Expanding the scope of inclusive education|INTERVIEW
“Xalq qəzeti”
The interview of Sevinj Mahsimova, director of UNEC Inclusive Education Center, to “Khalq newspaper”:
-In 2015, the Inclusive Education Center was established at the Azerbaijan State University of Economics (UNEC) in order to create inclusive conditions and increase the accessibility of higher education for students with limited health opportunities. Currently, great achievements have been made in this direction.
In the first period when the center was established, only 26 young people with disabilities were studying part-time at the university, but now more than 200 students from other categories and vulnerable groups are involved in inclusive education. The center supports the full integration of students into university life by helping them to get a quality education in common classrooms. In the educational building No. 3 of the university, all conditions have been created so that people with disabilities can comfortably use all the facilities.
A Psychological Center and an Inclusive Education Fund have also been established at UNEC, and those who need help are directed to those institutions.
As parents play an important role in the lives of such students, we also conduct social work with them. Many innovations are also applied in teaching. For example, audio-textbooks and audio lectures are organized within the framework of the individual education trajectory. Opportunities are created for students with disabilities to hold additional classes, and for those who do not come to the university for good reasons, to join an online class from home.
Among students with disabilities at UNEC, there are also participants in dual diploma and exchange programs. Several students with disabilities studied at European universities within the Erasmus+ international exchange program.
Poets, writers, artists, mathematicians, and professional IT specialists are also growing among the students thanks to the support given to reveal the special skills of young people with disabilities. In 2018, more than 1,200 young people with higher education participated in the job fair organized by UNEC for young people with disabilities, and 108 of them were involved in work.