At the beginning of the new school year, UNICEF, in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Science (MES) and the Regional Center for Support of Inclusive Education – Sofia, launches the online platform “Support Me”, which provides a library with free educational and therapeutic resources which can be used to support children with special educational needs (SEN). They are available to all children, parents, teachers and professionals at: http://podkrepime.mon.bg/. The online platform will expand the opportunities for children with SEN throughout the country, especially in a pandemic. It will help teachers, parents and professionals to gain free access to a variety of support resources. The platform is integrated into the overall resource base of the Ministry of Education and Science and is accessible to all participants in the education system. “Much has been achieved in the field of inclusive education, but special attention still needs to be paid to the most vulnerable children, in particular children with disabilities and children with special educational needs.
“We need to make sure that we reduce the inequalities created through social exclusion and that no child is forgotten”, said UNICEF’s Representative in Bulgaria, Christina de Bruin.
“COVID-19 has changed the way we live, work and study. The new reality has made us change the way we provide support and knowledge to children”, said Maria Yankova, Education Officer at UNICEF Bulgaria. She added: “Teachers working with children with special educational needs have clearly identified the need for additional online support for students, professionals and parents. To meet this need, UNICEF, together with our partners from the Ministry of Education and Science and the Regional Center for Support of Inclusive Education – Sofia, initiated the creation of appropriate and accessible resources, put in the online interactive platform “Support Me”. The creation of the platform is the result of UNICEF’s “Education for Every Child” campaign, held in the spring of 2020, which received the support of many individual and corporate donors, as well as media partners. Anyone who wants to support the development of the platform and its upgrades has the opportunity to donate funds on the UNICEF Bulgaria website.
Source: UNICEF Bulgaria
