Programme

Education for Every Child

Let’s help every child learn and develop through an online educational platform supporting children with disabilities, their teachers and parents

Момче със специални образователни потребности използва онлайн платформа, за да се обучава дистанционно

UNICEF Bulgaria/2020

Available in:
Български
English

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Challenge
Solution
Resources

The Challenge

Children with disabilities continue to be the most excluded from education. The COVID-19 pandemic has made the situation even more complicated. Estimations by the Regional Inclusive Education Support Centers show that

one in five children with disabilities does not receive additional support. Thus, these children are practically at risk to be excluded from education.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Education and Science (MoES) organized distance learning and teachers and students can access a number of free platforms and their online resources. However, children with disabilities and special needs require resources which are tailored to their needs. Such resources are scarce and not easily accessible.

In a standard learning environment, collaboration and coordination between the family and the professionals supporting the child (resource teachers, psychologists, speech therapists, etc.) is challenging. In addition, teachers have insufficient training to work with children with disabilities in mainstream settings. Now, when schools are closed it is even more challenging!

The solution

Specialists and resource teachers working with children with disabilities clearly identified the need of additional online support both for the children and their teachers and parents. In response to that need, UNICEF together with its partners from MoES and the Regional Inclusive Education Support Center Sofia will develop the first digital educational platform in the country that will make the learning process more accessible to children with disabilities.Their parents and families, in close cooperation with specialists, will receive knowledge and resources that will help them provide more support to the children.

Video educational materials and resources for children with special educational needs, developed by psychologists, speech therapists, and teachers validated by the Ministry of Education and Science

Training tools for specialists and parents including guidelines, online seminars, and discussions for parents

Option for collaboration between the family and the specialists focused on the individual educational needs of the child

Online consultations and live chat with experts to help teachers, parents, and children as well as useful contact information of specialists and institutions by regions

Building the platform UNICEF will include specialists, teachers and parents so that all resources to be tailored to meet the specific needs of the children in the best possible way. The development of the platform involves several stages. The development and the adaptation of the resources as well as specifying and implementing the technical platform requirements is planned for Summer 2020. UNICEF’s goal is the platform to become operational by Autumn 2020.