Participation of pupils with hearing impairment in the Polish education system

Special education in primary schools

In the school year 2013/2014, 59.9 thousand pupils with special educational needs were learning in primary schools (they represented 2.8% of the popula-tion of primary school pupils). 23.4 thousand pupils with special educapopula-tional needs attended 760 special primary schools.

In the school year 2013/2014 310 deaf pupils and 3444 hearing impaired pupils were learning in public primary schools; and in special primary schools there were 390 pupils who are deaf and 215 hearing impaired.

Special education in lower secondary school

In the school year 2013/2014 there were 48.3 thousand pupils with special educational needs in lower secondary school, which is 4.3% of the lower sec-ondary school pupils. Public lower secsec-ondary schools were attended by 45.5%

of pupils with special educational needs. 839 special lower secondary schools were attended by 26.4 thousand pupils with special educational needs.

In open lower secondary schools there were 133 pupils who are deaf and 1956 hearing impaired pupils, and in special lower secondary schools – 366 pupils who are deaf and 217 hearing impaired pupils.

Special education in upper secondary schools (including colleges)

In the school year 2013/2014, 973 special upper secondary schools func-tioned. The education of pupils who are deaf or hearing impaired consisted of 82 pupils (8.4%) of the school. The largest percentage of people with disa-bilities attending public upper secondary schools was noted for general upper secondary school (42.1%) and basic vocational schools (32.3%).

In the school year 2013/2014, 19 special schools and colleges had 388 pupils covered by special education. The largest group of pupils in special schools and colleges accounted for people who are deaf (36.3%) and hearing impaired (16.8%).

Małgorzata Zaborniak-Sobczak

-development support and education of children and youth with hearing impairment – comparative analysis on the example of five European countries aborniak-Sobczak, Katarzyna Ita Bieńkowska, Edyta Tomińska • Wydawnictwo APS • Warsaw 2017

Special education in basic vocational schools

In basic vocational schools in the school year 2013/2014, 15.3 thousand pupils were covered by special education, including 12.7 thousand pupils (83.7%) in 374 special schools. Deaf pupils made up 1.4% of all pupils covered by special education in vocational schools, and hearing impaired 1.8%.

Special education in general upper secondary and supplementary general upper secondary school

In general upper secondary schools (including supplementary) in the school year 2013/2014, 4.6 thousand pupils with special educational needs were learn-ing. 61 special general upper secondary schools were attended by 1290 pupils.

Deaf pupils made up 5% and hearing impaired pupils 14.1% of all pupils with special educational needs (in special and open general upper secondary schools).

Special education in profiled upper secondary schools

Along with the gradual termination of profiled upper secondary schools (by September 1, 2014), special education also disappeared in these schools. In the school year 2013/2014 this type of institution had 190 pupils with special educational needs. In 8 special profiled upper secondary schools for adolescents there were 84 pupils with a decision of a need for special education; the remain-ing 106 pupils were in integration units (49 pupils) and open units (57 pupils) in public profiled upper secondary schools. The largest group of pupils in special profiled upper secondary schools accounted for people who are deaf (45 people, that is 53.6% of the pupils in these schools).

Special education in technical schools and supplementary technical schools

In the school year 2013/2014, 2.6 thousand pupils with special educational needs attended technical schools (including supplementary). 30 special tech-nical schools for adolescents were attended by 775 pupils, and 11 special

Polish system solutions in education of children and adolescents with hearing impairment

supplementary technical schools for adolescents had 78 pupils. Deaf pupils were 13.4%, and hearing impaired 22.6%, of pupils with special educational needs receiving education in the technical schools and supplementary technical schools (special and open) (based on: Education and upbringing in the school year 2013/2014, 2014, p. 89–100).

