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* Academic qualifications / diplomas:
Graduate in Basic General Teaching. Specialised in Humanities from the Complutense University of Madrid.
Degree in Philosophy and Educational Sciences, specialising in Special Education from the Complutense University of Madrid.
Member of the Inter-university Association of Pedagogical and Experimental Research.
Member of the Spanish Pedagogy Society.
Associated member No. 31581 of the Association of University Graduates and Post-Graduates of Madrid.
Subscriber to numerous publications relating to Education.
* Professional Experience:
Five years' teaching practice as Teacher in Adult Education Centre.
Eight months' experience as Teacher of Basic General Education in Penitentiary Institutions (civil servant post).
Five years as Special Education Teacher in the Centre that the ONCE has in Alicante (Spain).
Six years as Educator - Superior Grade - in the Education Section of the Directorate-General of the ONCE in Madrid. This is the work in which I am currently employed; the basic tasks involved in this position are the following:
- Technical coordination of the General Assessment Plan of the Educational Services of the ONCE.
- Technical coordination of the Educational Guidance Programme and Psychopedagogical Intervention.
- Technical coordination of the Vocational Training Programme. As this is the area most directly related to the field on which I will be focusing my participation in the X ICEVI Conference, I shall outline below several aspects of the Programme, which have a bearing on said participation:
. I represent the ONCE before the Ministry of Education and Culture in the joint workgroup constituted to monitor the performance of the different educational stages, as well as the Education Provision Programmes, insofar as they might affect blind or visually impaired persons.
. I coordinate the curriculum revisions relating to the different subjects taught at the ONCE centres.
. I revise and update the criteria for support offered to pupils integrated in ordinary vocational training centres.
. Together with the Labour Integration Section of the ONCE, I monitor the entrance of the vocational training graduates into the work market.
* Publications, congresses, conferences, symposia, etc., since 1992
Books:
* "Pérgamo Method for literacy training of Blind Adult Persons". Published by the C.B.C. of the ONCE, 1994.
* "The Education of blind and visually impaired persons" Chapter VIII "Special educational stages" - Printed -
* " General Assessment-Inspection Plan of the ONCE Educational Services" ONCE Education Section 1996 - Not published
Articles:
* "Texts for neoreaders". Perfiles. November 1992.
* "Adult Education Program in the ONCE". Actualidad Docente. March 1994.
* "Literacy training for blind adults". Actualidad Docente. April 1994.
* "European Conference on education for the visually impaired" Integration No. 19, October 1995.
Congresses. conferences. symposia:
* Speaker at the X National Pedagogy Congress. Salamanca 1992.
Paper: "Vocational training guidance for blind or visually impaired pupils".
* Speaker at the V Latin American Careers Advice Seminar. Tenerife 1992.
Paper: " Vocational guidance and labour insertion of blind or visually impaired persons".
* Speaker at the ICEVI Conference held in Bangkok (Thailand), 1992.
Paper: "An Education program for blind adults from a normalizing perspective".
* Speaker at I International Congress on Adult Education. Granada 1993.
Paper: "Model for educational attention for blind adults followed by the ONCE".
* Participant in the Symposium on "Teaching aspect of Special Vocational Training". Madrid 1994.
Organization: Ministry of Education and Science and National Association of Special Education Centres.
* Participant in the International Congress on Human Resources, Guidance and Labour Market.
Organization: National Open University (UNED). Madrid, July 1994.
* I National Congress on Services Offered to Blind and Visually Impaired Persons. Coordination of the vocational training area. Madrid, September 1994.
* Participant, in representation of the ONCE, at the VI Symposium of the European Forum of Educational Administrators. Saragossa, October 1994.
* Speaker at the Teachers Centre in Soria.
Paper: "The Educational Services in the ONCE: organizational structure" February, 1995.
* Speaker at I Symposium on Education for Blind and Visually Impaired Persons.
Paper: "Material resources and specific adaptations". University Teacher Training School. Madrid, February 1996.
* Participant at the Symposium on the training of monitors for the Social Services section for Affiliates. ONCE. Madrid, April 1995.
* Speaker at the ICEVI European Conference in Budapest.
Paper: "The Vocational Training Model of the ONCE". Budapest, 1995.
