The Slovak education system is facing criticism due to the poor results of pupils in international testing (PISA), which point to their extreme dependence on the socio-economic background, but also due to the high degree of segregation of disadvantaged children. As the experience of countries with above-average pupil outcomes shows, the answer to these challenges is to increase individualisation in education and to transform education systems towards inclusive education. Based on the results of the To dá rozum (It makes sens) survey, schools are not prepared to educate children with diverse needs and would need learning and methodologic support in this area.
The aim is to build an expert institution aimed at supporting the introduction of inclusive education, which on the one hand will create and validate a model of comprehensive support services for schools and local governments and on the other hand will coordinate the process of joint advocacy activities. The Centre for Inclusive Education, which was founded for this purpose in 2019, began to implement educational activities, provide assistance to schools and local governments. Its members also received a mandate from the Research Institute of Child Psychology and Pathopsychology to coordinate the preparation of a national strategy for inclusive education. The project represents an effort to ensure sufficient personnel, professional and institutional capacities to perform these tasks.
The expertise, experience and history of the partner, Pedverket Resource Center, is an example of good practice in building a quality support centre in the field of inclusive education, operating both nationally and internationally. The applicant has ambitions to inspire partners in terms of their institutional development, but also specific expertise in inclusive education. The project partner brings his expertise in a unique, Grundlaget method, aimed at supporting the cognitive development of children with specific potential.