Our proposal constitutes an educational programme from 11/9/2017 to 25/9/2017 (2 weeks) in the Educational Organization “e-SCHOOL EDUCATIONAL GROUP” (legal name MPIRMPAKOS D. & SIA O.E.) in Greece. The theme is “Integration of Disabled People in the labor market – Investment in learning training a means to stop social exclusion”.
The program will be implemented in Patras on the e-SCHOOL structures (theoretical part ICT for people with disabilities). They will also perform common actions workshops with disabilities KENTRO AMEA MERIMNA (socializing Vet learners and cooperation between the two centers), with a view to exchanging expertise and experiences. In two weeks time program contains theoretical and practical professional skills courses (Decorative-Housekeeping, Art of Bookbinding, Standard & Wineries Bottling, etc.) and deepening of specialized software for people with disabilities. Additionally, it will be practical training of trainees in the workshops of KENTRO AMEA MERIMNA and to companies (technical visits).
KENTRO AMEA-AGIOS LAZAROS offers its services to adult light to moderate mental retardation from the city of Larnaca. It is non-profit, non-governmental organization and is managed by a 12-member Board.
The offering of services and the running of all programmes is based on the principles and morals that go through all the humanitarian and social studies which deal with people with disabilities generally, and especially people with mental disabilities. At the moment AGIOS LAZAROS provides for 86 people.
The participants are 40 people: 32 trainees, people with mental or physical disabilities, and their 8 escorts.
With this proposal we wish to upgrade our services, adding new subjects for their training (professional training for the disabled), as well as the knowledge of its personnel on these subjects and the specialized use of computers for the disabled. Also, with our so-operations with e-SCHOOL we aim at providing contemporary educational services and training of the best quality for the disabled (with mental or physical disabilities), so that these people can acquire skills to enable their integration to the community.
The long-lasting experience of the Educational Organization e-SCHOOL on the education and training on the Labor Sector as well as the Information and Communication Technology as well as its history of successful educational cooperation with career fields for disabled people in Greece, and its personnel’s experience, make e-SCHOOL an appropriate partner to provide training subjects and to organize simultaneous training and to connect with equivalent institutions for the disabled in Greece.
The most important goals (and at the same time the expected results) of our plan have social, professional and educational aspects as follows:
• raise working skills of the disabled
• upgrade and renew the lab subjects of AGIOS LAZAROS for the disabled
• put to use ways to communicate for the disabled, and to put to practice computers in the education and integration of the disabled
• use computers as a means to deal with learning disabilities
• integrate the disabled (in the community, in jobs…) and stop their exclusion
• train professionally the disabled
• train and put the disabled people’s training to use , so that they can be a part of the community
The expected impact will be multi-fold. The participants:
• Will acquire new abilities / skills that could help them find a job as helping staff
• Will add to or enhance their level of knowledge and communication through the upgraded use of specialized computing programmes
• Will not be excluded anymore
KENTRO AMEA-AGIOS LAZAROS will upgrade its services towards the disabled and will set an example to the other equivalent centers of Cyprus.
The attitude of the local community towards the center, will change for the better, and there will be new partnerships for their own social politics, through accepting and , even partially, giving work to the qualified trainees of AGIOS LAZAROS.
The E-SCHOOL Educational Group will upgrade its own portfolio of successful partnerships, and will also show the succession of its own social working in and out of Greece through its network.
These results will spread initially to the relatives and local community of the participants, rising through all sectors involved via the use of mass media, SN and programme tools. For the spreading of the news, two ceremonies will be held (the first in Patras on the last day of the programme) and the second in Cyprus as we return.