* Technical coordinator of the course on Psychopedagogical Diagnosis and Guidance" (30 hours). Madrid, September 1995.
* Participant at the II International Psychology and Education Congress. Madrid, November 1995.
* Participant at the I International Congress on Quality Assessment. Madrid, February 1996.
* Speaker at the II Symposium on Education of Blind and Visually Impaired Persons".
Paper: "The Vocational Training Model in the ONCE". University Teacher Training School. Madrid, February 1996.
* Technical Coordinator. I Symposium on Assessment/Inspection of the Educational Services of the ONCE. Madrid, March 1996.
* Technical Coordinator. II Symposium on Assessment/Inspection of the Educational Services of the ONCE. Madrid, June 1996.
* Technical Coordinator. III Symposium on Assessment/Inspection of the Educational Services of the ONCE. Seville, July 1996.
* Scientific-technical activities since 1992
Chief researcher of the Project presented to the ONCE for financing, on "The diagnosis of the reading maturity and ability of blind pupils, by means of standardized tests". Madrid, November 1995.
Research team: - Chief researcher
(Psychopedagogue)
- University Professor specialist
in the field
- Psychopedagogue from the
ONCE
Professor in postgraduate
course on Education and Training of Blind and Visually Impaired Persons
organized by the Complutense University of Madrid and the ONCE. 96-97 and
97-98 courses.
Madrid, October 1996
Contents
In the Western Europe societies today access to the workplace proves complicated for any person. If this is so, and it indeed is, when the person concerned suffers from some handicap, whether it be physical, mental or sensory, things become considerably more complicated. If the employment rate within the able-bodied population is already very high, the figure is truly staggering when we consider the handicapped population.
In addition to the handicap itself, disabled people must overcome not only the traditional architectural barriers, but also the so-called psychosocial barriers, such as overprotective families, educational and training shortcomings or the sequels that all this generates in the personality of the subject.
Accepting generically the rules of the system and of the market economy as the general framework within which the visually impaired (VI) person has to cope, it is up to the organizations of such disability groups to fight before State Administrations and before the social Organizations, both Business and Trade Union, in order to achieve effective labour integration and, consequently, social normalisation.
The Professional Training model for VI persons, in addition to envisaging the provision and/or adaptation of suitable training activities for this group, gives top priority to a series of actions that attempt to favour the effective labour integration of VI persons and, as a result, their social integration.
We will start off with a
panoramic overview of the legal framework in support of handicapped integration
in Spain, and then move on to detail the concrete actions fostered by the
ONCE and aimed at boosting the integration of VI persons in the workplace;
we will conclude by formulating some reflections on the problems that still
hinder the labour integration of this group, and finish off with a set
of proposals for the future.
2. - Labour integration
of the handicapped in Spain
In Spain, as in other countries, there exists, with greater or lesser success, basic legislation in questions of support and the promotion of employment for the handicapped.
Such legislation establishes a complete set of employment creation aids, sometimes aimed at the firms that hire handicapped persons and, in other cases, to the handicapped themselves when they opt for self-employment schemes; in addition, provision is made for aid to be provided for Special Employment Centres and Cooperative Societies, whose members often include disabled persons.
The Spanish legislation also determines the percentage of jobs to be reserved for the handicapped, both in State Public Administration positions and in private enterprise.
We provide a list below of some of the concrete measures contained in the Basic Legislation we referred to above, or in the subsequent development of that legislation, that affect the handicapped in general, and VI persons in particular.
Aid for offering indefinite contracts or permanent incorporation to associated work cooperatives.
* Subsidy of 500,000 pts.
for each indefinite, full-time contract offered.
* Discount in the Social
Security payments corresponding to the firms, ranging from 70% for contracting
handicapped persons under 45 years old, up to 90% for those over this age.
* Subsidies of up to 500,000
pts. for adapting the place of work.
Aid for temporary employment offered to handicapped persons through apprenticeship contracts.
* 50% reduction in the firm's S. Security payment for that worker throughout the apprenticeship contract.
Aid for temporary employment offered to handicapped persons through job creation contracts.
* 75% reduction in the firm's S. Security payment for that worker. This reduction can come to 100% if it is the first handicapped worker contracted by the firm.
Conversion of temporary apprenticeship contracts into indefinite contracts.
