1. PROJECT “INCLUSIVE TRAINING” Beneficiary: MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE Education Access and Development Support Directorate Investing in your future! Total cost of the project: BGN 18 100 000 Duration: 27.04.2012 – 31.08.2015 Partners: 22 Resource Centres, 1 Logopedic Centre, 6 NGOs

2. Target group  Children aged 3 to 7 years who are prone to risk of occurrence of learning difficulties  School children with special educational needs  Professionals who have pedagogical functions speech therapists, aural rehabilitation and speech therapy professionals) and who provide resource support  Professionals who have pedagogical functions (psychologists, speech therapists, aural rehabilitation and speech therapy professionals) and who provide resource support  School headmasters, teachers, pedagogical counsellors  Parents of the target group children and pupils

3. Project overall objective To create enabling environment for:  equal access to education  opening up of the education system to implementation of inclusive training

4. Project specific objectives 1. Identification at an early stage of children who are in danger of learning difficulties and their successful inclusion in pre- school and school education, successful socialization and integration 2. Enhance the role of general education schools in creating an inclusive educational setting and providing quality education which corresponds to the individual needs of every school child 3. Increase the capacity of the special schools for children with sensory impairments in order to establish a functioning work model for support of inclusive training of children and pupils with sensory impairments 4. Build up a new model of organisation and functioning of the boarding-type schools for mentally challenged children 5. Create positive attitudes among the school and parent community towards inclusive training for achieving an integration effect 6. Provide support for inclusion in the education process of children and pupils deprived of parental care and using residential-type services, who are included in the process of deinstitutionalisation

5.  at daycare kindergartens (including such with nurseries)  at schools of general education  at special schools Establishing new models and practices under the project Вашата емблема тук

6. Activity 1 Early-stage assessment and prevention of learning difficulties among preschool age children a screening test was performed of children aged 3-3,5 years – total 6029 children in 990 kindergartens throughout the country; over 400 speech therapists and psychologists were trained on how to perform the screening test in order to identify those children aged 3- 3,5 years who are in risk of occurrence of learning difficulties, as well as the children for whom there is indication of existing learning difficulties ; 25 pilot kindergartens were selected, speech therapists and psychologists were hired; tests were elaborated to determine speech development of children aged 4, 5 and 6 years; sample programmes were developed for working with children in risk of learning difficulties; specialists were trained on how to apply the tests for determination of children’s speech development and the sample programmes supporting their development;

7. Activity 2 Establishing conditions and providing support for transition from integrated to inclusive training in the pilot schools of general education 84 pilot schools of general education were selected and approved (3 in each of the districts), 84 psychologists were hired, along with 181 resource teachers, 65 speech therapists, 3 teachers of children with visual impairments, 10 aural & speech rehabilitators A methodology was elaborated for assessment of children’s educational needs, together with guidelines for its implementation; 84 psychologists were trained in the pilot schools to implement the educational needs assessment methodology 84 resource rooms were equipped with the required devices and appliances to support the training of children with special educational needs; the premises were supplied with specialized equipment for working with children with sensory impairments A successful model was built up for inclusion in the learning and school setting of total 1654 school children with special educational needs

8. Activity 3 Building up a new functional work model to support inclusive training of children and pupils with sensory impairments in the special schools for hearing and visually impaired children Repair works were performed and equipment supplied to specialized laboratories in the 5 schools for children with hearing and visual impairments Specialized equipment and appliances were delivered at the schools for children with sensory impairments Professionals were hired by the 5 special schools (total up to 46) to conduct specialized training of 63 children and pupils with sensory impairments who are integrated in general education schools, of their parents – 62, and their teachers - 29 Total 7 specialized training courses were held for children with sensory impairments who are integrated in general education schools, and also for their parents and teachers

9. Activity 4 A new model of organisation and functioning of Boarding Type Special Schools Specialized premises were repaired and equipped with the necessary supplies and appliances to work with children with severe mental disabilities and with various impairments A specialized diet was provided to the children according to their health condition Specialized transport was ensured to help children commute daily from school to home and back Professionals were hired (up to 30 professionals – speech therapists, psychologists, art therapists, kinesiotherapists, a social worker, tutors, assistant tutors) to support the training and socialization of children at school

10. Activity 5 Creating positive attitudes in the school and parent community towards inclusive training in order to achieve integration effect Meetings were held by the partners from the non-governmental sector with children, parents and teachers in the pilot schools Days of Tolerance were held National training camps were held for children with and without special educational needs, parents and teachers (total 340 children with and without SEN, 59 parents, 56 teachers of children with SEN)

11. Activity 6 Providing enabling environment, made up of psychologists, resource teachers and other professionals, to children and pupils deprived of parental care and using residential-type services who are included in the process of deinstitutionalisation Stage-by-stage selection of pilot kindergartens and schools (total16) located in the vicinity of Centres for Family Type Accommodation (CFTAs) A team of professionals was hired, in accordance with the needs of the children deprived of parental care and placed in CFTAs, in the pilot kindergartens – total 35 professionals Work was performed by the professionals to support children training and socialization (89 children with a variety of impairments), partnership work was performed with teacher and parent community The required equipment and appliances were provided to the premises in order to support children’s development in accordance with their own needs

12. Thank you for your attention PROJECT “INCLUSIVE TRAINING” Beneficiary: MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE Education Access and Development Support Directorate Investing in your future! Investing in your future!