Participation of adolescents with hearing impairment in higher education

In general, it should be noted that since 2006 the number of pupils in higher education has been steadily decreasing. In the academic year 2013/2014, 438 universities of all types educated 1549.9 thousand students (Universities and their finances in 2013, 2014, p. 25). Since 2005, a system of material aid for students has operated on the basis of the higher education Act of 27 July 2005 (Journal of laws No. 164, item 1365 with subsequent amendments). Under this system, a student can apply for benefits in the form of: social scholarship, spe-cial scholarship for people with disabilities, Rector’s scholarship for the best students, Minister’s scholarship for outstanding achievement and assistance grants. The special scholarship is one of the most important indicators of the participation of persons with disabilities in higher education. Special schol-arships were received by 25.3 thousand disabled persons who were studying, which represents 1.6% of the total number of students (Universities and their finances in 2013, 2014, p. 42).

In the academic year 2013/14, 28 940 disabled students were studying in Poland, of whom deaf and hearing impaired people made up 6.9% (1994 peo-ple). In the year 2012/2013, 510 deaf and hearing impaired people completed higher education out of 8199 graduates with disabilities (Universities and their finances in 2013, 2014, p. 154).

Detailed figures, depicting the participation of pupils/students with spe-cial educational needs, including deaf and hearing impaired students in pub-lic and special education are provided in the annex. The analysis was carried out on the basis of statistical data from the Central Statistical Office (Educa-tion and upbringing in the school year: 2005/2006, 2010/2011, 2012/2013 and 2013/2014, no data for the year 2011/2012, source: www.stat.gov.pl).

Małgorzata Zaborniak-Sobczak

Statistical data analysis allows us to draw the following conclusions (see appendix):

− from year to year in special primary schools a decline in the number of pupils was recorded. Along with this trend, the number of pupils with special educational needs learning in schools also changed. The phenom-enon of increasingly shifting pupils from special schools to open and inte-grative schools was observed, including at the level of lower secondary school. These changes necessitate a reduction in the number of special schools and special school-educational centres; This decrease is small, but still observed, for example, in the year 2012/2013, 347 SSECs were functioning, and already in the next school year there were 8 fewer insti-tutions of this kind (cf. Wojcik 2010; Education and upbringing in the school year 2012/2013, 2013; Education and upbringing in the school year 2013/2014, GUS 2015);

− pupils who have an adjudicated need for special education are more likely to study in public primary schools, while the level of lower secondary in public education receives only less than half of the pupils with special educational needs;

− with age, the number of pupils with special educational needs grows in relation to all pupils studying at the given level of education: the percent-age of pupils with special educational needs at the primary school level ranges from 2.7–2.9%, and at the level of secondary school it is 4.3%;

− deaf pupils often take special education in primary schools and lower sec-ondary schools, and hearing impaired pupils are most often educated in public establishments;

− in special school-educational centres there were 1071 pupils who are deaf and only 381 hearing impaired pupils (Education and upbringing in the school year 2013/2014, GUS 2015);

− deaf and hearing impaired pupils are the second (after non-ambulatory persons with reduced mobility) least frequently represented group of pupils with disabilities in Polish universities. In the education of persons with hearing impairment at a higher level there are numerous barriers and difficulties whose accurate analysis goes beyond the framework of the objectives of this publication.

Polish system solutions in education of children and adolescents with hearing impairment

Polish Association for the Deaf and its role in shaping the changes to the education of deaf pupils

The system of upbringing and education of children and adolescents with hearing impairment, described above, is additionally supported by specialist care, organised mostly by non-governmental institutions-associations, founda-tions and the Polish Association for the Deaf.

Regarding the criteria for the allocation of functions on behalf of people with disabilities and their families, we can specify:

− defining and giving status to persons with disabilities;

− rehabilitation;

− compensating and assisting the disabled;

− non-specific, performing a variety of social needs and at the same time integrating people with disabilities in the social environment (Zabor-niak-Sobczak, 2006).

One of the oldest social organizations in Poland that widely supports people with damaged hearing organs is the Polish Association for the Deaf (PAD). “The aim of the Polish Association for the Deaf is the affiliation and rehabilitation of deaf and hearing impaired persons and their integration with the environment of hearing people, joint problem-solving and action towards the equalization of developmental, educational, occupational and social opportunities by (among others – MZS) exercising custody of children, adolescents and adults with hear-ing impairment and hearhear-ing members of their families – by carryhear-ing out on their behalf or assisting in the rehabilitation of hearing and speech , giving them assis-tance in raising their educational and professional qualifications...” (II. Objectives and measures § 10. Statute of the Polish Association for the Deaf, www.pzg.org.

pl). For the implementation of the targets of PAD, its branches and circles having legal personality can create, among others, centres, clinics, institutions and other entities of diagnosis, rehabilitation of children, young people, and therapeutic enterprises, educational and cultural institutions and centres (II. Objectives and measures § 12.1. Statute of the Polish Association for the Deaf, www.pzg.org.pl).

