2024-03-28 12:03:19
Diakonie is pushing for a package of measures for inclusion in kindergarten as well as in schools and in the training sector. What is particularly problematic is that there is hardly any data on the situation, criticized Diakonie director Katharina Moser in a press conference on Thursday. If you ask yourself, for example, how many children with disabilities are waiting for an inclusive kindergarten place, you realize: “We don’t know.”
There are also no figures on how many of those affected achieved qualifications in special schools and how many who went to inclusive classes, she complained. The topic often receives little attention. “The question of inclusion is simply not of political interest,” stated the Diakonie director. It would be important to know how the educational path affects the professional career.
According to Diakonie, the national action plan for the implementation of the UN Commission on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities tends to contain setbacks in the education sector. There is no strategy for increasing the number of inclusive school places and reducing special schools. Moser explained that 38 percent of the children are still housed there. The aim is for 100 percent to be cared for or taught in inclusive settings – i.e. with children without disabilities.
Diakonie not only advocates an end to this “parallel system”, but also sees a massive need in elementary education. The legal right to a kindergarten place is more of a long-term goal, as it is emphasized. As a first step, the last year of kindergarten should also be made compulsory for children with disabilities.
In addition, people advocate the right to education even after the end of regular compulsory schooling. Young people would then often fall out of the system, it was said. Diakonie demands a legal right to an 11th and 12th school year for people with special educational needs. A change to the school education law is required here.
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