From Separation to Integration: Parental Assessment of State Intervention

Abstract

The paper examines parental views regarding the implementation of Educational Legislation 113(I)/99 in Cyprus regarding the integration of children with special needs in the mainstream school. It is based on parental interviews which were taken in the course of a large research project regarding the implementation of the new legislation in primary and pre-primary education. Parental views are presented in thematic categories and commented upon. Direct quotations from the interviews are used to illustrate the point made. It appears that parents on the whole feel that although the situation is much better now than it used to be before the introduction of the new legislation, a number of serious problems are still faced by the children and their families, some of which are not dissimilar to those existing before the passing of Law 113(I)/99. The paper finishes with specific suggestions about how some of these problems can be solved. (Contains 1 note.)