Brussels, 19/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - On 16 October 2015, 250 young Europeans met in Luxembourg for a conference entitled “Inclusive education: Take action!” At the conference they proposed a number of recommendations on inclusive education, which will be presented to the ministers at the next meeting of the “Education, Youth, Culture and Sport” Council on 23 November 2015.
The participants, aged between 14 and 25 years, with and without special educational needs, were invited to outline how their school takes care of them and to provide concrete examples about the way in which their teachers and classmates deal with their needs. Representatives from organisations specialising in the education and rights of persons with disability also took part in the event.
The Luxembourg Minister for Education, Children and Youth, Claude Meisch, encouraged the young people present to express themselves on the subjects affecting them, “I strongly encourage you to seize this extraordinary opportunity to freely express yourselves. All too often, people who are not directly concerned do this in your place. Do not hesitate to say what you think, to formulate ideas”, he declared. Martine Reicherts, director-general of the European Commission's Education and Culture Directorate-General, also attended and emphasised that, since 2009 and the first cycle of the strategic framework, Education and Training 2020, the Commission had made the integration of schoolchildren with special educational needs into traditional education a priority.
One of the recommendations highlighted by the young people was the need to take better account of the biographical information of young students with special educational needs, as well as of young people from different ethnic, religious and social backgrounds. According to them, solutions should be adapted to the specific needs of each person. On numerous occasions, emphasis was placed on the crucial role of teachers in managing pupils' specificities and establishing dialogue with them. The young people also highlighted the need to organise common school activities in an effort to promote the integration of all students and not accommodate young people with special needs in separate buildings, because they need to be able to blossom among other young people. (Original version in French by Isabelle Lamberty)