Based on the vision and mission of Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services in "advocating, containing and empowering people with disabilities with education, rehabilitation and employment to be participants and independent in their communities", the senior management was keen to crystallize this vision.
Since 1995, Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services has started integrating students with disabilities into general education schools.
The Inclusive Education Unit of the Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services was established in 2017, which views inclusion as not just a model of special education, but rather a method of reflection and practice that includes all members of society, as it has integrated 568 students with various disabilities in public schools to date.
from the nursery school age (3) years to the high school stage (20) years old.
The center seeks to the inclusion of the different categories of disability:
- Developmental delay
- Hearing disability
- Intellectual disability
- Autism spectrum disorder
- Physical handicap
- multiple handicaps
- communication disorder
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
- Different cognitive abilities
(which includes interpersonal weakness and below average and within average and above).
The most important basic services provided:
- Pre-school programs
- School readiness services
- Sessions to support families and provide them with specialized advice
- Reverse inclusion
- Partial inclusion
- Creating an educational environment for students
- School enrollment programs and support and follow-up of the integrator
- Enrollment of the student in the appropriate school.
- An educational environment free from bullying and all forms of discrimination.
- Ease of access and participation in high-quality education fully in the curriculum along with peers of the same age group.
- Achieving academic and social achievements with reasonable accommodations.
- Accommodation programs:
- Determine the services required to support the student.
- Class environment specifications.
- Providing resources and resources within educational institutions.
- Providing support in case of need to provide teacher support for the integration process within schools.
- Sustainable development fund services.
- Providing lists of integrating educational institutions.
- Virtual Services Software
- Virtual follow-ups for integrated students.
- Virtual school preparation sessions.
- Virtual integration activities.
- Psychological support for families by providing them with supportive mental health training and positive affirmations within the family psychological support group.
The center follows an approved approach to integrating beneficiaries:
- A measure of aptitude or school readiness
- Initial survey form for candidates for integration
The Inclusive Education Unit achieved multiple advantages:
- Inclusive Education Scholarship Initiative.
- Together we complete the road to quality inclusive education initiative.
- Agreements with private charitable schools and partnerships with educational institutions in the country.
- The Virtual International Forum, the quality of virtual inclusive education.
- Inclusive Education Diploma.
- Providing virtual training programs on inclusive education at the level of private charitable schools in the three emirates.
- Providing virtual training programs on inclusive education for educational institutions and nurseries in the Emirate of Sharjah.
Mechanism of registration
The registration process is carried out in the center by an arranged mechanism.
- In the beginning, the initial registration process is done by phone or by visiting the center in coordination with the receptionist or social service employee.
- After that, the center contacts the family, schedules an appointment for the initial survey, and brings the medical report and identification papers.
- Then the family is contacted for the second time for official registration and interviews with specialists for evaluation according to the child's need.
- After that, the center contacts the family to hand over the child’s report after completing the comprehensive assessment process, and they are informed of the services that will be provided to the child (family counseling, classes, communication, physical therapy), taking into account the date of the child’s registration and waiting lists.