Defender is against attendant for students with disabilities – 04/10/2024 – Education

The Public Defender’s Office of São Paulo recommended that Governor Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans) revoke the decree, published on the 3rd, which authorized families to perform the role of assistant or pay a personal attendant for students with disabilities.

The body prepared a technical note warning of the unconstitutionality and illegality of the measure. It also points out that the decree has already caused embarrassment to mothers of children with disabilities, who are being asked by schools to accompany their children in activities.

The decree published by Tarcísio authorizes families, if they wish, to have a personal attendant to “assist or provide basic and essential care” to students with disabilities during the school routine. According to the text, this role can be performed by a family member or the professional must be fully paid for by the student’s representative.

The Tarcísio administration claims that the measure allows families to offer extra support to students, if they wish — that is, monitoring by a personal attendant is not mandatory.

The technical note, prepared by defenders of Nediped (Nucleus for the Elderly and People with Disabilities) and Neij (Center for Children and Youth), argues that, even though it is an authorization for extra support, the decree transfers responsibilities from the state for families.

“The duty to provide support to eliminate barriers in schools for students with disabilities lies with the public authorities and the obligation to provide this support cannot be transferred to the family.”

The organization states that passing on the full cost of the personal attendant to families violates the Constitution, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the document from the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (United Nations).

“The Federal Constitution establishes that formal education must be carried out through compulsory and free basic education, so that there is no cost to the student or his family for the provision of education or school support measures, and it is not even possible to waive free tuition, making echo the concerns of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in the adequacy of support measures considering the socioeconomic conditions of the family”, says the technical note.

Defenders also warn that they have already received reports and complaints from mothers of children with disabilities who were contacted, after the publication of the decree, to remain in school, under penalty of the student not attending while there is no school support professional.

“Although the decree does not require the presence of this assistant, the measure creates space for, in practice, these mothers to be intimidated, forced to find ways to offer this professional to their children”, said defender Gustavo Samuel Santos.

The defender’s note warns that the measure could lead to “possible perversions that, under the pretext of inclusion, only create their opposite, marginalizing people with disabilities.”

“The distortion of the system of support measures is a real risk, with the potential for precariousness of support services for students with disabilities, resulting in overload for women caregivers of people with disabilities, the majority of whom are solo mothers”, point out the defenders who sign the note.

In addition to revoking the decree, the body suggests that the Tarcísio government ensure that the State Special Education Policy from the perspective of inclusive education is actually implemented in state schools. In other words, it ensures, for all students who need a specialized teacher, specialized educational assistance in the after-school hours and assistance from a school support professional for daily hygiene, transportation, eating, communication and social interaction activities.