40 professionals in the work with children with special needs from the districts Cahul, Calarasi, Falesti, Nisporeni and Ungheni are attending the training on the implementation of the home-visiting educational Program for pre-school children with additional support needs and their families Portage within December 5-8, 2016. The Program will be piloted in the 5 districts and will be then integrated in the nation-wide education and social protection systems.
The event is held under the EU-funded project “Improving access to community-based early years and pre-school support services for vulnerable children with special needs in Moldova” implemented by the NGO “Partnerships for every child” /P4EC/. The training is delivered by experts of the National Portage Association of Great Britain, Tracy Harvey and Jane McHale.
Viorica Mart, senior consultant in the Pre-University Education Directorate of the Ministry of Education, who was present at the opening, mentioned the achievements of the authorities and development partners in the field of inclusive education, including in terms of reintegrating children with special needs in the school environment and in community. “The Portage Program helps us be closer to each family and child and provide the necessary support to them. The implementation of the Program will build the confidence of many parents and they will be able to communicate about the problems faced by them and their children. We want to have more supported families and solutions for all the problems in 2-3 years”, Mrs. Mart said.
Daniela Mamaliga, interim director of P4EC highlighted the importance of developing the Portage Program in the Republic of Moldova, in particular, to make sure families receive the necessary support in the child’s early years. “We think this will give children with special needs the opportunity to fully develop their potential for their further inclusion in the educational system and in society”, Mrs. Mamaliga stated.
The Portage Program represents home-visiting educational assistance that uses a holistic model of support for families and children, to facilitate better communication, learning, play and relation-setting. This is done in the child’s/family’s house with the participation of a Portage Visitor to support vulnerable children and families at local level, in their community. The Portage staff maintains the vital bond between the new parents and the external world at times when they cannot handle the situation.
The group of practitioners trained at the above mentioned workshop will qualify as Portage Visitors. They will make home visits and will provide support to the parents to identify what is important to them and their child, to set learning and participation objectives for the child and will keep joint records of the child’s progress and of other issues faced by the family.
Portage was introduced in Great Britain in 1993 in response to the increasing need to support vulnerable children with special needs and their families. The Portage Program is one of the 4 programs and work tools for children with special needs that are included in the “Improving access to community-based early years and pre-school support services for vulnerable children with special needs in Moldova” project, implemented by the P4EC, in collaboration with the organizations Mellow Parenting and HealthProm from Great Britain, with support of the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family, Ministry of Education and local public authorities of the five project sites. The project amounting to EUR 680.000 is funded by the European Union.