* Subsidy of 500,000 pts. for such a conversion.
Subsidies and aids for starting up general employment projects.
* Possible beneficiaries of such aid are the special Employment Centres or their representatives, these Centres being defined in the Law 13/1982 of April 7th on the Social Integration of the Handicapped. The aids available are as follows:
=> Subsidies for technical assistance or viability studies (between 50% and 100% of the cost)
=> Financial subsidies of up to six points - up to a limit of 500,000 pts. for credits destined to investment.
Actions aimed at maintaining employment
* Subsidy of the cost of the salary for a job, amounting to 50% of the minimum wage.
* Subsidy of up to a 80% of the total cost of the adaptation of the place of work (up to 300,000 pts.)
* Subsidies aimed at balancing the budgets of those Special Employment Centres that are non-profit-making and are considered public utilities.
* Subsidy of up to 50% of the cost of the technical viability studies for the project.
Aid for the labour integration of the handicapped through self-employment schemes
* Financial subsidies of up to six points (with a limit of 500,000 pts.), for credits intended for investment.
* Subsidies of up to 400,000
pts. maximum, for investment in fixed assets.
3.- The current model of
Professional Training in the ONCE:
3.1 Quantitative Information
General Data (Occupations of the V. I.)
ENTITIES ABSOLUTE
FREQUENCY (%)
ONCE (LOTTERY VENDORS) 14,758
88
ONCE (TECHNICAL/ADMINISTRATIVE
AND MANAGEMENT) 931 5.4
ONCE FOUNDATION 63 0.3
ONCE CORPORATION 179 1
EXTERNAL FIRMS 832 4.9
SELF-EMPLOYMENT 72 0.4
TOTALS 16,835 100%
ONCE: Entity that has grouped together the blind in Spain ever since 1938. It is considered a Public Law Corporation, of a social nature, with legal personality and full capacity to act, that carries out its activity in all the Spanish territory, under the Protectorate of the State (Royal Decree 358/1991 of March 15th).
ONCE Foundation: Entity created
by the ONCE in 1988 and conceived as a cooperation and solidarity tool
of the Spanish blind community with the other disabled groups to strive
for the improvement of their conditions of life.
It is endowed with its own
legal personality with full capacity to act, is of a permanent nature and
of indefinite duration assigned to the Protectorate of the Work Ministry,
that has as its purpose, according to its bylaws, the realization in a
direct or jointly agreed fashion of social integration programmes and the
provision of services for persons with physical, mental and sensory impairments.
The firms dependent on the
Foundation centre their activities in such diverse fields as: industrial
laundry, "telesales", foodstuffs production, human resources, data processing,
rural tourism or social communication.
ONCE Corporation: Group of enterprises dependent on the ONCE that carry out their business activities in different economic sectors:
- Hotels
- News media (Radio)
- Insurance
- Construction
- Promotion and real-estate
management
- Travel Agencies
- Agricultural exploitations
- etc.
Data by professions, of the labour integration of V. I. persons working outside the ONCE (in the Foundation, Corporation, external firms, self-employment, etc.)
PROFESSIONS
ABSOLUTE FREQUENCY
(%)
TELEPHONISTS 306 27
PHYSIOTHERAPISTS 133 12
TEACHERS 99 9
ENTREPRENEURS 83 7
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF 83
7
SUBORDINATES 45 4
I.T. PERSONNEL 17 1
JOURNALISTS 5 0
ANNOUNCERS 25 2
MANAGING DIRECTORS 64 6
LAWYERS 23 2
NURSES / CLINIC ASSISTANTS
16 1
SHORTHAND TYPISTS 11 1
MECHANICS 23 2
SALES REPRESENTATIVES 97
8
SALES DELEGATES 8 1
TECHNICIANS 11 1
ENGINEERS 6 1
CLEANERS 13 1
OTHERS 78 7
TOTALS 1,146 100%
3.2 The labour integration program for the visually impaired (v.i.)
The Programme consists of two subprogrammes:
A. Preparation in Professional Training
B. Actions taken with a view
to facilitating the Labour Integration of the V.I.
