DIVERSASIA - Best practices

Municipality of Elbasan manages the municipal social service centre BALASHE, which cooperates with MERDPAK for CwD education. The social centre for Roma in Rapishte cooperates with the municipality and MEDPAK on identifying Roma children that are out of school system. In the centre of the aged people care, MEDPAK monitors the standards of social services. The centre for Down syndrome “Future for you” collaborates with the project on training parents and staff on Inclusive Education.

Parents of children with Down syndrome are trained on advocacy and are asking the municipality to subvert the day care service. The District of Elbasan has established a Care Centre for Autism, which cooperates with the project to identify children with autism, and to send them for assessment to the RED multidisciplinary commission. The assessed children are placed at regular schools, where they are taught with IEP. The pilot kindergartens staff is prepared to work with children with autism. In 18 administrative units, the social workers serve as a focal point for the disability, and two of them are well trained on disability issues as they have previous volunteer experience with the civil society.

Awareness activities are carried out by target schools to promote the “inclusive school” in their respective communities such as: theatre workshops, cultural events, and movie projections followed by discussions. The school staff and students of the pilot schools have carried out annual open events aimed at promoting inclusive schools among the community. Communicative messages used in awareness raising activities were prepared by students. MEDPAK facilitators have coordinated the events and carried out annual sessions of movie projections on the issue of disability. MEDPAK and local actors have broadcasted the activities for Inclusive Education carried out in pilot areas, in all the local and national TVs. The most important, has been the students’ activity for awareness-raising at school and in the community.