The State Duma is considering a bill on special conditions for the education of people with disabilities

On February 15, the State Duma plans to consider in the first reading a bill proposing the creation of special conditions for education for people with disabilities. Among other things, deputies intend to replace the term “mental retardation” with the concept of “intellectual impairment.” Experts note that the wording of the document has been discussed with the professional community for several years, and speak of a “paradigm change in attitude towards people with disabilities” in the public consciousness. However, they add that not all proposals from the professional community have been taken into account, and the path to truly inclusive education will take a long time.

Amendments to the Law “On Education” were developed by the Ministry of Education and submitted to the State Duma by the government; the relevant State Duma Committee on Education has already approved them. Today the State Duma will consider them in the first reading. The document obliges educational institutions at all levels to “create special conditions for students with disabilities and people with disabilities (disabled children) to receive education.” It also provides for the creation of psychological, medical and pedagogical commissions (PMPC; they identify mental or physical developmental characteristics, deviations in behavior and, on the basis of this, select recommendations for the upbringing and education of a child) at the Centers for psychological, pedagogical, medical and social assistance to participants in the educational process (in Russia has 414 such centers in 87 regions).

Director of the Federal Center for the Development of Inclusive General and Additional Education of the Moscow State Psychological and Pedagogical University (MGPPU) Svetlana Alyokhina points out that these changes correspond to the global trend towards inclusive education, “which we have yet to reach, and at the same time, after the adoption of one law, this won’t happen.” The expert considers the proposal to create a PMPK at the Centers for Psychological, Pedagogical, Medical and Social Assistance very important. “Now such commissions often meet spontaneously, in different regions they work at different institutions, they are even guided by different approaches,” she complains. “Increasing their number and standardizing the work for each region will inspire the trust of parents, who now often neglect the recommendations of the PMPC and even refuse them pass.” Mrs. Alekhina adds that a fixed composition of commissions and identical rules will also help “monitor the child’s condition at all stages of development and build his educational routes more efficiently.” “So more children will be able to have access to quality education and integrate into society,” she concludes.

Among other things, the bill replaces the term “mental retardation” with the concept of “intellectual disability.” The dean of the defectology faculty of the Dagestan State Pedagogical University (DSPU), Patimat Omarova, pays special attention to this. According to the expert, “in addition to the technical and methodological support of schools, the state of which is very different in different regions,” it is necessary to think about the environment in which the learning process takes place. “Schoolchildren and their parents must correctly perceive children with special needs. And since vocabulary shapes our consciousness, the use of the medical concept of “mental retardation” stigmatizes children with such disorders,” Ms. Omarova is sure. “The term “intellectual disability” is much better suited for use in social terms.” The defectologist is confident that the proposed changes in legislation are not “simply positive,” but speak of “a paradigm shift in attitudes towards disability.” “The adoption of the bill will entail many changes in by-laws, documents of the federal and regional Ministry of Education, and will consolidate the vector of development of inclusive education,” the expert believes. “The new term will be used both in schools and in the professional environment, which means it will be conveyed to the general public.” the masses, changing their consciousness in the right direction.”

Elena Klochko, Chairman of the Council of the All-Russian Organization of Parents of Disabled Children (VORDI), notes: the draft supplements the Law “On Education” with the concept of “disabled children (disabled children),” which is used in the text in the same breath as “students with disabilities” . “But these are different concepts,” explains the expert. “These groups do not overlap completely, but the concept of HIA remains in use.” Although the professional community, also focusing on international experience, has repeatedly discussed the need to move to the concept of “special educational needs.” The wording “about limited health opportunities” refers to the medical model of disability, and not to the social one, notes Ms. Klochko: “In education, it is not so important what exactly caused the appearance of features; it is much more important to compensate for limitations in life, create a suitable environment and a complex of support and adaptations external environment to realize the capabilities of such students. And this is “special educational needs.”

In turn, Svetlana Alekhina from the Moscow State University of Psychology and Education notes that the Ministry of Education has been working on the bill for several years and its wording has been discussed with experts more than once, “so they can be called verified.”

Polina Yachmennikova