Proposals by A. A. Bataev dealt with the issues for creating special conditions for teaching students with disabilities at the university and developing joint network educational programs based on the experience of leading Russian universities.
In general, the Council of the Government of the Russian Federation on the social sphere patronage discussed measures to increase the education accessibility of all levels for people with disabilities, as well as issues of their career guidance and employment.
The Chairman of the Council, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova informed that currently more than 11.5 million people with disabilities live in Russia, including more than 700 thousand children and 900 thousand young disabled people aged 18 to 35.
"For people with disabilities, getting an education is not only getting a future profession, but also socialization, and a decent standard of living," the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.
In 83 regions of Russia, there are 121 basic professional organizations that support the functioning of the regional system of vocational education people with disabilities and health limitations. In addition, there are 40 resource training and methodological centers (RTMC) in the system of secondary vocational education and 21 similar centers in the system of higher education.
One of the main problems of colleges and universities is the continuing shortage of personnel to work with students with disabilities and health limitations. "Despite the fact that the number of such specialists increased in 2020 and amounted to 135 thousand people, the need for them at the beginning of the year was more than 10 thousand," Tatyana Golikova explained.
Speaking at the Council as a representative of the higher school, Anatoly Bataev, Rector of Novosibirsk State Technical University, noted that the universities themselves have other problems that hinder the provision of appropriate quality of higher education for people with disabilities and health limitations.
In particular, NSTU NETI rector said:
— Russian universities enroll students with various types of disabilities: vision, hearing and musculoskeletal system. Obviously, for students with different disabilities it is necessary to create different conditions for high-quality education and postgraduate support. To date, the basic standard of costs directly related to the provision of public services for the implementation of educational programs of higher education in majors (areas of training) and enlarged groups of majors (areas of training) in relation to students who are disabled and children with special needs has a coefficient of 2. However, in order to ensure the availability of higher education for students with disabilities and health limitations, universities need to do additional work to create special conditions, which entails additional costs, for example: adaptation of educational programs and teaching methods, development and publication of special textbooks and remuneration of specialists involved in this, development and publication of special didactic materials and remuneration of specialists involved in this, purchase, operation of special equipment for shared use, including computer equipment, software, provision of services of a tutor, assistants providing students with the necessary technical aid, conducting group and individual correctional classes. In this case, the resources of universities are not always enough, especially for students who have complex disorders, for example, hearing and vision. There is a need to carry out work on calculating the increase in funding standards in terms of creating conditions for teaching students with disabilities according to educational programs of higher education, calculating the costs in accordance with the needs of nosological groups.
The proposal was evaluated as interesting, but requiring further study. The Council instructed NSTU NETI to submit calculations of standards based on the practice of the university's work with disabled people. "We have extensive experience in teaching students with hearing, vision and musculoskeletal disorders; we have also developed our own model of inclusive support, so, we really know what such support is worth in terms of financial and human costs. In addition, our position is supported by the majority of universities with an inclusive policy, " Lyudmila Osmuk, the director of the Institute of Social Technologies, NSTU NETI, commented on the situation.
The second important point, according to A. A. Bataev, is that today there are Russian universities that have accumulated resources and extensive experience in teaching students with disabilities. Some universities may even have a specialization in nosology. For example, NSTU NETI has experience in teaching students with hearing impairments, and MSPPU has accumulated experience in teaching students with visual impairments. In order to combine the unique experience and disseminate it, it may be useful to develop joint network programs modified for teaching students with disabilities; joint network programs for retraining and advanced training of the faculty in care-taking of people with disabilities in educational organizations; joint network educational programs for additional education modified for teaching students with disabilities. However, the financial mechanisms for implementing such network educational programs in Russia have not yet been worked out.
NSTU NETI Rector proposed to create pilot sites for the development and implementation of network educational programs on the basis of the universities with RTMC as well as to develop and test financial mechanisms for the implementation of such network educational programs. The implementation of network educational programs will contribute to the development of academic mobility, improve the quality of education and develop the continuing education of students with disabilities.
The proposal on programs was supported by all participants of the meeting, in particular, Dmitry Afanasyev, Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education, made a special emphasis on the need for such programs.
Concluding the meeting, the Deputy Prime Minister proposed to develop an interdepartmental comprehensive road map to ensure the accessibility of secondary vocational and higher education for people with disabilities and health limitations including measures for career guidance and employment, taking into account the proposals received from the Council members. An interdepartmental working group will be created to develop the document with the participation of the Council members. The plan is expected to be approved no later than September 1.