Inclusive education

The town of Příbram, as the governing body of nursery and primary schools, supports the concept of inclusive education, the main principle of which is the involvement of all children and pupils in the educational process, regardless of any health, social, cultural or other disadvantages they may face. The aim of this approach is, above all, to educate and teach all children together and to promote tolerance of differences and cooperation amongst all children and pupils. Thanks to inclusive education, every child should be given the opportunity to experience success in the classroom and acquire as much knowledge as possible, in line with their own abilities.

The town supports the concept of inclusive education, in collaboration with the Agency for Social Inclusion, primarily through participation in projects that address equal access to education. The first project to address this issue was the Local Action Plan for the Příbram Municipal Authority (MAP I), which focused primarily on developing high-quality education for children and pupils up to the age of 15. The aim of the project, which was implemented throughout the Příbram Municipality with Extended Powers in 2016 and 2017, was to improve the quality of education in nursery and primary schools by fostering cooperation between school authorities, schools and other stakeholders in education, i.e. through joint information-sharing, training and the planning of partnership activities to address specific local problems and needs. For the project, which had a budget of 3,030,720.00 CZK, the town collaborated with the Podbrdsko Local Action Group, z. s. and the Voluntary Association of Municipalities of the Příbram Municipality with Extended Powers. 95 per cent of the costs were covered by a grant from the Research, Development and Education Operational Programme.

In 2016, implementation began on the three-year project ‘Inclusive Education in Primary Schools in Příbram’, which aimed to support equal access to quality education for children and primary school pupils from socio-economically disadvantaged and culturally diverse backgrounds within the town of Příbram. The project’s objective was achieved through the implementation of two main themes: the prevention of school failure and the professional development of primary school teaching staff.

The project, with a total budget of 17,905,434.27 CZK, was carried out in collaboration with the City of Příbram (the recipient of a grant covering 95 per cent of the costs) and the following project partners, who provided financial contributions:

· Primary School under Svatá Hora, Příbram,

· Primary School, Příbram II, Jiráskovy sady 273,

· Primary School, Příbram VII, 28. října 1,

· Primary School, Příbram VII, Bratří Čapků 279,

· Příbram Waldorf School – Primary School,

· Centre for Social and Health Services, City of Příbram.

Another project addressing educational issues in Příbram and the surrounding area was MAP II ORP Příbram. This builds on the previous MAP I project and is the result of collaboration between a number of partners within the ORP Příbram area. The aim of the project is to improve the quality of education in nursery, primary and arts schools within the Příbram ORP by further developing cooperation between school governing bodies, local action groups and stakeholders in education. The project is being implemented between 2019 and 2022 with a total budget of 14,199,218.88 CZK, with 95 per cent of the costs covered by grant funding.

The most recent project in this area is ‘Inclusive Education in Příbram – Phase 2’, which aims to establish a support system for inclusive education within the town. The project builds on the successfully implemented ‘Inclusive Education in Primary Schools in Příbram’ project, which it expands and adapts in line with the current needs of the 11 participating partners – 7 primary schools and 4 nursery schools. As part of the project, an experienced implementation team from the town, together with specialist staff from the partner organisations, is carrying out a wide range of 13 standard activities/sub-activities as specified in the call for proposals, such as ‘Inclusion Coordinator for the Local Authority’, ‘Development of prosocial, cognitive and emotional skills in children in pre-school education and care’, ‘Counselling and support for parents when dealing with staff in educational, social and healthcare services, and support for teachers when dealing with parents and staff in social and healthcare services’, ‘Extracurricular clubs in schools’, “Career guidance”, “Cooperation between primary schools and nursery schools during children’s transition between stages of education”, “School Inclusion Coordinator”, “School Assistant”, “School Special Needs Teacher” and “School Psychologist”.

The project, with a total value of 32,933,656.46 CZK, has been running since 1 September 2019 for a period of 36 months, in collaboration between the town of Příbram (the grant recipient) and the following project partners providing financial contributions:

· Pod Svatou Horou Primary School, Příbram,

· Primary School, Příbram II, Jiráskovy sady 273,

· Primary School, Příbram VII, 28. října 1,

· Primary School, Příbram VII, Bratří Čapků 279,

· Primary School, Příbram VIII, Školní 75,

· Příbram Waldorf School – primary school,

· Nursery School, Příbram VII, Bratří Čapků 278,

· ‘V Zahradě’ Nursery School,

· Klubíčko Nursery,

· Nursery School, Příbram VIII, Školní 131.

Inclusion Coordinator for the town of Příbram: PhDr. Marie Pilíková