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Beatriz Madrigal is 26 years old. She works, she is studying a master's degree and has a double degree in Sociology and Political Science. She even spent two years on Erasmus, once in Germany and once in Argentina, to improve her training. “I have been very nerdy since I was little. I have always studied a lot, ”she tells ABC with a laugh. Her case, told like this, is the most common. But the reality is that the young woman barely sees 3%: she is visually impaired. Of course, she does not carry a cane or glasses.
According to the study 'The academic performance of university students with disabilities in Spain', carried out by the ONCE Foundation, these students obtained grades similar to those of the youth restaurant, despite the fact that their needs "are frequently neglected".
In other words, there are no differences in the grades obtained in the exams they take, which the researchers have defined as the success rate, which is situated in undergraduate studies among university students with disabilities, while that of students without disabilities from the same programs is located at 86.7. In this case of master's studies, the score is 97,1 and 98,1, respectively.
"The problems for these students arise when they do not have the necessary resources and adaptations," explained Isabel Martínez Lozano, director of Programs with Universities and Promotion of Young Talent at the ONCE Foundation, who makes an urgent appeal to take into account the needs of these young people, who with great effort struggle not to be left out despite the innumerable obstacles they face. “For them, going to university goes beyond passing exams or acquiring knowledge: it helps them to be autonomous and continue to grow in their life project,” she recalls.
UNESCO, in 2020, already warned that Spain lacked inclusive education. “There are large deficits in terms of how many educational methodologies have been stepped up for digital transformation,” says Martínez Lozano. “That is to say, there are no inclusive -continuous- educational methodologies. Neither does the application of universal design for learning. There are only adaptations. We have put ramps in the physical world but those same bridges to knowledge have not been placed. And the future happens precisely because we are capable of teaching each person in a differentiated way according to their characteristics”.
obstacles
Beatriz, for example, would get angry in the face of unimaginable situations. In 3rd ESO, the math teacher told the ONCE teacher that she could not enter the class. “He had to be with me, he is my right hand, my support, because I don't see the board. He has always been with me to see what I am studying, take notes, etc. so you can help me later.” In college, a teacher asked that she had 50% more time to take exams. “And she told me in front of the whole class. Imagine how I felt! ”, She says, but“ I learned that they are my rights, that I do not ask for favors, I only claim what corresponds to me ”. Another unfavorable situation that she has faced more than once in the exams is that the teachers forget that she has them and they cannot give her the exam on paper. “They have to give it to me on a USB so that she can read it with the computer's magnifying glass. They are warned in plenty of time but more than one has not agreed and on top of that they got angry because the whole class was paralyzed. And do you get nervous? my anxiety? Me there in the middle, being the center of attention, my classmates waiting for me without being able to start the exam. That is not taken into account in the evaluation”, recalls the young woman.
For all these reasons, Martínez Lozano recalls that “the educational system is very hard for people with disabilities. But it is in the last phase, from the age of 16, when it is not compulsory, even worse because the teachers hear that they are not obliged to do anything. Our cases come from young people who are denied a change of classroom to the first floor because they are in wheelchairs and there is no elevator in the school. And they have to change schools. Teachers who understand that they have no obligation to give different treatment or to adapt… There is a lot of lack of teacher training”.
Isabel Martínez Lozano in the ONCE Foundation office – Tania Sieira
However, in college, students are usually better off. “It makes me dizzy to think about it because of how bad things have been for them, but, despite everything, it is where they are better then -says the head of the ONCE Foundation-. Despite all the deficits there are, the university is more aware and has disability support services”.
“We receive cases of young people who are denied a change of classroom to the first floor because they are in wheelchairs and there is no elevator in the school. And they have to change schools. Teachers who understand that they have no obligation to give different treatment or to adapt… There is a lot of lack of teacher training”.
