My name is Monika Tóthné Almássy. I’m the co-founder and director of HospiEdu Foundation in Hungary.
Each year several thousand schoolchildren miss school in Hungary due to their long-term illnesses. They are often completely isolated from their peers and have to cope with their academic requirements by themselves. Their inpatient treatment and the rehabilitation that follows can take months, or even years. At HospiEdu we work with secondary school and university students who volunteer to help them study and help them stay connected to their peer communities even during their absence from school. Over the past 9 academic years, our program helped more than 1,200 schoolchildren, with the support of more than 2,500 volunteers from secondary schools and universities. Our aim is to ensure that schoolchildren return to their everyday lives strong in spirit. We help these schoolchildren, their families and their schools throughout the process. In HospiEdu Foundation we believe in the healing power of learning and community. Our goal is to ensure that all children with a long-term medical condition have access to education that best suits their physical health and mental state, and that they can connect to supportive communities.”
The experiences show that due to the lack of training or information the teachers in the mainstream schools don’t know and see exactly their tasks and the limits of their competence in connection with the adequate pedagogical support of students with medical needs in Hungary. That’s the point that we not only support our students in their reintegration but we also support the inclusion process and give methodological help for their teachers. We do it in many ways by organizing workshops, sending Newsletters and compiling professional materials for them in the theme.
That’s why I’m very grateful for the permission of the Dutch team: Ria Bakker, Janet Bootsma, Mieneke Engwerda that we could use and imbed the content of their great booklet – Caring about, taking care of – Pupils with chronic or long term illnesses (Copyright Ziezon 2012). The booklet helps all affected groups in the reintegration-inclusion process after a long term absence from schooling. You can download it after registration: https://korhazsuli.hu/szakembereknek/#szakmai_segedanyagok
As in my previous article I encourage everyone to look for international connections within HOPE to broaden the national repository of knowledge.
Monika Tóthné Almássy (from Hungary)
Email address: almassy.monika@korhazsuli.hu
Website: www.korhazsuli.hu