In 12 provinces (out of 16 according to the Polish administrative division) PAD operate 22 clinics/centres along with 2 consultation-rehabilitation, speech therapy points. These institutions carry out multi-faceted comprehensive diagnostics and rehabilitation (aural rehabilitation speech therapy, aural rehabilitation pedagogy,

Małgorzata Zaborniak-Sobczak

psychological, medical) of a child with hearing and associated development dys-function from birth to the moment of completion of education at different levels of education. Depending on the needs, it also advises parents (guardians) of chil-dren and adolescents with hearing impairment, and cooperates with teachers of open schools, school-educational centres, psychological-pedagogical clinics and employees of district family assistance centres (www.pzg.org.pl).

In 2014, among others, at the initiative of the Polish Association for the Deaf, a new subject “sign language” was introduced into schools (open public, inte-grative, special), in which children and adolescents with hearing impairment study (at the disposal of the Director of the institution). In the justification of the draft amendments to the Regulation of the MNE amending the regulation on the framework curricula in public schools, we read that “enabling the learning of sign language is a response to recommendations to improve access to learning sign language, especially for pupils who are deaf, in accordance with the choice of their parents, in order to enhance skills in this language. In the case of pupils who are deaf, for whom sign language is the first natural language, gaining knowledge about the world and communicating with the environment takes place through this language. Efficient use of sign language reduces these children’s risk of the appearance of educational and emotional problems, encouraging the achievement of better outcomes” (p. 1 Justification for Regulation of MEN of 29 December 2014 amending the regulation on the framework curricula in public schools).

While noting the above points and the good wishes of the legislators, it is impos-sible not to notice many of the shortcomings of the proposed solutions. The basic issue posed is the question of who would take on the task of teaching sign language to deaf pupils. It should be noted that sign language (either natural – PSL, or also in the system SSL) is not a compulsory subject in pedagogical education, prepar-ing for the undertakprepar-ing of the tasks of the special pedagogue teacher with an aural rehabilitation pedagogy specialization.⁹ So who would teach this subject at school?

9 In the standards of teacher education (Regulation of the Minister of Science and Higher education of 17 January 2012 on training standards for the profession of teacher) a requirement is indicated to take care of the issues: communicating for the deaf: sign language, dactylography and cued speech (points 1.2.3 p. 18 of the Regulation). Currently, many universities training special pedagogues in the aural rehabilitation pedagogue specialization run sign language courses for future teachers – aural rehabilitation pedagogues.

Another issue that is still not regulated is whether we should teach communication skills in PSL, or rather SSL. So far, aural rehabilitation pedagogue teachers, recognizing their duty to the communication needs of children with a hearing impairment, most often take a III-degree system sign language course for teachers (approximately 315 hours) organized around the country (Szczepankowski, 1999).

Polish system solutions in education of children and adolescents with hearing impairment

Another doubt is the issue of finance. As much as it would be understandable to teach this language in special schools for deaf pupils (group classes, workshops), it would not seem appropriate to teach sign language when in a school (i.e. open pub-lic) where there is one pupil speaking in this system of communication. Currently it is suggested to include teaching of sign language during rehabilitation classes – see the Regulation of MNE of 24 July 2015 (Journal of Laws, item 1113).

For the moment, the above solution is a legislative provision, and time will tell how it will be in practice to have practical sign language learning in schools teaching at least one pupil with a deep, pre-lingual hearing impairment. It is valu-able, however, that this option appears, and the legislature notices the social need.

Dans le document Selected issues of early-development support and education of children and youth with hearing impairment - comparative analysis on the example of five European countries (Page 173-179)

Participation of pupils with hearing impairment in the Polish education system – analysis of numerical data