International Business College Mitrovica (IBC-M) was participating in a study visit of the Teiresias Centre, the Support Centre for Students with Special Needs at Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic. The study visit was organized within the framework of Erasmus+ project Inclusive tertiary Education in the West Balkans (IDEA) from 9th to 11th May 2022 at the Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic.
The Teiresias Centre’s mission is to guarantee accessibility of all study programmes at Masaryk University. The Centre’s primary task is to provide maximum accessibility to all accredited degree programmes at the University for the visually impaired, the deaf and hearing impaired, people with limited or restricted mobility and people with other types of disabilities.
In the University’s organizational structure, the Centre is one of the offices at the Rectorate to be concerned with student issues, along with the Office for Studies and Office for Student Welfare.
The Centre also coordinates the life-long education programme for the blind.
The three-day study visit was a unique opportunity to get familiar with the Teiresias Centre as an educational centre with its own student administration unit to support the study organization of students with disabilities, the centre that offers counselling and methodological support to high school students and teachers and is a research institution developing its own technological solutions, but collaborates with other national institutions on modifications of study materials and tests for students with disabilities, and publishes in Braille and runs a national digital university library. Centre’s representatives have shared their experience related to the services provided to students with disabilities at Masaryk University, with a special focus on library and IT services. The study visit was dedicated to both academics and non-academics interested in the topic of inclusive education, support to students with special needs, assistive technologies, support to students with dyslexia and psychological disorders, braille encoding, hybrid books, sign language in higher education, special math, language and sport courses, mobility etc. Throughout the whole event, participants had the opportunity to discuss all aspects of the service provision and the Centre’s operational principles.
