December 3 is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities

The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia joins the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the theme for this year being "Building Back Better: toward a disability-inclusive, accessible and sustainable post COVID-19 world".

The development of inclusive education, including caring for adolescents and young people with disabilities, is one of the Ministry's top priorities. To this end, and to ensure equal access to education amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry, in cooperation with the organization "World Vision Georgia", has created a practical guide for general education institutions – "Schools during a Pandemic". The guide outlines the details of organizing attendance-based and distance learning for students with special educational needs under pandemic conditions. According to this guide, under remote learning conditions, special education teachers implement distance learning for each student with special educational needs according to an individual schedule in various forms, which includes conducting online classes and assigning relevant tasks, as well as promoting parental involvement in the learning process.

The interests of students with special educational needs are also taken into account in the process of planning "Teleskola" (Televised School) lessons: video lessons are prepared based on the recommendations of special educators and psychologists, and within the framework of the project, lessons are also translated into sign language.

To develop inclusive education and ensure quality education for every adolescent, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia implements the "Inclusive Education Program" throughout Georgia.

Along with supporting students with special educational needs and disabilities in general, vocational, and higher education institutions, this program includes sub-programs for financing integrated classes in public schools, second-chance education and social inclusion, a multidisciplinary team, and informational and methodological support for inclusive education.

Over recent years, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia has implemented a number of important projects in the direction of inclusive education, specifically:

• Special education teachers have become part of the professional development and career advancement scheme, and have been granted the corresponding status defined by the scheme;
• Changes have been made to the professional standard of special education teachers;
• Remuneration has been increased for special education teachers and inclusive education support specialists in public schools;
• Changes have been made to the registration of first-graders, according to which the registration of students with special educational needs has been defined as the first stage of registration;
• The standards for school psychologists, special education teachers, and individual assistants have been updated;
• The development assessment test for children aged 6 months to 6 years has been adapted;
• Alternative and sensory curricula have been introduced;
• New textbooks from the first through the sixth grades have been analyzed and new Georgian signs have been created, which are available on the website http://ge.signwiki.org/index.php/New_Signs;
• Within the framework of the "New School Model", inclusive education specialists have been hired;
• Textbooks for low-vision and blind students have been printed in Braille.

Alongside ensuring access to quality education for young people, the Ministry is focused on the development of parasports, which facilitates the active participation of persons with disabilities in sports activities. In this regard, the Government of Georgia has made a decision through which support for parasports has significantly increased: a parasport development center was built in Tbilisi and parasport funding was increased. As a result, for the first time, Georgia has a Paralympic champion, as well as world and European champions. Furthermore, it is important that the number of sports facilities fully or partially adapted for persons with disabilities has increased by 30% in Tbilisi and the regions.

In terms of supporting the participation of persons with disabilities in sports, numerous projects are planned to be implemented in the future, including the construction of a new national paracentre. In addition, like Paralympic champions, scholarships will be awarded to medalists of the Paralympic Games, as well as world and European champions.

The International Day of Persons with Disabilities was officially proclaimed in 1992 by United Nations General Assembly resolution 47/3, with the aim of promoting the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in all spheres of public life.