are many expressions regarding inclusion.

"We haven't done anything to say that we can brag that everything is working. We have to be realistic, honest - there are problems, but it is important that there is a will to solve those problems," Mijušković said.

He said that the most important thing is that an early development assistant has been introduced in preschool education, which will help detect developmental difficulties at an early stage of a child's development.

"When you act in time, you can eliminate those shortcomings in time or at least mitigate what may appear in the later years of education," said Mijušković, emphasizing that there are many challenges, but he thinks that everyone has recognized the will of the Ministry of Education and Science to improve some things.

He said that policies and regulations regarding inclusion in education are not sufficiently aligned with international standards.

"But I am sure that through the Law on Unified Disability Expertise, this will somehow be brought into that legal framework and that all of it will be harmonized with European legislation, which is what we strive for as a country that is probably the first member of the European Union," added Mijušković.

He pointed out that there is a lot of work to do, but that someone who works at the Ministry of Education and Science on inclusion will harmonize all these regulations in the education system.

Vujačić said that she sees the biggest gap between practice in Montenegro and these international standards in the commitment to ensuring that they are actually achieved.

"We have a legislative framework in the area of ​​accessibility that is extremely good, perhaps the best not only in the region. In the area of ​​physical accessibility, that law has prescribed since 2008 an obligation that all public institutions must be supportively accessible, that is, built in accordance with standards, and that all previously built facilities must be adapted - made accessible - within five years," said Vujačić.

She emphasized that in Montenegro, the situation is still such that not only are not all public facilities and institutions accessible to persons with disabilities in accordance with accessibility standards, but that in the education system, as well as in some others, works that fall under adaptation are often carried out, and adaptation does not imply the application of accessibility standards.

"It's a kind of deliberate systemic discrimination, or avoiding the obligation to make all public facilities accessible," said Vujačić.

She pointed out that in some segments, legislation would have to be changed or repealed if it was contrary to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Vujačić emphasized that the Ministry of Education, although it is not their sole responsibility, should address why external high school graduation exams do not include accommodations for every student with disabilities, adding that without this, an inclusive education system is not complete.

She believes that first the awareness and attitude towards the phenomenon of disability and the general awareness of persons with disabilities must change, and that after that the legislation will be quickly harmonized and the laws will be respected.

Asked what should be the priority for the state if it wants to seriously advance inclusive education, Vujačić reiterated that an evaluation is needed.

"When we have a comprehensive report that really shows us where the challenges and shortcomings are, where improvements are needed, what is needed first and foremost by the education system itself, independently of other systems, and then when realistic measures are defined and what we need to achieve in a period of five or ten years, I believe that we will achieve more significant results," said Vujačić.

When asked whether and how progress in the field of inclusion of people with disabilities is monitored and evaluated in Montenegro, Mijušković said that individual development is monitored by schools and school professional services, which, in cooperation with parents, also create IROP - a special program that students follow.

"There is also an ITP plan, or a plan for transitioning from one level of education to another - from primary to secondary school, where parents with their child and the school's professional service also participate in choosing a secondary school," added Mijušković.

He said that teaching staff is educated through accredited training courses, through the catalog of professional development for teachers, which was adopted by the National Council for Education, so there are 38 training courses related to inclusive education.

"My idea was that every teacher relicensed must go through at least one educational seminar related to inclusion in education. That way, we will have more trained teaching staff, not just assistants, and these are just small steps that can ultimately yield greater results," said Mijušković.