A. Preparation in Professional
Training
We could say that, at present, there are five parameters that determine our vocational training model for blind and visually impaired persons:
1. Close collaboration with the educational and labour integration administrations in the pursuance of 7 clear objectives:
a) To analyze the trends within the labour market and the possibilities that this offers to blind or visually impaired persons.
b) To analyze the characteristics of the different professional families, in order to discover what profiles might prove significant for our students and, consequently, go on to effect a detailed curricular analysis of same that could lead us to:
- Organize such teachings in our Centres (when the adaptation difficulties relating to the place of study so warrant).
- Provide criteria regarding the support that our teachers have to offer the pupils who study said courses in ordinary centres.
c) To extract commitments from those in the education administrations that guarantee the viability of the support we have to offer to the blind pupils integrated in ordinary Centres.
d) To guarantee appropriate labour integration, adapting gratuitously the place of work to which blind persons need access.
e) To ensure that the fiscal advantages and aids for labour integration are fulfilled.
f) To ensure that educational integration is accomplished in an effective manner, taking into account the requirements established in the educational legislation in Spain for Centres that take advantage of this program.
g) To rationalize the existing resources and make the optimum use of all those linked to vocational training.
2. To coordinate the educational offer in two modalities:
a) Courses given in our Centres when these are not offered elsewhere or, even if they are, it proves difficult to adapt the place of study. These courses, at present, are as follows:
- Telephony
- Computerized shorthand
typing
- Piano Tuning and Repair
- Chiropractic
- Radio
- Optician's assistant
- Working in Travel Agencies
- Leisure time Monitors/Coordinators
and Sociocultural Events Organiser
- Communications and Computer
Network Administration
b) Support to the ordinary Vocational Training Centres in which there are blind pupils integrated. This support is provided from 33 Teams distributed all around country.
This support consists basically of:
- Adaptation of the place
of study.
- Specific vocational/professional
guidance.
- Support to the teachers.
- Adaptation of curricular
material.
- Adaptation, where required,
of the methodology and the teaching method in general.
3. Facilitate training in our Centres that ranges from the basic levels up to the superior grade training courses; in this sense, the courses on offer give rise to the following possibilities:
- Pupils proceeding from
compulsory education without having obtained this qualification:
* Telephony
* Piano Tuning and Repair
- Pupils proceeding from
compulsory education having obtained this qualification:
* Chiropractic
* Optician's Assistant
* Working in travel agency
* Leisure time Monitors/Coordinators
- Pupils who have passed
their secondary school examinations:
* Radio
* Computerized shorthand
typing
* Communications and Computer
Network Administration
4. Intensify the use of typhlotechnology in our Centres given its basic instrumental nature.
5. Coordination with the group of companies linked to ONCE, to favour the labour integration of blind persons.
The courses offered at this moment in time in the Centres dependent on the ONCE, are as follows:
1. Telephony
Tasks:
- To perform efficiently
the tasks of a telephonist-receptionist.
- To provide information
both by telephone and in person.
- To handle switchboards,
fax.
- To access databases.
- To detect the most frequent
malfunctions in the devices they use.
Access:
From 18 years of age with
at least a Basic Education Certificate.
Curriculum:
- 900 hours, including practical
classes in the Educational Centre.
- 450 hours in the Work
Centre.
Centres: Madrid, Seville, Barcelona.
Ratio: Maximum 12 pupils per group.
2. Piano Tuning and Repair
Tasks:
- To tune and repair this
musical instrument.
- To effect simple administrative
tasks.
Access:
From 16 years of age with
Basic Education Certificate.
Curriculum:
- 3050 hours.
- Three academic years.
Centres: Madrid.
Ratio: Maximum 8 pupils per group 3. Chiropractic
Tasks:
- Application of massage
techniques such as a hygienic, prophylactic and therapeutic practice.
Access:
From 18 years of age with
Basic Education Certificate.
Curriculum:
400 hours:
- Specific Training 270
- Basic Complementary Training
(Language and General Knowledge) 55
- Labour Tutorship 75
Centres: Madrid, Seville and Barcelona.
Ratio: Maximum 10 pupils per group.
4. Optician's Assistant
- Designed in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, the Autonomous Region of Madrid and the Spanish Professional Opticians Association.
Tasks:
- To process orders for
optical instruments
- To design and make frames
in acetate and metal
- To aseptify lenses
- To operate in the adaptation
and repair process of hearing aids
- To repair frames
Access: From 16 years of
age with Basic Education Certificate
- Pupils with motor impairments
that allow them to effectively perform the work involved.
