Members of all parliamentary parties want to support the implementation of projects in education and IT
Vienna (PK) – At today’s opening event in parliament for this year’s Zero Project Conference, members of the National Council together with the innovators presented solutions and innovative technologies for inclusive education and IT.
With the Zero Project, the Essl Foundation has been supporting the implementation of the goals of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities for more than ten years and implements a global research and communication program every year. Selected innovative solutions will be honored at the Zero Project Conference in the coming days in Vienna’s UNO City. Members of all parties represented in parliament each selected a project and agreed to contribute to its implementation in Austria.
“Reverse integration” in schools
The project she supports is proof that inclusive education works, said NEOS MP Fiona Fiedler. The Ungargasse School Center (SZU), a higher technical college in Vienna, primarily accepts students with disabilities and offers them the necessary support to participate in classes, such as free aids and assistant teachers. In 2023, the school had 1,200 students, 30% of whom have disabilities. When students learn and interact together and realize that everyone is different and perfect at the same time, the barriers in their heads and in the environment begin to disappear, says Fiedler. As a mentor for the project, she will invite people to a round table to discuss how this concept can become a model throughout Austria.
At the Ungargasse School Center (SZU), students with and without disabilities all learn according to the same curriculum and receive an equivalent certificate, reported school principal Martina Mikovits when presenting the project. The community develops a special attitude in everyone, which shapes the students for their entire lives and thus has a positive impact on our society, says Mikovits.
“Case managers” coordinate early intervention programs
Early childhood support is at the heart of the project, which was selected by the FPÖ, whose representative was unable to attend the event in person. The project is a Cooperative for Inclusion (CECD) in Portugal with a concept based on Case Manager. These coordinate the early intervention (ECI) of three ministries – education, health and labor and social affairs – and thus significantly improve families’ access to ECI. In 2021, 154 case managers reached almost 80,000 people.
Parents who find out about their child’s disability have many questions and this is exactly where the project from Portugal comes in, explained expert Karin Praniess-Kastner. These parents need advice at eye level on practical solutions. Time, financial support and knowledge about therapy and educational offers are important for affected families. The Portuguese project focuses on the wishes of the parents, based on which a plan for the child is drawn up and implemented. The case managers are available to support the families during this process.
Inclusive training program for medical students
The project selected by Kira Grünberg (ÖVP) aims to improve cooperation between doctors and people with disabilities. At the Johannes Kepler University (JKU) in Linz, a curriculum for developmental medicine was created to train future doctors for the needs and rights of people with disabilities. Modules such as “Developmental Medicine” and “Determination of Developmental Profiles” provide the knowledge necessary to provide appropriate medical support to people with disabilities. From 2014 to 2022, all 600 medical students in the faculty were taught this new curriculum. Grünberg said she wanted to work to ensure that bridges were built to other medical universities and the doors were opened for this project.
Professor Johannes Fellinger from Linz emphasized that those affected are always the experts. It is therefore important to continually convey to medical students that the patient’s wishes are the focus and that as a doctor you should not think that you already know what the person in question needs. This includes the attitude as a doctor to make yourself available to patients with disabilities in a “barrier-free” manner.
Includes play set for all children
Sibylle Hamann (Greens) presented the Australian social enterprise “Reach & Match”, which offers an inclusive, game-based learning program for all children. Playing is the essential means of early childhood communication for establishing relationships and learning, said the MP. This can be supported with materials that stimulate all the senses. The learning set consists of sensor mats and Braille/print alphabet plates with sound functions that can be arranged in different ways. According to the founder, it is not only suitable for developing motor skills for children with visual impairments, but can also promote inclusive knowledge for children without disabilities. Inclusion doesn’t have to be complex, she said. Since 2014, the program, including the manual and training, has been used by 35,000 children in eight countries. From now on, MP Hamann wants to devote herself to the possibilities of use in inclusive educational settings in Austria.
Computer app gives every child a voice
The project “Give every child a voice” is aimed at children with difficulties in communicating and was initiated by UNICEF in Southeastern Europe. The project uses a web application for assistive and alternative communication for children with speech and language disorders and integrates a global database with over 20,000 symbols. The technology aims to ensure that “every child has a voice,” explained the UNICEF innovation manager. In addition, the project supports specialists and parents in supporting children. The program, which was introduced in Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, has benefited more than 3,000 children since 2019. SPÖ mandater Verena Nussbaum emphasized that it is essential to live inclusion at a low threshold. Every child must have the same opportunities. Despite all the possibilities that artificial intelligence and technological innovations offer, it is also important to make teacher training fundamentally inclusive, said Nussbaum.
With the participation of the experts, the way forward with all the innovations presented today will be discussed with the MPs in the form of “round tables”. This offers an important forum for making projects successful, said Parliamentary Director Harald Dossi. Finally, he thanked the proponents, experts, representatives and especially the Essl Foundation for their efforts on the important topic of inclusion.
The opening event for the Zero Project Conference was rounded off by an inclusive music performance by the White Hands Chorus Nippon, a youth choir in which children with and without disabilities made music together, including in sign language. The inspiration for their work was Ludwig van Beethoven, whose hearing was severely impaired, explained the Japanese ambassador Ryuta Mizuuchi. (End) bea/fan
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