growing pains
Dispelling discrimination in schools



Joseph Camilleri believes that children with special needs must be given the chance of inclusive education where possible. Today the Chairman of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities tells NADINE Brincat how far Malta has come in this respect and also highlights what still needs to be done

Joseph Camilleri, Chairman of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities, will always be grateful that his parents pushed to ensure he stayed at a mainstream school, against the wishes of some institutions.

"I benefited greatly from this decision," he says. "My school mates helped me, lifting me on buses and so on, since I was and am small. Although I was physically in pain, I thank my parents and my grandmother, who always helped me, for the opportunities they provided me with, against the odds."

The move has helped Mr Camilleri, who is also a trained teacher and a parent of two non-disabled girls, to understand the importance of inclusive education from a personal perspective.

Tracing back the initial steps made locally in inclusive education, he explains that the first local experiments in special education needs took place as early as 1957, when a class was set up to include deaf children in a mainstream school.

"But at this time the children were still in a specific class," he stresses.

Mr Camilleri explains that the special education needs adopted in Malta in the 1950s were based on the British model which meant segregation.

"Inclusion really came about in 1992 as a result of pressure from various groups who were pushing for desegregation," he says. "The Eden Foundation was set up and in collaboration with the Institute for Child Development and the University of Malta's Faculty of Education, there was a move towards inclusive education for children with intellectual disabilities."

Mr Camilleri explains that the main challenge these children have to deal with to enable them to benefit from inclusive education is communicating and receiving information.

"This also means that there are problems with the transmission of education, particularly with deaf and blind children," he said. "Children with intellectual disabilities have problems comprehending, whereas the only obstacle to children with physical disabilities is physical access to the school."

He explained that this was why the decision was taken to have a facilitator - a trained adult to assist the disabled child -included in the mainstream set-up.

Mr Camilleri admitted that many parents of disabled children misunderstand the purpose of facilitators, expecting private lessons for their child, while in other scenarios, facilitators might encounter problems with teachers.

"The purpose is for the facilitator to help the child with the same subject the teacher is teaching, but on a different level," he explained. "Then there can be the problem that some teachers see the facilitator as a threat to their authority, and want the child and the facilitator to be invisible, although, simultaneously, there are many cases in which teachers and facilitators work hand in hand for the benefit of the whole class."

Mr Camilleri said one major problem was the fact that the system needed a specific plan to embrace inclusion properly. But he stressed that it had still been better to get the wheels in motion.

"This, because initially, inclusion was not seen as an opportunity, rather it was considered by some to be a threat," he said. "However, if you ask me when the right time to do it was, I would say there and then, because there was no reform. Now we are analysing the requirements for the system. We are creating the atmosphere and the tools for successful inclusion. But we are still in the early stages, identifying the environment and carrying out the groundwork."

Mr Camilleri admitted that one issue which concerns him is the lack of progress being made by some disabled children because teachers do not have the necessary training.

But he holds that much progress has still been made in this area.

"At least today, the concept is accepted," he pointed out. "Nobody discusses whether there should be inclusion in schools - it is here to stay. What is debatable is how to include. But it was a great battle to get inclusion accepted, and sometimes, we do not give these milestones their due importance. Although there were some negative examples, I firmly believe that the positive ones are growing in number."

Mr Camilleri stressed that the commission is not against specialised schools for severe disabilities, however, whenever possible we believe that children with disabilities should be included in mainstream classes.

He admitted that this is a grey area, conceding that inclusive education receives considerable criticism as to who should be included in mainstream education.

Mr Camilleri explained that in the United States, this is decided by a multi-disciplinary assessment team, which sets up an Individual Education Plan for each disabled child, to enable them to set goals and targets to socialise and live independent lives. This team also lists the extra resources required, which the school cannot provide. In the United Kingdom there is a Statement Board, he added, which makes a statement of the child's special education needs and targets, long, medium and short term.

"Malta's statement board is different in that it has one task, to decide on the services of the facilitator and whether it should be on a one-to-one basis or shared," he said.

He stressed that the Commission agreed that in certain cases, a child should not be left without a facilitator, but always stressed it would accept sending the child back home only as a last resort.

"It is unfair to condemn the child and segregate disabled children, this is why we feel that an all rounded assessment programme is so important," he said.

Mr Camilleri added that the Commission also wanted the issue of severity considered in the context of the service the child was being given.

"We must ask whether disabled children are being segregated because of severe disability or because institutions and the system in general are unable to cater for them," he stressed. "Inclusive education is flexible, but the individual must be in a situation where he can help himself, while the system is helping him out too."

Mr Camilleri stressed that although segregation should be considered as a last resort, there was still a part for specialised schools to play.

"Their role would expand in the direction of resource centres, facilitating the inclusion of children into the mainstream system," he said. " This new role will actually strengthen the specialised schools."