SDSM: Over 250 children with disabilities began school without educational assistants

Opposition party SDSM says around 250 children with disabilities — mostly first graders — began the school year without the classroom support of educational assistants that they need during the day.

The claim was made at a press briefing by Jovanche Manaskov, a member of SDSM's education committee. Manaskov said this is the third consecutive year that Minister of Education and Science Vesna Janevska has allowed the school year to start without timely arranged educational support for children with disabilities.

Schools submitted requests at the end of June

According to SDSM, schools submitted requests for educational assistants for first graders at the end of June, after enrollments concluded. Manaskov told reporters that the ministry has not explained what happened to those applications.

Manaskov warned of the practical consequences for children and families and described the situation in sharp terms: "This is just another proof of the inability of this government to care and to invest in what is most important for the future of a state — education. And this is not the first time. For these children and their parents, the first day of school was not a day of joy, but a day of fear, disappointment and uncertainty. When they do not have the support of the educational assistant, the consequences are directly felt by the children and their families," he said.

He also pointed to timing: "What did the Ministry of Education do with those requests? If the hiring procedure takes 20 days, then it is clear that even if the procedure starts now, some of these children would receive an educational assistant only after September 20. What are these children supposed to do until then? Not go to school? Wait for the authorities to finish their administrative procedures?"

SDSM urged an immediate fix, stressing that inclusion must be more than words on paper. "Inclusion must not be just a word in strategies and documents. It must be a reality in every classroom. Today the reality is that children with disabilities are being left without support already on the first day of the school year," Manaskov said, and the party demanded that no child be left without required educational support.

Photo: СДСМ