Increasing the knowledge and exchanging good practices of educators of disabled students of the Polish-Slovak borderland

Beneficiary: Rzeszów Poviat

Polish partner: Karpatské centrum spolupráce, no

Implementation period: 01/09/2019 - 31/10/2020

Realized project value: € 44,936.08, including ERDF co-financing: € 38,195.65

An extremely big challenge is the professional activation of people with disabilities. Their absence from work highlights the problems of social integration and discrimination of these people. Analyzing the professional situation of people with disabilities, the project partners came to the conclusion that activities aimed at improving the situation of these people should be started at the stage of education, even before trying to start work. All project activities contributed to the supplementation and improvement of the competences of educators, important from the point of view of the professional future of disabled youth of the Polish-Slovak borderland, which significantly facilitated their education and entry into the labor market for people with disabilities.

The main activities carried out under the project:

• Study visit of teachers from Rzeszów poviat in Slovakia. During the visit, 20 teachers of disabled students from the Rzeszów poviat got acquainted with the work and teaching methods of Slovak colleagues from the following special schools: Spojená škola internátna in Michalovice, Spojená škola in Spišská Nová Ves, Spojená Škola in Košavice as well as Vysokošpecializovaný odborný ústvsvecializovaný odborný. Lukáša v Košiciach, where students of the special school in Košice do their internships. The educators of the Rzeszów poviat participated in the classes so that they could compare the methods, forms, scope and system of special education as well as the methods of rehabilitation and therapy in Slovakia. An important point of the visit was to discuss the methods and ways of preparing students with various disabilities to be active in adult life, with particular emphasis on entering the labor market, developing an individual education path for students, if possible.
• Specialist training on professional activation of disabled people for educators. 20 teachers of disabled students from the Rzeszów poviat participated in the training. The scope of the training included, inter alia, preparation of disabled students to work, the rights of disabled people, psychological and pedagogical assistance at work and information about programs that can be used by people with disabilities to improve their lives.
• A study visit of Slovak educators in Poland combined with practical workshops. During the visit, 10 teachers from Slovakia got to know the educational and educational offer, housing base and daily work at the Special School and Educational Center in Mrowla. Additionally, educators had the opportunity to participate in 2-day thematic workshops in the field of: gardening and floristry, baristics and small gastronomy, applied arts - production of glycerin soap and production of advertising badges. By participating in the visit, Slovak educators learned about the methods and techniques of multi-profile impact on a disabled student functioning in Poland, and in an organized discussion panel they exchanged their observations on an ongoing basis with Polish educators and employees of the Social and Educational Department of the Poviat Starosty in Rzeszów.