The third meeting of the advisory council under the Council of the Republic on the issues of social adaptation and integration of children with special needs is taking place today in Gomel under the chairmanship of Natalia Kochanova.

The event is traditionally attended by representatives of all interested ministries and public organizations. Minister of Education Andrei Ivanets represents his department.

On the agenda: familiarization with the activities of the institution "Gomel boarding school for disabled children with special needs of psychophysical development"; meeting of the Advisory Council in the state institution "Gomel Regional Social and Cultural Center".

Chairman of the Council of the Republic Natalya Kochanova, members of the Advisory Council studied the life and opportunities for development of children from the Gomel boarding school for disabled children with special needs of psychophysical development.

Now 66 people live here: 31 children under the age of 18 with varying degrees of health loss and 35 people over 18 years old. Here, 22 children with the status of left without parental care found care and attention, five of them are orphans. The school provides day care services to 65 people.

“I liked what we saw. And what is being done in Gomel and the Gomel region on working with children on inclusive education, should be taken as a basis that we should develop in other regions,” the Chairperson of the Council of the Republic stressed.

Natalya Kochanova recalled that the advisory council was created based on the fact that people raising children who have autism spectrum disorders, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, applied to the Council of the Republic and talked about the problems of rehabilitation of children, their further socialization and education.

From September 2022 to July 2023, the Advisory Council considered issues of comprehensive care for children with autism spectrum disorders, training of personnel to work with children with special needs, activities of healthcare and education systems to accompany children of this category and their families.

Today's meeting of the Advisory Council under the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus was also meaningful.

The focus is on the issues of social adaptation and integration of children with special needs. The meeting participants discussed the development of forms of social support for families with children with disabilities, learned about modern forms of work for the social adaptation and rehabilitation of children with disabilities, and agreed that work skills are the basis for successful socialization of young people with disabilities in society.

According to Natalia Kochanova, representatives of institutions and organizations of various directions have already joined in resolving issues. So, for example, a special questionnaire has been developed for the early detection of health problems, and such a questionnaire is going to be widely introduced into practice.
The speaker also emphasized the exceptional importance of inclusive education. "If we do everything as prescribed in our laws, we will do everything so that every child who, even if he has some problems, can sing, draw, make souvenirs, it will be wonderful. We speak not only about children but in general about those people who have such disorders. These people can and should live in society, they must learn, develop, work, "she is convinced.

Among other planned activities of the head of the department in the Gomel region is a meeting with the staff of the State Educational Institution “Social and Pedagogical Center of the Gomel Region”, a visit to a shelter at the SOC, as well as a meeting with children and their parents-educators in a family-type orphanage in the agro-town of Ulukovye.

When visiting the State Educational Institution “Social and Pedagogical Center of the Gomel Region”, Andrei Ivanets met with the institution’s team, learned about the features of educational programs for preschool education and additional education for children and youth, and the organization of work on socio-pedagogical and psychological support for foster families.

In the evening, the Minister of Education is scheduled to visit a family-type orphanage in the agro-town of Ulukovye, to get acquainted with the children and their parents-educators.

Thus, the issues of education and upbringing of children with special needs are in the zone of constant increased attention and control of the Ministry of Education.