According to the government, 430,000 children with disabilities will return to school in 2023, 34% more than in 2017. sewcream / stock.adobe.com
According to Unapei, 23% of children with disabilities have “no hour of schooling” per week, a situation that “contempts their right to education”.
Going to school only a few hours a week or ending up in a class that is too difficult: thousands of children with disabilities do not have access to adapted schooling, lamented Unapei on Tuesday August 29, one of of the main associations in the field of intellectual disability. “Unfortunately, too many children with disabilities will still be deprived of a return to school and their rights to education are violated»denounced in a press release Luc Gateau, the president of this federation bringing together associations of people with mental disabilities and their families.
To assess the extent of the problem, Unapei conducted a study with a sample of 2,103 children accompanied by its local branches, in six regions in France. Result: 23% did not “no schooling hours” per week, 28% between 0 and 6 hours, 22% between 6 and 12 hours and 27% benefit from more than 12 hours of teaching per week. These children benefiting from “butts” of schooling are also sometimes found in a class “not suitable” to their needs, “for lack of professionals”, regrets the Unapei. This is the case, for example, of pupils educated in an ordinary environment, for lack of having obtained a place in the Ulis class, specializing in the reception of disabled children, or in a medical-educational institute (IME), despite the validation of their file by a departmental house for disabled people (MDPH).
880 testimonials from families concerned
Unapei has collected 880 testimonials from families affected by these different situations on a dedicated site.
“School for all is a government priority”, assured AFP the Minister Delegate for People with Disabilities, Fadila Khattabi. The executive highlights the increase in the number of children with disabilities welcomed to school: there will be more than 430,000 at the start of the 2023 school year, or 34% more than in 2017. He also underlines the increase in the number of accompanying persons. of students with disabilities (AESH), which has increased by 42% since 2017. They will thus be around 136,000 at the start of the school year. Faced with the situation, Unapei asks, “a multiannual programming law for solutions” for students with neurodevelopmental disorders, multiple disabilities or mental disabilities.