Subject: Individualised academic learning pathways for students with disabilities
Promoting inclusive education and lifelong learning for students with disabilities is one of the priority areas established by the new European Disability Strategy.
Although broadening participation in higher education has been a priority on the European political agenda for almost thirty years, the Bologna Process Implementation Report (2018) confirms that students from disadvantaged socio-economic and/or migration backgrounds, and students with chronic diseases or disabilities are still under-represented in higher education.
As we know, university offers a crucial stepping stone for personal and intellectual development, as well as a basis on which to enter the labour market. Each Member State, on paper, promotes and offers support programmes for students with disabilities.
However, in reality, persons with disabilities have great difficulty in accessing individualised programmes specific to their needs.
1. Does the Commission have any up-to-date data on the existence of individualised pathways for students with disabilities within the academic sphere?
2. Does the Commission intend to investigate whether, and to what extent, a discrepancy exists between the expressed intentions and the practical reality that students with disabilities experience at university?
3. What actions is the Commission committing to work on in order to increase the number of persons with disabilities who take part in and complete further education?
Answer given by Ms Gabriel on behalf of the European Commission
(30 March 2021)
1. The Commission supports the Eurostudent (1) survey that provides indicators on the social dimension of European higher education. The survey provides data on students with impairment.
2. Under the ET2020 (2) the Commission organised a peer learning activity on inclusion in higher education to gather information on inclusion of disadvantaged students, including those with disabilities. Outcomes showed that only few countries have made clear progress in widening access and ensuring success of these students. The social dimension is one of the pillars of the Bologna Process, where the Commission is a full member. At their last conference in Rome in November 2020, the Ministers adopted the Principles and Guidelines to Strengthen the Social Dimension of Higher Educatio n (3) covering also students with disabilities. Disability-inclusive education policies will continue to be supported by the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education (4).
3. The strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (5) prioritises inclusive and accessible education and calls for national reforms to ensure supported learning in inclusive mainstream settings. Under the European Education Area (6), the Commission supports inclusive education through funding, mutual learning and policy guidance. The new Erasmus+ (7) and European Solidarity Corps (8) Programmes seek to promote access, inclusion and diversity through dedicated measures (financial mechanisms, targeted communication) including for students with disabilities. Structural reforms to promote inclusive education can be funded under ESF+ (9), the Recovery and Resilience Facility (10) and the Technical Support Instrument (11).
⋅1∙ https://www.eurostudent.eu/
⋅2∙ European policy cooperation : https://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/european-policy-cooperation/et2020-framework_en
⋅3∙ https://rm.coe.int/bfug-annex-ii-communique-pags-socialdimension-19-11-2020/1680a07859
⋅4∙ https://www.european-agency.org/about-us
⋅5∙ https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=738&langId=en&pubId=8376&furtherPubs=yes
⋅6∙ https://ec.europa.eu/education/resources-and-tools/document-library/eea-communication-sept2020_en
⋅7∙ https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/node_en
⋅8∙ https://europa.eu/youth/solidarity_en#:~:text=The%20European%20Solidarity%20Corps%20is%20managed%
20by%20the,Agency%20(EACEA)%20National%20Agencies%20in%20each%20participating%20country ⋅9∙ https://ec.europa.eu/esf/main.jsp?catId=62&langId=en
⋅10∙ https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?toc=OJ:L:2021:057:TOC&uri=uriserv:OJ.L_.2021.057.01.0017.01.ENG
⋅11∙ https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/funding-opportunities/funding-programmes/overview-funding-programmes/technical-support-instrument-tsi_en
