Definition of the target groups
The counselling and support system provides services according to the child’s, pupil’s, and family’s needs and not only the diagnosis. Educational need is legally defined as a requirement to provide conditions, organization and implementation of the educational process in a manner that is appropriate to children’s and pupils’ physical, mental and social development.
A Child or pupil with special educational needs is
- A child or a pupil diagnosed with special educational needs by a counselling and prevention centre,
- A child or a pupil whose health status, social background, language skill, talent, cognitive abilities, behaviour, motivation, emotionality, creativity or skills require provision of support measures
The Education Act defines the following categories of children and pupils with special educational needs at all level sup to secondary education:
1. children and pupils with health disadvantages:
- children and pupils with health disability: children and pupils with mental disability, hearing impairment, visual impairment, physical disability, impaired communication ability, autism or other pervasive developmental disorders, or with multiple disabilities;
- children and pupils sick or with weakened health: children or pupils with a long-term illness and children or pupils in schools at health facilities;
- children and pupils with developmental disorders: children and pupils with activity, attention, or developmental learning disorders;
- children and pupils with behaviour disorders: children or pupils with an emotional or social impairment, other than children or pupils with a learning disability).
2. children and pupils from socially disadvantaged environment: children or pupils living in an environment which due to the social, family, economic and cultural conditions insufficiently encourages the development of mental, desire, and emotional traits of children/pupils and does not foster children’s/pupils’ socialisation and personality development.
3. gifted children and pupils: children or pupils with above-average intellectual, artistic or sports abilities, or pupils who achieve extraordinary results in these areas compared to their peers, and whose talent is purposefully developed through education.
In connection with the ongoing conflict in the Ukraine, support measures focusing on the adaptation of Ukrainian pupils in Slovak schools are being implemented. Although not specifically mentioned in the Education Act, many support measures focus on marginalised Roma communities.
Specific support measures
Children and pupils with special educational needs are usually educated in mainstream schools. Pupils with health disadvantages can participate in organisational forms of education that best meet their needs.
In individual integration or inclusion into regular classes in mainstream schools, pupils with special educational needs are provided with support measures necessary to create suitable educational conditions; special pedagogical support or psychological support is provided as well.
In integration into special classes founded for pupils with health disadvantages in mainstream schools, classes for pupils with developmental learning disorders are created.
To be assigned to one of the abovementioned organisational forms, the child’s or pupil’s parent’s informed consent is required. School heads approve the admission of children and pupils with special educational needs based on the recommendation from the paediatrician and counselling and prevention centre. A primary school head cannot refuse to admit and educate a child with special educational needs who belongs to the school based on the child’s permanent residence because school attendance is compulsory for all children who reach school age indiscriminately. School heads are responsible for creating suitable conditions in compliance with the Education Act.
Catalogue of support measures
The catalogue is a set of support measures for counselling centres and support teams that help them provide support to children who can claim the support and access it as soon as possible and to a sufficient extent.
The Catalog of Support Measures (Katalóg podporných opatrení) specifies the support measures in education provided by schools or educational institutions, which are necessary for the child or pupil to fully engage in education and develop their knowledge, skills, and abilities.
The measures are targeted to support all children, whether they are at risk of social, health, or other disadvantages, or gifted, at three levels - general, targeted, and specific.
The right to apply specific types of support measures is based on an assessment conducted by educational staff or professional staff of the school, educational institution, or counselling and prevention centre.
Adjustment of State Educational Programmes
To support the most effective education, curricula have been developed with regard to the specific needs arising from a pupil's health disadvantage or talent. In the education of children and pupils with health disadvantages, the approach is based on Educational Programmes for Children and Pupils with Health Disadvantages (Vzdelávacie programy pre deti a žiakov so zdravotným znevýhodnením). These programmes are designed for the education of pupils with individual types of disabilities, educated through school integration (inclusion) in primary or secondary schools.
The education of children and pupils with general intellectual talent is based on the Educational Programme for Pupils with General Intellectual Talent Vzdelávací program pre žiakov so všeobecným intelektovým nadaním).
Individual educational programme
If the disability of a child or pupil makes it impossible for them to be educated according to the school's curriculum, such child or pupil will be educated according to an individual curriculum which respects their special educational needs. The individual educational programme includes the curricula modification of subjects in which the pupil cannot follow the curricula of the given grade. The curricula can be adjusted and supplemented throughout the school year according to the pupil’s current special educational needs.
If necessary, the school may also use an individual educational programme for students from a socially disadvantaged background. If a pupil from a socially disadvantaged background also has a different mother tongue and needs support in acquiring the school's language of instruction, the school will take this into account in teaching and the pupil’s individual educational programme if necessary.
Individual educational programme is also implemented to individually integrate a pupil with intellectual talent or an intellectually talented pupil with a health disadvantage. It focuses on the development of pupils’ intellectual talent within each subject, the appropriate development of their personality, and the prevention and correction of problematic behaviour related to general intellectual talent.
