Inclusive and Special Education Review
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INCLUSIVE AND SPECIAL EDUCATION REVIEW Lino Spiteri George Borg Anne Marie Callus Joseph Cauchi Micheline Sciberras June, 2005 INCLUSIVE AND SPECIAL EDUCATION REVIEW INCLUSIVE AND SPECIAL EDUCATION: REVIEW REPORT June 2005 Ministry of Education, Youth and Employment, Floriana, Malta Tel: (+356) 21231374/5 Fax: (+356) 21242759 E-mail: [email protected] Url: www.education.gov.mt www.education.gov.mt/inclusion.htm © Ministry of Education, Youth and Employment 2004 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior permission in writing of the author, and of the publisher, which must be obtained beforehand. Published by: Ministry of Education, Youth and Employment ISBN 99909-74-21-7 Author: Inclusive and Special Education Review Working Group Publication: Ministry of Education, Youth and Employment Designed & Printed by Salesian Press INCLUSIVE AND SPECIAL EDUCATION REVIEW Inclusive and Special Education Review Working Group 31st May 2005 Hon. Dr Louis Galea, B.A., LL.D., MP Minister of Education, Youth and Employment Ministry of Education, Youth and Employment Floriana, CMR 02 Dear Minister, Review of Inclusive and Special Education We enclose herewith a Report following a review of Inclusive and Special Education we have carried out, in accordance with your letter and terms of reference of 2nd December 2004. The Working Group are available to meet with you to discuss this Report, at your convenience. We wish to thank all those who made their views known to us, and who helped us to progress with our deliberations. Yours sincerely Lino Spiteri George Borg Anne-Marie Callus Chairman Member Member Joseph Cauchi Micheline Sciberras Member Member iii INCLUSIVE AND SPECIAL EDUCATION REVIEW Contents Page Executive Summary vii INTRODUCTION 13 PART I Section 1 – Background 15 Section 2 - A Statistical and Financial Framework 21 Section 3 - Special Needs Education in Europe 27 Section 4 - Highlights from Submissions 39 PART II Section 5 - Evaluating Learning Support Provision 53 PART III Section 6 - A Repositioning Plan and Parallel Programme 63 Section 7 - Special Schools 75 Section 8 - Revising the Legal Framework 83 Section 9 – Crossing the Workplace Desert 85 iv INCLUSIVE AND SPECIAL EDUCATION REVIEW Annexe (In CD attached) Submission 1: A Special Needs Coordinator Submission 2: A Parent of Two Autistic Children Submission 3: Parents of a Boy with Cerebral Palsy Submission 4: A Dyslexic Student Submission 5: Ìenituri ta’ Tfal bil-Kundizzjoni Dyslexia Submission 6: Omm Tifel b’Dyslexia Submission 7: A Parent of a Child with Traits of Autism Submission 8: Dr Marie Alexander Submission 9: Ms Mervyn Vella Submission 10: Bro Martin Borg, De La Salle College Submission 11: Alternattiva Demokratika Submission 12: University of Malta Submission 13: Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) Submission 14: MCAST (Brainstorming Sessions) Submission 15: Qormi San Gorg Primary School ‘C’ Submission 16: St Albert the Great College, Valletta Submission 17: G.F. Abela Junior College, Msida Submission 18: Giovanni Curmi Higher Secondary School, Naxxar Submission 19: Ms Maryanne Debono, a member of the National Family Commission Submission 20: Lawrence Dalli, President (The Malta Council of Disabled Persons) Submission 21: Foundation for Educational Services Submission 22: National Parents Society for Persons with Disability Submission 23: Fr Anthony Cilia, St Aloysius College Submission 24: Private Schools Association Submission 25: Physically Handicapped Rehabilitation Centre Submission 26: Dr Paul Bartolo and the Inclusive Schools Project Team Submission 27: Research and Development Division, ETC Submission 28: Moviment Favur id-Drittijiet ta’ Persuni b’Dizabilita’ Submission 29: A©enzija SAPPORT Submission 30: The Eden Foundation v Submission 31: Razzett tal-Óbiberija INCLUSIVE AND SPECIAL EDUCATION REVIEW Submission 32: Hamrun Local Council Submission 33: Gozo Association of the Deaf Submission 34: G˙aqda Persuni Neqsin mis-Smig˙ Submission 35: Down Syndrome Association Submission 36: ADHD Family Support Group Submission 37: APPOÌÌ Submission 38: Rabat Local Council Submission 39: An Early Intervention Service Teacher Submission 40: A Former Teacher Submission 41: A Professional Therapist Submission 42: Parents of a Profoundly Deaf Child Submission 43: A Member of Special Olympics Malta Submission 44: A Facilitator Submission 45: A Parent of a Child with a Severe Disability Submission 46: Parents of a Child with Mobility Problems Submission 47: Parents of an Autistic Child Submission 48: Professor Joseph M Falzon Submission 49: Ministry of the Family and Social Solidarity Submission 50: Dr Paul Bartolo (on behalf of NMC