Special Education Needs Provision within Mainstream Education
Definition of the Target Group(s)
The Education Act defines target groups of pupils with special education needs as:
•pupils with a disability, namely with intellectual, physical, visual or hearing impairment, with speech and language disorders, with multiple disabilities, with autism and with developmental learning and behaviour disorders;
•pupils with health disadvantagedness, in consequence of health impairment, long-term disease or modest health impairment resulting in learning and behavioural disorders which must be taken into account during the process of education
The Education Act and the associated decree define a new target group of gifted or exceptionally gifted pupils: an exceptionally gifted pupil is understood as an individual whose spectre of abilities reaches an unusual level, and who is highly creative over a whole range of activities or in individual cognitive areas, or in motor, artistic, and social skills.
The identification of pupils` special educational needs is carried out by school guidance and counselling facilities (see Guidance and Counselling in Early Childhood and School Education).
Pupils with health and social disadvantages are generally educated within mainstream schools, schools are not established separately for them (the exception are the schools in health care institutions, see chapter Separate Special Education). Within the mainstream schools, pupils usually attend regular classes, only the preparatory classes at basic schools (základní školy) are established especially for pupils with social disadvantagedness during one year prior the compulsory school attendance (for more information, see the section on Special Support Measures). Exceptionally, only for a period indispensable for settling of their disadvantagedness and under conditions stated by the decree, pupils with health and social disadvantages can be educated in a school, a class or a study group established for pupils with physical disabilities (for conditions see the chapter Separate Special Education Needs Provision, the section Admission Requirements and Choice of School).
A pupil with disability can be educated in alternative organisational forms which suit them best in terms of their educational needs but also comply with their parents' requirements.
Organisational forms are:
•individual integration into classes or study groups (inclusion) of mainstream schools, with special measures to provide adequate educational conditions and necessary special pedagogical and psychological care
•group integration into special classes or study groups aimed at disabled pupils in the mainstream schools, most often classes for pupils with developmental learning disorders, classes for pupils with speech and language disorders, where speech therapy is provided and classes for pupils with intellectual disability
•education in schools established separately for pupils with disabilities (see Separate Special Education Needs Provision in Early Childhood and School Education)
The parents' (or pupil´s oaf age) consent is necessary prior to the placement in the above mentioned organisational forms of special education (for more information on education of pupils with special educational needs, see in Separate Special Education Needs Provision, the section Admission Requirements and Choice of School).
The school head can decide on enrolling children and pupils with special educational needs into a mainstream nursery school (mateřská škola), basic school (základní škola) or upper secondary school (střední škola). In agreement with the School Act, the school head is responsible for creating appropriate conditions for pupils with special educational needs in compliance with the recommendation of the school guidance and counselling facilities and in cooperation with them.
As set by the Act, the education of pupils with special educational needs of compulsory school age is carried out in the catchment area, i.e. in the mainstream school which the pupil would have attended according to their place of residence if the parents had not decided otherwise. Upon the request of pupil's parents, the school head of this mainstream school must accept the pupil. The only exception is the school capacity as the school head cannot exceed its highest level. The parents/legal guardians can choose a school other than that in the catchment area.
Specific Support Measures
Education of Pupils with Special Educational Needs
The education of pupils with special educational needs is carried out in accordance with the educational programmes of mainstream education with modifications of conditions of education and the use of supportive or compensational measures for educating pupils with special educational needs. In the case of pupils with an intellectual disability, educational programmes relating to the educational needs of these pupils are used. (See details in Separate Special Education Needs Provision in Early Childhood and School Education, section Curriculum, Subjects.)
The extent and content of supportive measures provided depends on the extent and structure of the pupil's special needs. Supportive measures are provided by:
•the school itself, through educational-organisational measures, i.e., primarily by selecting educational methods and procedures, reducing the number of pupils in a class, and by taking advantage of the performance of the teacher´s assistant, additional teacher in class, school advisors, school prevention specialists, or – if they work at schools – school psychologists or special education teachers; by including subjects of special educational care, extending the time for education, using an individual educational plan, etc.;
•school guidance and counselling facilities – pedagogical and psychological counselling centres and special-pedagogical centres (see Guidance and Counselling in Early Childhood and School Education);
•diagnostic institutes and centres for educational care in prescribed cases (see chapter Separate Special Education Needs Provision in Early Childhood and School Education, section Institutional Education).