The majority of students with disabilities choose the UNED, according to the study, because it offers them more flexibility. "Which shows that face-to-face universities are not yet offering all the accessibility that many students require," says Martínez Lozano, who calls for 100% accessible university centers.
"There are barriers and fears as well," he adds, as many young people question their ability to study for a bachelor's or master's degree. The family also influences the performance of the student with disabilities. "They do not always adequately support their children due to excessive protectionism, for example, without encouraging them to grow up," says Martínez Lozano.
In Beatriz, however, her parents and her sister have always supported her. So much so that she spent two years in Germany and Argentina on Erasmus, with a grant from Fundación ONCE. “The financial resources and scholarships for these students have a determining impact. Many of the difficulties they go through have to do with a lack of resources”, says the person in charge, who also recalls that the cost of living for a person with disabilities is 30% more expensive. “If resources are offered, people advance. Today more than 100 Erasmus students with disabilities are leaving”.
Older and more years of study
Therefore, what differentiates a disabled university student? According to the report, in the age at which they access higher education and the time it takes them to finish them: their average age is considerably higher, 31 years in degree and 37 in master, compared to 22 and 28 years, respectively, for the set of students. They also present, like students in general, differences according to sex.
"The means of access for people with disabilities is more because of the obstacles they have along the way and because of their own disability that cause them to stop in their lives due to health, operations, etc.", explained the manager of ONCE. «And the gender variable linked to disability becomes a circumstance of disadvantage -continued- due to that lack of conviction in the family and the environment that they can be professionals. Just as no one presupposes how a blind girl or a girl in a wheelchair is going to be a mother. Gender bias exists: women with disabilities are less believed to be professionals. I hope he corrects you soon."
Another of Fundación ONCE's objectives is to guarantee the full social inclusion of these young people through employment. "Education and training are the most empowering elements for them," says Martínez Lozano. For this reason, the entity has an internship program that facilitates this first contact and encourages students in their search for qualified work.
“We have two key problems -explains the manager of the ONCE Foundation-. The first is that there are few who work. We cannot have that level of inactivity because it is unsustainable in the current system: only 1 out of 3 disabled people work. And, second, they tend to find a gap in low-skilled jobs and in sectors where more jobs are going to be destroyed in the next 50 years due to digital transformation. Our challenge is that they go to university and have opportunities. At the same time, companies have to change their mentality and make it consistent with their public discourse because the reality is that an engineer with a disability does not look the same as an engineer without a disability. And even less so if his handicap is visible”.
For this reason, the study asks universities to include in their guidance and recruitment strategy actions for students to promote access for students with disabilities to higher education, since their presence in this field is still low, and to have with access tests adapted to their needs, in addition to a less complex scholarship system.
The ONCE Foundation also considers that in order to have all the relevant indicators on the academic performance of university students with disabilities, it is essential to incorporate the disability variable, coded uniformly, into the statistics of the Integrated University Information System (SIU). , about the type and degree of disability and, to the extent possible, about the care received by the student support services. "It is essential to be able to detect failures and improve," concludes the manager.
An EVAU suspended in adaptation
Students with disabilities access university mainly through the EBAU, according to the study carried out by the ONCE Foundation. For this reason, the entity requests that said test be adapted in "procedure, form and time" so that students with disabilities can access it "under the same conditions".
The director of Programs with Universities and Promotion of Young Talent of Fundación ONCE, Isabel Martínez Lozano, acknowledges that "they are supposed to have their adaptations guaranteed" but "there is everything and it is difficult".
“For example, deaf people have a very hard time. In the opinion of the evaluators, a misspelling is what we all know but for a deaf person, it is not the same. It is difficult for them not to lack spelling because their communication system is different. There are penalties that are not understood. They have a very hard time, as well as people with hyperactivity, who cannot sit for so long taking an exam without moving. These types of characteristics are not taken into account in an exam that is inflexible, when the evaluation and methodological systems have to be flexible and prepared for a diverse student body because society is like that”.