Working Group) Submission 51: Dr Paul Bartolo (on behalf of NMC Working Group) Submission 52: Dr Paul Bartolo, University of Malta Submission 53: Focus Group on Inclusive Education Submission 54: Dr Paul Bartolo, University of Malta Submission 55: Dr Paul Bartolo, University of Malta Submission 56: Dr Paul Bartolo, University of Malta Submission 57: Ìenituri ta’ Tifel bid-Dyslexia Submission 58: A Dyslexic Student Submission 59: A Father of a Child with Cerebral Palsy Submission 60: Parents of San Miguel School Council Submission 61: A Father of an 8 year old girl with Cerebral Palsy Submission 62: The Employment and Training Corporation: A Report Submission 63: Mother of a Dyslexic Boy Submission 64: Mother of a Physically Disabled Child Submission 65: Ms Myriam Aquilina, ADE (Inclusive Education) vi Submission 66: The Malta Association of Social Workers INCLUSIVE AND SPECIAL EDUCATION REVIEW Executive Summary 1. Part I of the Report, sections 1 to 4, outlines the background and evolution of inclusive and special education in Malta. 2. Section 2 sets out a statistical framework. It includes the total and distribution of the school population in State, Church and Independent schools, as on 31st January 2005, of whom, 2.57% were students with individual educational needs. The framework also details the learning support give to these students; and the annual cost, in relation to total public expenditure, to the Gross Domestic Products (at market prices). 3. Section 3 provides a European perspective, drawing on a thematic report by the European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education. 4. Section 4 lays out the main points of submissions made to the Working Group by stakeholders, including students, parents/carers, teachers, learning support providers, and NGOs. (These are included in full in the Annex to the Report.) 5. Part II of the Report is made up of Section 5, which evaluates the learning support that is being extended, from early assessment and intervention, the statementing process regarding children with individual educational needs (IENs), to inclusion in mainstream schools. (Special schools are appraised within Section 7.) The Working Group concludes that: •the objectives of the inclusive education policy have not been effectively implemented through systematic provision of a spectrum of support that satisfies meaningfully a basic spectrum of needs of children with a disability in the Maltese Islands; • development and implementation of the few mechanisms designed to promote inclusive education have not kept up with its progressive annual extension from early childhood through to post-secondary level; •the substantial and rising budgetary outlay allocated towards meeting the objectives of inclusive education policy is not yielding value for money by structuring and operating as sound and effective a policy of educational inclusion as is essential to meet the legitimate aspirations of students with a learning disability, parents and carers, and society in general. 6. Part III of the Report, consisting of Sections 6 to 9, contains the Recommendations of the Working Group. 7. In Section 6, the Working Group recommends that there should be a Repositioning Plan, spread over seven to ten years, based on a break with the expectation that learning support must be given on a one-to-one or shared basis, to include the following reappraisal and action: • screening at birth and early assessment and intervention should be strengthened with appropriate specialist resources, and include preparation of an individualised pre-school programme; •the process of statementing of children reported to have disabilities should be carried out by a multi-disciplinary team, as far as possible in a school environment; •provision to a student with IENs should consistently promote self-reliance, avoid the pitfalls of a culture of dependency, and be set within a whole- vii INCLUSIVE AND SPECIAL EDUCATION REVIEW school policy that maximises the input to, and contribution from all students, such that a coherent and mutually supporting policy becomes the engine for total, inclusive achievement; these objectives should underlie the whole process of inclusion, from statementing onwards; • student teachers, and teachers in service, should be trained to prepare Individualised Education Plans (IEPs), and to assume responsibility for their implementation; •class teachers should be guided and assisted in their approach to inclusive education by a newly created specialist cadre, to be made up of INCOs, and specialist teachers from special education resource centres (which should be formed from the restructuring of special schools, recommended by the Group in Section 7) ; • specialist teachers should be education graduates, with