The Defensora del Pueblo Ombudsman of Spain), Soledad Becerril officially opened the course “The rights of people with disability: inclusive education” which will be analysing the reality of that right in Spain.
As the Ombudsman pointed out in her speech, the aim of the course is to “try to enhance our knowledge of how to overcome difficulties and problems, how to succeed in getting pupils with disability included, how to reinforce the education system where needed”.
During the four-day course, educators, jurists and representatives of NGOs will be analysing “education and its most complex aspects: pupils with disability, pupils with physical or mental problems, pupils with families in difficulties or without families, that are the most fragile link in the poverty-transmission chain”, she said.
The course, which is run by the Office of the Ombudsman (Defensor del Pueblo) and the University of Alcalá from 30 May to 2 June, will bring together experts who will debate on how to bridge the gap that exists between the right to inclusive education recognised in the laws and its effective guarantee and materialisation.
The Secretary General of the University of Alcalá, Miguel Rodríguez Blanco took part in the opening ceremony with Soledad Becerril.
The speakers on the first day of the course were Ignacio Campoy, a lecturer in Philosophy of Law, who gave the lecture “From special education to inclusive education”, and Gerardo Echeita, a lecturer in Evolutionary Psychology and Educational Psychology, who explained what inclusive education involves.
On the second day, 31 May, María del Rosario Carmona, a lecturer in International Public Law, will be addressing the matter of the UN’s work on the right to education of people with disability.
The head of the Education Department at the Office of the Ombudsman, Joaquín Trillo, will explain the institution’s initiatives as regards inclusive education. Among them, reminding all the education authorities of the exceptional and residual nature of enrolment in special educational institutions, and recommending that ordinary educational institutions be equipped with the necessary personal and material resources.
On 1 June, Luis Cayo, the chairman of the Spanish Committee of Representatives of People with Disability (Cermi, its anagram in Spanish), will deal with “The legal configuration of reasonable adjustments” (La configuración jurídica de los ajustes razonables) and Juana Hernández, director of the Specific Team for Serious Developmental Disorders at the Community of Madrid regional department of Education, Youth and Sport, will analyse what an inclusive educational institution may be like.
The course will also include a roundtable discussion on pending matters in inclusive education, in which Inés de Araoz, from the legal advice office at Plena Inclusión; Raquel Cárcamo, chairwoman of the Altavoz Cooperative, and Cristóbal Calero, headmaster of Cardenal Spinola School will be participating.
On Thursday, 2 June, the closing ceremony for the course will be hosted by the Second Deputy-Ombudsman at the Office of the Ombudsman, Concepción Ferrer, and by the Representative of the Vice-Chancellor for Inclusion Policies at the University of Alcalá, Carmen Figueroa.
