THE EDUCATOR
Winter 1999
International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment
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BELORUSSIA
SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND
TASKS AND PROBLEMS
Mrs. Tamara Netylkina
Teacher, Minsk School for the Blind, Belorussia
The centenary anniversary of education for blind
children is an important event in Belorussian society. It represents the
period of formation and development of the educational system for the blind
in Belorussia.
The first school for blind and partially sighted
children was opened in 1887, upon the initiative of Ivan Zdanovitch, senior
consultant at the Minsk Regional Hospital. Thousands of teachers have continued
the noble work of Dr. Ivan Zdanovitch. Belorussia now has seven schools
for blind and partially sighted children, with over 1,100 pupils.
The Belorussian Association of the Visually Handicapped
(BAHV) considers education for the blind to be its most important task.
With the assistance of the BAHV, the Minsk Special School for the Blind
was opened, the Department of Pedagogy for the Blind at the Belorussian
Pedagogical University was set up, and the Masseur Department was founded
at Grodno Medical College.
The education at special schools for the blind is
of a very high level and gives students the opportunity to enter college
or university. But the students are often not prepared for living independently
in society. What is more, society does not perceive them as full and capable
members. To change this situation, we need to change the education system
for the blind as well as their living situation.
The fairly isolated life students lead in a boarding
school provides insufficient opportunities for social orientation and may
result in passive attitudes; classes in behavior modification are not always
successful. Our blind and partially sighted pupils should not be isolated
from the everyday life of sighted people. They should get the opportunity
to acquire knowledge and skills in different situations. We should use
the experience of integrated education accumulated in other countries and
introduce new teaching and educational methods for visually handicapped
children in our schools. Students in senior dorms in a boarding situation
can and must be more independent in daily life.
We should help students develop organizational and
daily living skills by giving them the chance to live independently, to
walk around town and to meet different people. One of our greatest concerns
is that blind students are not prepared for work and social life.
Today, the majority of pupils at our schools for
the blind and partially sighted are children with minor visual handicaps.
Is it necessary to teach this category of children in a special school?
They could easily attend mainstream schools if they were prepared for this
in kindergartens for visually handicapped and blind children in the same
way as children with severe visual handicaps attend special schools. The
entire educational process in the latter should be oriented towards the
physical and psychological needs and characteristics of these children.
The need for special schools for the blind is very
acute now. Stricter selection criteria for special schools will give us
the opportunity to find additional funding for technical aids, which will
help to raise the level of education. Special schools for the blind should
be methodological centers for the teaching of blind and partially sighted
children in Belorussia.
Another important problem is educational differentiation.
We badly need special schools for talented pupils, e.g., special music
schools, arts schools, etc., as well as schools for multi-handicapped visually
impaired children. A creative approach to solving this problem will be
another step towards the improvement of education for the blind.
State support is one of the most important factors
in the education of visually handicapped children. The students must be
sure that they will find employment, that society needs their brains and
hands. The solution to this problem is closely linked with the problems
of education in that they can be solved if they were considered at a state
level. Issues concerning the visually handicapped should be considered
at the highest levels of government.