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Since 1999, the University of Pécs has given special attention to students with special educational needs. In the beginning, Adonyiné Dr. Mári Gábori assisted students as Disability Coordinator. The work of the current Disability Coordinator is regulated by the current Higher Education Act. She mainly assisted in the processing of applications submitted by students, in the validation of benefits, photocopying and printing, and kept in daily contact with students with disabilities. She worked with volunteers. As the number of students and the additional tasks that this entailed was increasing year by year, it was no longer possible to carry out the work with volunteers, so she initiated the creation of a Support Service.
In the summer of 2005, the Support Service was the first in the country to be set up to help students and teachers with disabilities to live their lives. The Support Service operates under the provisions of Act No. III of 1993 on Social Administration and Social Benefits.
Accordingly, a team of 4 people was initially available for the students - Sándor Szép, the head of the Service, Nikolett Gergely and Brigitta Montag, the personal assistants, and Kálmán Pónya, the driver.
We worked in an eighteen square metre office with a Support Service of four people. The office was provided for us by Adonyiné Dr. Mária Gábori, the disability coordinator of the PTE, who sometimes did her work there as well. We got the room for free from the Institute of Educational Sciences of the PTE BTK. There were many times when students who needed help came in and two colleagues had to go out into the corridor to make room for everyone. Mental, supportive conversations usually took place in the Botanical Garden or other community areas of the university.
In addition to the work of Sándor Szép's team and the support of the Senate and the Student Council, Adonyiné Dr. Mária Gábori, who remembers the period before the construction started, played a major role in the creation of the new office: "We looked at many different places, we said no to several different offers, until we found this almost 120 square metre, cement-paved, underfloor heated area. At that point, construction could have begun, but there were problems with drainage, zoning and other issues. It was almost five years before the new building was completed, but it was well worth it."
It was worth it, as the new part of the building has a computer room with internet, free printing and photocopying facilities to help students study. Between classes, students can relax in the relaxation and rehabilitation room, which can also be used as a first-aid room and is available for mothers who can use it as a baby changing room. In addition, there are accessible toilets and toilets for the hygiene of students with reduced mobility. Just as importantly, the Support Service's "headquarters" can now be used as a 38-square-metre community space, a kind of leisure centre where students with disabilities can meet each other or other interested people who want to help.
The new area will provide a learning and living space, help for at least 50 students with disabilities who are in contact with the service, and an opportunity for over 200 students at PTE to network. That's why the PTE Support Service was set up, says the disability coordinator (the brainchild of the idea man), who remembers the early days: "We have the largest number of students with special needs in the country. The creation of the Support Service was also important at the time because we realised that without a separate organisation (just staff) we could not help disabled students with transport, studies and university life."
In 2010 we said goodbye to our former driver,Kálmán Kónya. From 2016, we provide transport with two drivers, in two shifts, from 6:00 in the morning until 10:00 in the evening, so that we can also use help for leisure activities (training, entertainment). Currently, Zsolt Vörös-Bene and Szabolcs Perczel are driving the car.
In 2011, we added a programme organiser, Gyöngyi Molnár, in 2013 a labour market counsellor, Csaba Magdali, and from 2014 onwards, volunteers from different countries, such as Ángel Pinero from Spain, Malene Bak Jensen from Denmark, Astghik Nikoghosian from Armenia, Ricarda Thomasewski from Germany, Marta Kristina Fernandez Garcia de Alfonzo from Spain, María Gómez Llamas from Spain, Sara Mohamed Gómez from Spain, and Sara Mohamed Gómez from Spain. Since the pandemic, we have not welcomed any youngsters from abroad, but as soon as we have the chance again, we will welcome them.
In the 2014-15 school year, the office was headed by László Révai, then taken over by Csaba Magdali.
In August 2018, Zobokiné Nikolett Gergely gave birth to a child. She is replaced by Lilla Tompos, who has brought a new approach to the service and new services as a special needs teacher.
The Support Service celebrated its 10th anniversary in September 2015 with a national meeting of disability coordinators and a conference.
In 2016, we were awarded second place in the Tempus Public Foundation's "Prize for the Decentralisation of Higher Education".
Some of our students have also participated in Erasmus mobility programmes. Our students with reduced mobility, visual impairment and hearing impairment have spent a semester in Sweden, Germany, Poland, Italy and the Czech Republic. Many of our foreign partners have been interested in our work. We received visitors from Turkey, the Czech Republic, Italy and Transylvania. In 2023 we are expecting a colleague from Mexico who wants to learn about our activities. In the next semester, two Italian doctoral students will be doing the necessary practical mobility for their doctoral studies.
Since 2017, we have been participating in the Educatio International Education Expo, where we offered services and information to visitors with SNI.