AYDM Students' Service: Support for Inclusive Higher Education in Montenegro

1. Mobility, Disability and Possibility Association of Youth with Disabilities of Montenegro ,Training for students 28/03/20

2. Support services of AYDM • Students’ service is continuously implemented since 2001, i.e. establishment of AYDM. During the years, it was developed and made more inovative, in terms it consisted of wider support to students with disabilities. Besides activities only for students with disabilities, this service sometimes includes education of pupils without disabilities in secondary schools about rights and ways of exercising educational needs and types of support which could be offered to pupils with disabilities, as well as informing secondary school graduates with disabilities about possibilities for studying and types of support they can get during studies.

3. Within Students’ service, i.e. work of Students’ advisory office, different types of support and help for SwDs are offered: • support in choice an enrollment in faculty; • exemption of paying tuition fees; • support in applying for student loan or scholarship; • support during taking pre-exams and exams and sending initiatives to faculties’ units related to adjustment of manner and time of taking mid-terms/exams; • organizing free transport from home (students’ dormitory) to faculty and back; • providing accommodation in students’ dormitory; • personal or assistance in teaching ; • literature in accessible formats; • Initiatives for establishment and changing of legislation in area of higher education.

4. Support in choice and enrollment in faculty • AYDM offers couselling and information to future studetns with disabilities in choice of faculty, with a goal of their strenghtening and motivation for inclusion into higher education. Also, it provides support in collecting and submitting needed doumentation for enrollment in faculty (regularly and though principle of affirmative action), through different types of documentated initiatives, including recommendations and requests. Type of documentated initiative depends on faculty which student with disability is going to enroll in: state, private or independent legal body. • Also, those types of documentated initiatives are sent to faculties’ departments in order to provide taking pre-exam and exams in the manner, time and form which suits student the best, including postponing mid-term/exam if student with disability was unable to take exam in previously defined term.

5. This type of document is also sent when providing place in students’ dormitory. In this way AYDM ease procedures for enrollment of future students with disabilities by taking administrative part of the issue and communication with universities and faculties’ units. • This activity starts by media campaign about enrollment, which implies presentation of promotional video materials, appeaance in electronic and printed media, distribution of leaflets, info stands on faculties, which enables bigger number of prospective students with disabilities is informed about their rights and possibilities in higher education process, through providing different information about studying, like information on architectural accessibility/inacessibility of the faculties.

6. Exemption of paying tuition fees • According to legislation, SwDs are exampted of paying tuition fee on all faculties in Montenegro. AYDM issues recommendation for exemption of paying which prove that students are beneficiaries of AYDM and that they have this right as persons with disabilities, and submit all documents (personal, faculty documents and one part of documents, i.e. written information of AYDM) in September to management of universities, i.e. independent faculties, and after receiving written approval, i.e. Decsion of the faculty on enrollment of student in faculty, sends unique list of enrolled students per each faculty unit, i.e. Study programme.

7. Support in applying for student loan or scholarship • This activity is related to collecting documentation from students with disabilities in order to apply for students loan or scholarship. It is implemented in the way that collected documents (personal, faculty documents and supporting document of AYDM) are sent to relevant bodies with recommendation for approval, after which informations on selection of candidates are followed.

8. Support during taking pre-exams and exams and sending initiatives to faculties’ units • This support implies sending initiatives to faculty unit/concrete professor to provide taking pre-exams and exams in the manner, time and form which suits student the best, including postponing mid-term/exam if SwD was unable to take it in previously defined term.

9. Organizing free transport from home (students’ dormitory) to faculty and back • AYDM provides service of transport for SwDs, so called “door-to-door transport” on the territory of Capital of Podgorica for some students defined as priority in providing service due to inaccessibility of public transport.

10. Providing accommodation in students’ dormitory • This activity implies providing accommodation for SwDs in students’ dormitory, as well as collecting and submitting documentation to relevant institutions, and sending initiative with “Wish list” and recommendation for priority providing a accommodation.

11. Providing personal or assistance in teaching • Personal assistance implies providing support and help to PwD for doing activities which in everyday life he/she can not do without help of another person or would do them significantly slower and with a lot of strain. • Assistance in teaching is related to providing help to SwD during studying, and its goal is to ease attending lessons, preparation of pre-exams and exams. • Personal assistance/assistance in teaching is implemented in the way that AYDM organize education/two-days training for beneficiaries and assistants to know better the way of providing service to beneficiary, scope of needs of beneficiary and specific characteristics of meeting them, after which AYDM with the suggestion of a trainer defines how many hours of assistance is needed for which beneficiary.

12. Providing literature in accessible formats • AYDM provides service of adjustment of literature for SwDs, at first for students with visual impairment, in electronic format or in Braille. Students send literature which need to be adjusted in order to pass pre-exams and exams successfuly and in time. • After that, literature is scanned, saved in pdf, converted into word with program, and after that volunteers correct mistakes which appear during conversion into word.

13. Initiatives for establishment and changing of legislation in area of higher education • AYDM countinuously work on establishment of more adequate legal and strategical framework which defines and regulate the area of higher education. • We follow Annual work plan of Government, write initiatives for adopting, changes and amendments of regulations in this area. Besides initiatives and monitoring of amendments of new prescriptions, this activity implies participation in preparation of laws, by-laws, strategies and action plans.

14. Mobility – why is it important? • New experiences • Improvement of knowledge • More self-confidence • New friends • Improved knowledge of language

15. Support of AYDM when you are abroad • Psychological, counselling and legal support • Help in communication with home and host institution • Support during whole process in administrative issues • Online help and support during mobility period

16. Thank you!