The recommendations of the Commissioner for Administration and Protection of Human Rights, Maria Stylianou-Lottidis, contained in her Report and Self-Inspection, regarding the provision of chaperones for children with disabilities attending any level of education, are reiterated and brought back before the Ministry of Education.
According to its Autonomous Position on the matter, it raises the issue of a review of the process of recruitment of escorts by the School Boards with the possibility of assigning this process to another specialized body with the appropriate knowledge on the subject and the immediate separation of school escorts from school assistants.
It notes that in this procedure the best interests of the child should be the primary consideration and to this end the recruitment of a suitable chaperone who can adequately meet the individual needs of each child as determined by the Provincial Committees for Special Education and Education should be sought.
In this process, it is noted, the views and wishes of the child, depending on his or her age and maturity, as well as those of his or her parents should be elevated and given due weight in the selection of the appropriate escort.
It states that the timely completion of the recruitment procedures for school chaperones should take place well before the start of the school year.
It should be made clear that chaperones are not at the same time school assistants and therefore the duties of chaperones should not include tasks which do not concern the child they are accompanying and which can be carried out by other support staff employed in school establishments.
The Commissioner recommends that the tasks of escorts should be limited to providing only the necessary support and assistance to the child to achieve their full inclusion in education and the school environment.
She states that there should be a definition of specific qualifications and specialised knowledge of escorts, based on the individual needs of people with disabilities.
It points out that the Provincial Committees for Special Education and Training must precisely determine the needs of the child and the quantity and quality of the reasonable adjustments to be provided, i.e. the time frame during which the child should be accompanied and the qualifications that the escort should possess in each case.
The Department, it adds, should wheel out the provision of sufficient, ongoing and appropriate training and qualifications for both escorts and classroom teacher(s) to enable them to meet the needs of children with disabilities.
After consultation with the relevant Private School and Private Tertiary School Associations, the CPSOA, as well as representative organisations of persons with disabilities and representatives of parents of children with disabilities, the Commissioner continues, the Ministry should take the necessary steps and make the necessary arrangements to ensure that reasonable adjustments are provided to persons with disabilities attending private institutions, in this case by providing escorts, to remove any possible discrimination that may be caused in the field of education when it involves private institutions, both tertiary, primary and secondary, by enacting a law on higher education in the private sector, in a manner similar to that enacted for private schools.
The Commissioner points out that the academic qualifications should specify the knowledge and experience that persons wishing to be employed as school chaperones should possess. Therefore, he notes, it may well be necessary to prepare a service plan for school chaperones.
"The service plan in question should be sufficiently and appropriately adapted to enable school chaperones to meet the needs of children, depending on the nature of their disability and the school level they are in, from pre-primary to higher education, both in the public and private sectors," he adds.
It points out that the specialisation of academic qualifications and knowledge should inevitably bring about a corresponding and commensurate increase in their salary scale.
The Commissioner states that "there should be an end to the uncertainty surrounding the future employment of school chaperones and the practice of terminating their employment during the summer months without knowing whether they will be re-employed at the start of the new school year. To this end, the Ministry could, during the summer period, make use of school chaperones in summer schools and/or provide them with specialised education and training in matters relating to the needs of children with disabilities."
With regard to the cases before her, the Commissioner recommends that they be reviewed on the basis of a reassessment of the individual needs for the provision of chaperones without any further delay.
"A dialogue could be initiated between the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth with all stakeholders i.e. the Representative Organisations of Parents of Children with Disabilities, the CPSOA and the Association of School Chaperones for a holistic resolution of the issue," she recommends.
The Commissioner's own-initiative position is submitted to the Ministry of Education,[/B] Sports and Youth and a copy will be forwarded to the Chairman and Members of the Parliamentary Committee on Education and Culture, the Representative Organisations of Parents of Children with Disabilities, KYSOA and POAA Limassol, as well as to the Association of School Chaperones.
Source: CNA
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