The President of the Republic of North Macedonia, Stevo Pendarovski, together with his wife, Elizabeta Georgievska, on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, met today in MladiHub with about 40 students from the Institute for Special Education and Rehabilitation.
Building a spirit of solidarity, respect and acceptance of diversity, President Pendarovski stressed that everyone should respect the rights of persons with disabilities and actively strive to provide better living conditions and adequate access to all institutions, access to education and health institutions, as well as their greater labor market representation.
“I cannot congratulate you on all your efforts, for everything you do for the inclusion of persons with disabilities, as well as for supporting the students with disabilities and facilitating their schooling”, President Pendarovski said, adding that he is convinced that the example of the Faculty of Philosophy, which should be the first inclusive faculty in 2020, the other faculties and educational institutions in general will follow.
At the same time, as President Pendarovski pointed out, it is necessary for the state to have health professionals trained to detect and work with people with disabilities, but also to truly engage these people in schools and later in the labor market.
“We also have to invest a lot in sensitizing the wider community, reducing prejudice and stigma, broadening our viewpoints and realizing that a society that has room for everyone has a greater chance of success, a society where diversity is embraced, is a society in which different communities can live integrated”, President Pendarovski said and added:
“Every day should be December 3, to be constantly aware of the problems of the people with disabilities and atypical development, to work towards inclusion and to find solutions through which we would build solidarity, respect and embrace diversity. I am open to any initiative. I put at your disposal my mandate, my authority, my time, human resources in my office to achieve these common goals.”
The Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy, Ratko Duev, on his behalf, said that as the first inclusive faculty, this institution continuously works on the provision of better living conditions for the students with disabilities and on the facilitation of the process of their education.
At the event, Ivana Popova, a student of the 2014/15 generation at the Institute for Special Education and Rehabilitation, received a reward of MKD 10,000 for the highest average of 9.78. also rewarded with MKD 10,000 for special dedication in schooling was Beira Salifovska, a visually impaired student at the Institute for Special Education and Rehabilitation, Angela Georgieva, a student at the Faculty of Philosophy in Rijeka, the Republic of Croatia, and Aleksandar Avramovski, a student at the Faculty of Economics and Business in Maribor, the Republic of Slovenia.