Number of children/pupils in a class
The number of children in a kindergarten class may be lowered by a maximum of two children per child with a disability or a gifted child. The maximum number of children with disabilities or gifted children in a class is 2.
The number of integrated pupils in a primary school class is not limited, thus the number of pupils in a regular class does not change.
In special cases, primary school founders can lower the lowest average number of pupils in classes if more than 80% of pupils in the school come from a socially disadvantaged environment.
Assessment and Progression
Assessment of integrated pupils is governed by the Education Act. The assessment and grading of pupils with health disadvantages must consider the pupils‘ disability and the conclusions and recommendations issued by school counselling centres. Pupils with health disadvantages can have adapted conditions for examination (more time, adapted form and content of tests, use of compensation aids, assistant/sign language interpreters). Individualised oral assessment is considered the most suitable form of assessment for pupils with SEN.
Pupils who, because of the type and degree of their disadvantage, cannot fully meet the curriculum requirements of the primary school follow an individual education plan, and their educational outcomes are assessed based on individual criteria. In their certificate supplement or within the summary verbal assessment, the class teacher specifies in which subjects the pupil followed the individual education plan.
A pupil who has been granted individual education (home education) due to a health disadvantage does not undergo a commission examination. The pedagogical employee responsible for the pupil's education submits a written report to the school principal quarterly on the progress and results of the educational activities with the pupil. Based on this report, after discussion in the school's pedagogical council, an assessment and grading of the pupil's progress is conducted.
The behaviour of an integrated pupil with special educational needs (with attention deficit disorder, behaviour problems) is assessed with respect to their health disadvantage in close cooperation with a counselling and prevention centre or a school special pedagogue and the pupil’s parent.
The school head may allow pupils with a severe disability to continue their education in primary school until the end of the school year when the pupils turn 18.
School support team
In addition to teachers, other pedagogical employees and professional employees are also involved in the education of pupils with special educational needs,.
The school support team consists of the school‘s professional and pedagogical employees who actively participate in creating an inclusive school culture. They work with children/pupils as well as with teachers, parents and their community, and other professionals within and outside the education sector.
There is a school special pedagogue, medical pedagogue, school speech therapist or school psychologist in non-special primary schools and secondary schools if they educate more than 20 pupils with disabilities in addition to pupils with disabilities educated in special classes.
Pedagogical assistants contribute to the educational process according to the teacher's requirements, primarily by promoting equal opportunities in education and overcoming architectural, informational, linguistic, health-related, social, or cultural barriers. Pedagogical assistants may also work in secondary schools, particularly providing education to pupils with disabilities.
School special pedagogues, among other duties, conduct diagnostic assessments, provide professional assistance and special education counselling, participate in creating individual education plans, and conduct direct educational activities. They work with pupils individually - either during sessions with the school special pedagogue or in the classroom during regular teaching. They provide special educational support aimed at mitigating the negative impact of disorders or disabilities on the pupil's educational outcomes.
Social workers perform social diagnostics of children and pupils in school, provide social counselling and other social work methods and procedures focusing on overcoming obstacles in pupils‘ education. They also provide consultation to facility representatives, pedagogical employees, or professional employees.
More detailed information on professional employees providing support to pupils with special educational needs is available in chapters 10.3 Education staff responsible for guidance in early childhood and school education and 10.4 Other education staff or staff working with schools.
Material and technical provision
To support the education of students with special educational needs, the school will provide material equipment that includes special educational publications, special teaching aids, compensatory aids, devices, digital technology, adjustment of the environment, or special rooms and classrooms. If the school educates children and students with limited mobility or immobile children and students, the school heads, in cooperation with the founder, will ensure, depending on available resources, the removal of structural barriers that prevent access for these children and students.
Introductory grade
The introductory grade of primary school is designed for:
-
Pupils with mild communication impairments who have reached the age of six years by 1 September and do not continue the compulsory pre-primary education, and are not expected to complete the first year of primary school; or
-
Pupils with mild developmental disorders who have reached the age of six years by 1 September and do not continue the compulsory pre-primary education, and are not expected to complete the first year of primary school.
Introductory grades may be founded for at least four and at most ten pupils. Pupils are enrolled to the introductory grade by the school head based on a counselling and prevention centre’s statement and the parent’s informed consent. Completion of the introductory grade is not considered as the first year of compulsory school attendance. After the completion of the introductory grade, pupils continue in the first grade of primary school with other pupils.
Specialised classes and classes for developing pupils' talents
For pupils who are not likely to successfully follow the curriculum of their respective grades, a specialised class may be established to compensate for missed educational content. Students remain in the specialised and compensatory classes only as long as necessary.
A class developing pupils’ talent may be created in mainstream schools if their founders approve it.
The school head assigns pupils to the class with extended instruction in particular subjects or groups of subjects based on testing of special knowledge, skills and talent if such testing is required.
The pupils are integrated into this class based on the informed consent of their parents. Classes with extended schooling can be divided into 2 groups, in case there are more than 23 pupils.