The All-Russian Forum of Inclusive Higher Education "Inclusion in the focus of partnership" was held at the Novosibirsk State Technical University of NETI.
From November 22 to 24, employees of 47 resource training centers and 148 universities from all over Russia shared their experience and discussed the limitations and prospects of organizing the work of universities with students with disabilities and HIA.
The business program of the forum included a plenary session with the participation of representatives of government authorities and educational organizations, a project session for managers of the RMC network, thematic sections for employees of the RMC, and representatives of universities and non-profit organizations. The event was attended by representatives of relevant regional and federal authorities: Olga Petrova, Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation; Irina Manuilova, Deputy Governor of the Novosibirsk Region; Maria Zhafyarova, Minister of Education of the Novosibirsk Region; and Vladimir Mashanov, Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Development of the Novosibirsk Region.
The discussion resulted in a resolution stating that it is necessary to support an inclusive paradigm of higher school development and improve the inclusive model in the country' s universities. To this end, the forum participants proposed to developing the state' s educational policy on the basis of interdepartmental and interstructural (universities—government—NGOs—business community) interaction and the principles of social intersectoral partnership.
"Inclusive partnership" should form the basis of relations between universities and other entities that help people with disabilities and HIA to integrate into society, within the framework of career guidance, educational technologies and trajectories, assistive support, employment promotion, creative self-realization, adaptive physical culture, sports, and health care," said Lyudmila Osmuk, the director of the NSTU NETI and the Institute of Social Technologies of the university. According to her, inclusive partnership is a powerful factor in the development of an inclusive culture not only of the university but also of society as a whole. It forms humanistic values that are so necessary for society.
The educational part of the forum consisted of an exhibition, master classes, and excursions. The participants were acquainted with the equipment of Istok Audio Trading LLC and exhibition samples of the project "New Engineering Solutions and Artificial Intelligence for Biomedicine" within the framework of the Priority 2030 program: the Hephaestus robotic rehabilitation complex for restoring motor functions after a stroke, the software package for animated simultaneous translation into Russian sign language, and a rack for recognition and training gestures of the Russian sign language. The program of master classes developed by the staff, students of NSTU NETI, and partner organizations included classes on Khokhloma painting, development of communication between the deaf and hearing, adaptive physical culture, work in the technique of "testoplasty", sign singing, history and culture of the deaf, and inclusive volunteering.
The participants of the event took a tour of the building of the Institute of Social Technologies and the museum of the university. In addition, field trips to partner organizations were organized: the integrated center for social services of the population of the Oktyabrsky district, the special (correctional) boarding school No. 37, the Novosibirsk Regional Special Library for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and the Center for Adaptive Physical Culture and Sports of the Novosibirsk region.
Reference: The forum is an annual event held by the network of resource educational and methodological centers for the education of disabled people and persons with disabilities and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation.