Administrative Commissioner Maria Stylianou Lottidou has reached six serious conclusions; whose office investigated a mother’s complaint that at a junior high school in the Limassol district, where her child was enrolled, was given an inaccessible exam for the Biology course during the final exams of the second year of junior high school.
Specifically, as stated in the complaint, the child has been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is nonverbal, and follows an individualized education program, using the “Spelling to Communicate” (S2C) method for communication and educational participation. Specifically, as alleged, the classroom teacher designed this specific exam based on her personal judgment regarding accessibility, without prior communication, collaboration, or assistance from the support teacher. As a result, the support teacher and the transcriber deemed a number of exercises on the exam paper to be unsuitable and incompatible with the student’s learning profile. Because of this development, a request was made to exclude these specific questions from grading; however, this request was not granted, resulting in the student receiving a low grade.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
In her multi-page report, Ms. Lottidou notes that:
- The issue of providing the necessary and appropriate accommodations, modifications, and accommodations for students with disabilities and/or special educational needs during their schooling has long been a concern for my Office. In particular, regarding the aspects of differentiated instruction and the school assessment process, there have been numerous instances in which parents have approached my Office alleging instances where their children were provided with inaccessible educational materials and exam papers. This situation compels me to take a public stance on the matter.
- Differentiated instruction, adapted teaching methods, and accessible exam papers are forms of reasonable accommodations that schools are required to provide to students with disabilities orspecial educational needs, in order to ensure their equal access to the learning, examination, and assessment processes and, by extension, the full realization of their constitutionally guaranteed right to education.
- The absence of these support mechanisms or their incomplete implementation hinders students’ ability to follow and understand the curriculum, while at the same time deprives students with disabilities of the opportunity to perform to the best of their abilities in the examination setting. This puts these individuals at a disadvantage compared to their peers, exacerbating their already existing vulnerability and triggering feelings of frustration and rejection.
- In a previous statement of mine, which I reaffirm here, I had pointed out that the failure to provide a modified exam, as a form of reasonable and individualized accommodations, violates the provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and amounts to prohibited discrimination against students with disabilities or/special educational needs, and constitutes unfavorable treatment of them.
- This is because the refusal or failure to provide the necessary reasonable accommodations hinders their ability to exercise and enjoy their right to education on an equal footing with their classmates.
- At this point, I would like to mention the Ministry of Education’s recognition of the need to improve and strengthen the procedures governing this issue. The specific initiatives and actions that are currently being implemented—based on the detailed briefing I received, such as the activation of an internal monitoring mechanism and the training of teaching staff— are clearly not only moving in the right direction but also constitute an essential prerequisite for the implementation of reasonable accommodations as a condition for inclusion in quality education and non-discrimination.
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