Before the sitting, the Committee members visited the elementary and high-school for children with developmental difficulties and persons with disabilities “Dr Milan Petrovic”, where they learned about the work of the educational institution and spoke of the potentials for cooperation between the school and the National Assembly’s competent committees.
On the occasion, the Committee Chairman, National Assembly Speaker MA Nebojsa Stefanovic, stressed the need for a strong educational and social inclusion which would offer children with developmental difficulties and disabilities an equal chance in the educational process. He added that one in four children in Serbia is poor, while the basic needs of 140,000 children have not been met, adding that children cannot take a back seat and that every day should be children’s day.
At the Committee sitting, held at the “Sonja Marinkovic” Elementary School which has successfully accepted inclusive education, the Committee members discussed the practice and challenges of inclusive education.
The Committee members concluded that the number of teaching assistants, who are the key for the implementation of the inclusion process, needs to be increased. Also, the schools need to be adapted to special needs children by adding more elevators and access ramps, reconstructions of classrooms and everything that might facilitate the functionality of the schools which have accepted inclusive education.
In the continuation of the sitting, the Committee members watched a short film titled “School Full of Life” in which the students of “Sonja Marinkovic” Elementary School speak of the implementation of the inclusive education process in their educational institution.
The sitting was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, UNICEF, the principals of “Sonja Marinkovic” and “Dr Milan Petrovic” schools, coordinator of the “Sonja Marinkovic” Elementary School Inclusive Education Team and the coordinator of the Inclusive Education Network, as well as the representative of the Novi Sad School Board.

The sitting was chaired by MA Nebojsa Stefanovic, Committee Chairman.