The university’s facilities on Russky Island were originally built with the expectation that students with limited mobility would study there. All buildings and porches are equipped with devices that allow wheelchair access to any public, go up to high floors on an escalator or in an elevator. The buildings are interconnected by passages so that you can move through them without going outside. Places for people with reduced mobility, visual and hearing disabilities are provided in classrooms, hotel buildings, residential and administrative buildings. The campus has about 300 elevators and the same number of toilets accessible for the disabled.
The barrier-free environment of FEFU was appreciated by a well-known motivational speaker in Russia and abroad, a member of the Council of Guardianship in the Social Sphere of the Government of the Russian Federation, a member of the Commission on Disability Affairs of the President of the Federation Russian Ksenia Bezuglova.
– Compared to objects in all corners of our country, for the first time I see such a high level of creating a barrier-free environment for people with disabilities, – said the expert on the organization of an accessible environment.
170 students who need special conditions are already studying at the university. They are equipped with ramps, elevators with wide doors, they are accommodated in dormitories closer to educational buildings in rooms with special home amenities, for example, a shower on the floor. Some of the boys even live with one of the parents. By the way, they not only help your child, but they can also get a job on campus. Students with the first and second forms of disabilities do not pay for hostel accommodation.
– For children with disabilities, a youth association has been created – an organization for the socialization and adaptation of students with disabilities “KIT”. We help each other to live and study at the university, says the president of the organization Alina Babina. She, who has health limitations, successfully masters the business informatics program, is engaged in scientific work, and is immersed in the social life of the university, including creative work. For example, she sings in the choir.
One of the latest news in FEFU is the opening of an inclusive volunteer school, whose graduates will accompany the education of students with disabilities and, possibly, will live in the same room with them, constantly helping in daily life.
Ivan Pisarev, a professor at the Asia-Pacific Department at the Oriental Institute of the Far Eastern Federal University, has been meeting with students and graduates of the school for many years, convincing them that disability is not a sentence or an obstacle to life. higher education. With a team of students, last year he made a documentary film “#Sasha, you can do it” to help children who could go to university, but are afraid due to disabilities.
According to Ivan Pisarev, the university can be considered an ideal place for wheelchair users due to the barrier-free environment.
– Wheelchair users can apply to almost all directions in FEFU, – he noted.
Taking into account the needs of visually impaired students, all glass doors, as well as stair steps in the university buildings, are marked with specially colored signs.
Now the university is busy solving the problem of hearing impaired students: To provide them with a learning environment, the university plans to hire or train new sign language interpreters.
Ensuring a comfortable life for young people with disabilities is a global trend. Countries, cities, public spaces, universities are increasingly inclusive.
– And FEFU in this regard is one of the pioneers in Russia. Suffice it to say that only last year we received 71 applicants with disabilities, – notes Ivan Pisarev.
In 2023, FEFU organized classes in the pool for students with disabilities, for which special equipment was purchased for descent and recovery from the water. There are two gyms adapted for special students and individual physiotherapy exercise classes are also given.
Disabled students studying at the university can use the services of the university polyclinic and rehabilitation center. In addition, FEFU has the opportunity to financially support students: state social scholarships, material assistance once a semester, increase in scholarships, subject to active participation in the scientific, project, cultural and sports life of the university. There are scholarships from FEFU partners – large companies and banks.
FEFU follows the main global educational trend, which considers a student with a disability as a full and equal participant in the general educational process.
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Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education of the Federal State “Federal University of the Far East”