- Pupils with serious visual
impairment (they must possess - at least in one eye - an acuity that permits
them to perform the tasks described, with the additional proviso that the
ocular pathology is not progressive).
Curriculum:
700 hours (including practicals
in work Centres).
Centres: Madrid (experimental for the year 94/95).
Ratio: Maximum 15 pupils per group.
5.- Assistant in travel agency
Tasks:
- Arrange interviews with
customers
- Receive notifications
and messages
- Inform customers, firms,
etc. by telephone
- Access computer databases.
- Deal with, purchase and
sell products (Major Tour Operators and customers)
- Using the fax
Access:
From 16 years of age with
Basic Education Certificate.
Curriculum:
1225 hours (including practicals
in work Centres).
Centres: Seville
Ratio: Maximum of 10 pupils per group.
6. Radio
Tasks:
- Direction
- Production
- Announcing
Access:
From 18 years of age with
university entrance (C.O.U.) or Vocational Training Grade II (F.P. II)
qualifications (Secondary Education successfully completed)
Curriculum:
1,300 hours:
- In Educational Centre
1000
- In work Centre 300
Centre: Madrid
Ratio: Maximum of 15 pupils per group.
7. Computerized Shorthand typing
Tasks:
- Recording spoken information
using the Stenokey
- Other related functions:
drafting minutes and summaries; word processing.
Access:
From 18 years of age with
F.P. II or Secondary School (BUP) qualifications.
Curriculum:
1850 hours divided into
two academic years
Practical classes make up
40% of the timetable
Centre: Madrid
Ratio:
Maximum of 10 pupils per
group
8.- Leisure time Monitors/Coordinators (Sociocultural Events Organisation)
Tasks:
- To prepare and carry out
sociocultural and leisure time events programmes.
- To coordinate sociocultural
events projects aimed at V.I. persons.
- To advise workgroups on
tasks relating to the organisation of sociocultural and leisure time events
when V.I. persons are involved.
Access:
From 18 years of age with
basic education qualifications.
- With total or partial
visual impairment.
Curriculum:
- 150 hours of training
in educational Centre.
- 30 hours of practicals
outside the educational Centre.
Centre: Madrid
Ratio: Maximum of 15 pupils per group
9.- Technician in Communications and Computer Network Administration
Tasks:
- Installation and configuration
of equipment and programs in computer systems, equipment technology, interconnection,
operating systems and application software.
- Organization of the technical
resources of the computer system in order to establish system and information
security.
- Supervision of the maintenance
and performance of the system: diagnostic techniques.
- To facilitate the utilization
of the system for the final user.
Access:
- With academic training
equivalent to pre-university level.
- A knowledge of computers
at the user level as regards operating systems and standard applications.
Curriculum:
900 hours including practicals
in work Centres.
Centre: Madrid
Ratio: Maximum of 10 pupils
per group
B. Actions taken with a
view to facilitating the Labour Integration of the V.I.
To reserve a percentage of the jobs created by the ONCE itself for the V.I. (Article 16 VIII Collective Agreement of the ONCE and its personnel)
- Instructors for Tuning
and Repair of keyboard instruments 25%
- Telephonist 100%
- Bibliographical Services
Braille Technicians 50%
- Bibliographical Services
Sound Technicians 50%
- Bibliographical Services
Library Technicians 25%
- Bibliographical Services
Supervisors Pending
- Bibliographical Production
Sub-official 25%
To monitor the agreements established with the ONCE Foundation and the ONCE Business Corporation, in order to facilitate the labour integration of V.I. persons in both institutions.
To monitor the Agreement signed with the Spanish Justice Ministry that guarantees a percentage of jobs reserved for blind shorthand typists (to work in Courts and High Courts).
To monitor the pact established with the Spanish National Association of Opticians that facilitates the labour integration of V.I. persons in establishments dependent on said association.
To monitor the Agreement signed with the National Association of Piano Tuning Technicians which facilitates the labour integration of the V.I. persons trained in this field.
To support the employment of V.I. persons with grave associated impairments.
The ONCE does not have its own assistance centres (Occupational Centres, Residencies, etc.), but supports employment in this sector through systematic economic contributions and collaborations with other entities, both public and private.