The school head can allow pupils with disabilities who after accomplishment of school attendance did not achieve basic education level to continue the basic education until 20 years, respectivelly 26 years (for more information, see the chapter on Organisation of the Education System and of its Structure, section Compulsory Education). In exceptional cases, the school head can prolong the duration of secondary and tertiary professional education to individual pupils or students with disabilities, but maximum up to 2 years of school attendance.
Since 1997, concurrence of several teachers is possible in the class. The current legislation allows the establishing of the function of a teacher´s assistant. The school head lays down the job description of the teacher´s assistant and in compliance with it also determines the required measure of his/her professional qualification.
A personal assistant of a pupil can, with the approval of the school head and upon the request of legal guardian, operate in classes, departments and study groups in which a pupil with a disability is educated. A personal assistant is not a member of the school staff. Assistants carry out their work in compliance with the Act on Social Services and provide pupils with social services, e.g. with caring of themselves, with travelling to a school, etc. Within the education of pupils with special educational needs, the job description of a teacher´s assistant includes assistance to pupils in caring of themselves or in their unsupported mobility.
All pupils integrated individually into mainstream schools (as well as pupils with a severe intellectual disabilities, pupils integrated as a group or pupils from schools established specifically for disabled pupils and pupils from preparatory classes) are provided (in cooperation with parents, staff of school guidance and counselling facilities and teaching staff) with an individual educational plan which specifies and justifies the support or compensational measures and other educational conditions.
The individual educational plan (IEP) is developed on the basis of the results of a professional examination in a school guidance and counselling facility and the identification of a pupil's special educational needs. The IEP is also based on the particular school’s educational programme, on the results of the professional pedagogical and psychological examination, and possibly on a doctor's piece of advice. It is a binding document for ensuring the special educational needs of a pupil. The programme sets educational goals for a particular pupil, outlines the adaptations in the organisation of teaching, dividing up time and content, the form of setting tasks, the mode of assessment and classification, pedagogical approaches, organisation of examinations including the final ones, etc. It determines the type and the scope of special pedagogical and psychological care according to the nature of the pupil's disability and special educational needs, its organisation, how it is secured and who provides it (both an institution and an actual employee). It lists the necessary supplementary and teaching aids, equipment, textbooks, teaching materials, etc. It contains a proposal for any decrease in the number of pupils in a class, for an increase in teacher numbers, a sign language interpreter, or an additional worker. All recommendations of the school guidance and counselling facility to ensure a pupil's educational needs must comprise a concrete description. An assumed need for additional financial means per pupil is derived from the proposals. The individual educational programme also outlines the cooperation with parents or legal guardians (homework, recommended activities for the pupil's leisure time, request for a medical examination, etc.) and with regard to age and potentiality of a pupil also the pupil's participation in solving.
The school head is responsible for the development of an individual educational plan. This is usually prepared before a pupil starts school, but must be prepared within one month after school enrollment or after special educational needs have been identified. It is a part of the pupil's documentation and it is signed by the pupil's legal guardian. Observance of the IEP and the individual recommendations set out there are monitored and assessed twice a year by the school guidance and counselling facility. If the recommendations set in the IEP are not followed, the facility informs the school head of it.
Pre-primary Education and Beginning of Compulsory School Attendance
Concerning the fact that 88.2 % of children aged 5 attend pre-primary education, special educational needs are identified in most cases before compulsory school attendance and timely special-pedagogical intervention may be secured already in a preschool age.
Children have a legal claim to education in the last preschool year; education is free of charge for one year. The purpose of these measures was, among others, to increase participation of children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds in pre-primary education. At the present, the effort is made to approve the codification of compulsory pre-primary education for children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds.
As another instrument for support of integration of socially disadvantaged children, preparatory classes (přípravné třídy) (ISCED 0) can be established at mainstream basic schools (základní škola) (ISCED 1+2). They are intended for children in the last year prior to commencement of compulsory school attendance, where there is a presumption that their inclusions into the preparatory class may balance out their development. They can also be attended by children with postponement of compulsory school attendance (see below). A municipality or a region is the founder, the consent of the regional authority is necessary. The school head decides on the inclusion of pupils upon the request of the child’s legal guardian and upon the written recommendation issued by the school guidance and counselling facility. The tuition is free of charge, as well as teaching aids, textbooks and teaching texts.. A preparatory class has minimum of 7 and maximum of 15 children. The classes are organized in the morning (18-22 hours a week) and in the afternoon, children can have access to an after-school centre (školní družina). The basic educational document is the Framework Educational Programme for Pre-primary Education (FEB PE, see the chapter Teaching and Learning in Single Structure Education); the educational programme for preparatory classes is a part of the school educational programme of the relevant school. At the end of the second trimester of the school year, the teacher of the preparatory class writes a report on preschool preparation progress of the child in a given school year. Education in the preparatory class is stipulated by the Education Act and the Decree on Basic Education.
