IMAS- Improving Assistance in Inclusive Educational Settings
The main objective of the project was to establish a common framework to analyze the work, career and conditions of these assistants in Europe. Furthermore, it will analyze the current state of the learning and support assistants’ job environment in the partner countries and work towards an ideal version to supported disabled students rights foreseen in the UN Convention for the Rights of Persons with disabilities.
All children and young people rely on teachers and non-teaching staff to enable their learning and participation in school. For children and young people with disabilities, non-teaching staff (learning support assistants, teaching assistants or similar) play a vital role in enabling them to successfully engage in every aspect of compulsory and post compulsory education.
Conclusion
Assistance systems played a key role in establishing an inclusive educational system. On the one hand assistants contribute to the learning and development of all pupils in schools and on the other they help to uphold the individual right of all disabled children and young people to fully participate in their school community. The following issues are of vital significance:
1. The goal of inclusive education should be firmly set in law.
2. Funding needs to be available to schools, to enable them to respond to the full diversity of children and young people.
3. Relevant training and continued professional development should be offered to all assistants.
4. Job descriptions for assistants should make it clear that they are required to support children's learning as well as their social and emotional development, and should clarify that planning, preparation and liaison with teachers and other professionals are included in their contractual duties.
5. Assistants should be recognised for the importance of their contribution to disabled children’s learning and development; this should be reflected in their remuneration and status in school
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