Assessment and Guidance to the V.I. person looking for work. This includes the following phases:
- Interview with the V.I. person looking for work; the aim is to verify his/her professional expectations, as well as finding out the level of education, preferences, etc. In accordance with the results of same, two possible courses of action may be adopted:
- Advice on training courses which could complement the professional preparation of the V.I. person if a significant gap is detected in this field, (both professional p.m.d. and job-seeking techniques).
- To determine how to enter the professional world, consisting in:
* Information on the job
market, including protected employment openings.
* Information on access
to jobs or self-employment.
* Actively seeking employment
in a joint operation between the V.I. person and the specialist professional
teams.
Training in job-seeking techniques: Preparing a curriculum vitae, presentation letters, interviews, enquiries in job offer centres, etc.
Granting aid directed at preparation for employment.
The objective of such aid is to subsidize training activities which are oriented towards obtaining or consolidating a job for a V.I. person of working age.
Aid may be forthcoming for the following purposes:
- Occupational Training
- Professional Specialization
- Retraining
- Attendance at Congresses,
Sessions, Seminars, etc.
- Preparation for civil
service entrance examinations
Aid is available for expenses such as: matriculations, inscription fees, publications, didactic material, transport, travelling, professional fees, accommodation, meals, etc.
The amount is determined by two variables:
- Cost of the training activity
- Income level of the applicant
Support for self-employment initiatives.
Training is provided with the aim of preparing the V.I. person who opts for self-employment.
The beneficiaries are those V.I. persons who decide to create their own business; this training is effected in two phases:
a) Class phase - 240 hours.
b) Practical project implementation phase; personalized tutorship, with continuous support, advice and guidance in the different entrepreneurial fields; and with the possibility of gaining access to the resources generated by the ONCE and its associated sectors.
Furthermore, loans and professional subsidies are also granted.
Granting of returnable loans
The purpose of these is to facilitate financial aid at low-interest rates to the V.I. who decide to initiate an entrepreneurial activity, either alone or with associates, or, for those projects already under way, where they decide to extend or redefine same as a result of the onset of blindness.
The maximum quantity of the loans ranges from 5 to 10 million pesetas, according to the purpose of the same, there being, in all cases, no repayment due during one year.
They may be dedicated to the following possible expenses:
- Feasibility study and business
assessment.
- Expenses of incorporation
and initial establishment.
- Investments in fixtures
or real-estate within the project.
- Working capital for 1st
Year, up to 10%
- Advice on restructuring
the business.
- Legal costs for redesigning
the form of the business enterprise.
Non-returnable subsidies.
These are non-refundable subsidies granted in a complementary fashion to the returnable loans, with the stipulation that they may never exceed 50% of the amount of the latter.
They are directly linked
to the creation of, at least, two jobs for affiliates, for a period of
three years.
4.- Final considerations
At the present time, there exist great difficulties as regards the employment of disabled people in general and for the V.I. in particular. This is because of, amongst other reasons, the following:
- The socioeconomic and market characteristics at the present time.
- Failure, on the part of the State Administration, to abide by the quotas of jobs reserved for the disabled.
- Private enterprise does not undertake large-scale job creation projects for the handicapped in general.
- There still exists an erroneous image in many social sectors that relates Visual Impairment to disease.
- Cuts in public administration budgets intended for the integration of persons with disabilities in the workplace.
- Lack of legal mechanisms that reward the consumption of products from companies that incorporate visually impaired workers.
The ONCE has been making - and will continue to make - an enormous effort, not only to provide professional training to the V.I., but also, and what is more important, to integrate them in the workplace through activities aimed both at the V.I. persons seeking work and at businesses and potential employers through specific training actions, counselling, economic aid, adaptation of places of work, etc.
The need to maintain and broaden the scope of collaborations with State Administrations as well as with the Employers and Trade Union Organizations, in order to:
* Update permanently, and increase should it prove necessary, the vocational training currently on offer in the ONCE Centres.
* Update and adapt the curricula of the distinct regulated Vocational Training programmes, particularly those most suitable for the Visually Impaired.
* Facilitate labour integration by means of a close control of those pacts and agreements already signed, as well as by signing further agreements that may be considered necessary.
Madrid, April 1997