If a child is found to be insufficiently physically or intellectually mature, the school head can permit the postponement of compulsory school attendance after having met legal requirements. The postponement can be possibly permitted additionally during the first year of primary education. Details can be found in the chapter on Organisation of the School System ond of Its Structure, see the section Compulsory School Attendance). If the school head decides on the postponement of the compulsory school attendance, at the same time, he/she recommends to the legal guardian education of the child in the preparatory class of the basic school (základní škola) or in the last year of the nursery school (mateřská škola), if there is a presumption that this type of education may even up the child’s development.
Education of exceptionally gifted pupils
For exceptionally gifted pupils, various pedagogical and organisational measures are used to permit the development of pupils' natural abilities and to satisfy pupils' educational needs.
Individual framework educational programmes stipulate education of exceptionally gifted pupils in a separate chapter; school educational programmes have to be prepared in order to create conditions for education of these pupils.
Individual educational plans are also compiled for exceptionally gifted pupils. For these pupils, the school head can form groups in which gifted pupils of the same or different years are educated together in some subjects. Other possibilities for supporting these pupils include broadening or deepening the education content (enrichment), setting special tasks, involvement in independent projects or acceleration of their education carried out through advancement into higher years. With the consent of parents or legal guardians, schools use methodological and consultative support of a specialist care for gifted pupils, psychologist of the pedagogical and psychological counselling centre, who examines the exceptional gift of a pupil.
If the child is sufficiently physically and intellectually mature, the amendment to the Education Act of 2009 allows him/her to start compulsory education earlier (see Organisation of the Education and of Its Structure, the section Compulsory Education).
The school head can transfer an exceptionally gifted pupil to a higher year on the basis of an exam held in front of a three-member examinational committee without the pupil having completed the previous year. No school report is issued for the year which the pupil did not complete, but subsequent reports state which years were not completed.
A specific way of exhibition and development of talent is offered by traditional competitions in knowledge and skills, whether intellectual (e.g. mathematical, physical and other so-called Olympics), artistic (recitation, music, visual art), sporting and others. These are organised by the education sector on various levels (regional or national), often in collaboration with representatives of the academic or artistic communities.
The needs of gifted children are satisfied through establishing classes with extended teaching in certain areas.
The children can develop their artistic interests and talents in basic art schools, which provide education in these subjects as personal interests’ education (see chapter Single Structure Education, section Organisational Variations and Alternative Structures).
Separate Special Education Needs Provision in Early Childhood and School Education
Definition of the Target Group(s)
Target groups, which can be provided with separate special education, are identical to those mentioned at the beginning of the section Special Education Needs Provision within Mainstream Education. However, it is primarily aimed at disabled pupils. Separate education is chosen by parents or a pupil of age, if they prefer this form to integration into a mainstream school. Pupils with health disadvantage or social disadvantage are, with several exceptions, educated within mainstream schools.
A school established specifically for children with disabilities (legislative abbreviation “speciální škola” is used for them) is, according to the Education Act, a type of mainstream school rather than a specific kind of school. Types of schools are determined by a decree within the framework of the types of schools determined by the Education Act. In the decree, schools are specified according to the kind of disability (for the physically disabled, visually impaired, etc.) and to the kind of school (nursery schools, basic schools, upper secondary schools).. There is only one type of a special school which is defined by the Educational Act: the special basic school (základní škola speciální), which is intended for pupils with severe intellectual disabilities, multiple disabilities or autism (former pomocná škola).
As separate education had been the prevalent option in the past, there is a relatively dense network of separate special schools for disabled pupils (speciální školy) in the Czech Republic, mainly on the level of compulsory education. Usually, these schools integrate several school types and school facilities which specialise in the education of pupils with a given type of disability. Each special school may develop its specific image by the choice of educational methods and forms, project-based learning, offering extra-curricular activities (e.g. parents’ clubs, sports clubs, stays in the country, etc.) and other services for pupils and their parents. Special schools usually provide their pupils with the accommodation.
A pupil without any disability can, but only exceptionally and during an indispensable period necessary for balancing out his/her disadvantage, be educated in a school, a class or a study group established for pupils with disabilities. For conditions, see the next section Admission Requirements and Choice of School.
Schools established in health care institutions are, for organisational reasons, ranked among special schools. They are intended for pupils with health disadvantage (with a health impairment or a long-term disease) placed in the given health care facility, if their health condition enables it.