POCH-02-53I2-FSE-000014 | [A4] IPV Equitativo

This activity focuses on students with Special Educational Needs (SSEN) and aims to help them adapt to academic life and enter Higher Education (HE) by developing their autonomy and academic success, improving their quality of life throughout their academic career and equipping them with the necessary skills to enter the world of work. The aim is to create mechanisms and tools that help to improve these students' access to HE and to ensure their academic success and preparation for working life and the labour market. In other words, the solution is clearly based on knowledge and acceptance of differences, self-esteem and self-worth, a sense of academic competence, a degree of satisfaction with the course, the ability to make autonomous and informed decisions, as well as reducing retention and dropout rates, empowering and autonomising SSEN to enter working life and improving employability. Now, through networking with partners who have joined the STEAM project, the proposal is a precursor to the creation of a business network to support employment, as well as building bridges between academia and business, with the aim of organising internships for SSEN from the Polytechnic of Viseu (SSENPV). In this way, its social impact is reflected in its 4 dimensions: i. access to information (reduction of asymmetries between social classes and access to basic services); ii. autonomy, independent initiatives that promote the accessibility of technologies for people with disabilities, enabling them to live an autonomous/independent life; iii. Transparency (making information available to all those who may be interested, so that they can actively participate as citizens and contribute to better collective decisions, in other words making social action more relevant and assertive); iv. Scale (the aim is for the solution to reach the whole world, both through replication and scope, making it a low-cost and universal solution in the future). In this context, 3 conferences were organised for the academic community and the community in general, focusing on the reality of SSEN in HE, the reality of SSENPV, government policies and legislation aimed at SSEN, alternatives, actions, measures and urgent implementation models for true inclusion and equity in HE. At present, the Viseu Polytechnic's capacity to respond to monitoring the SSENPV is unsatisfactory and does not extend to the Organic Units (UO) that make up the PV. The lack of a computerised system makes it difficult to monitor the SSENPV efficiently and effectively. The implementation and operation of an integrated SSENPV management platform will automate the entire SSENPV process in a way that is quick and easy to use. It will be accessible to those involved in the SSENPV integration and inclusion process, streamlining procedures, actions, support and other needs, leading to the implementation of the following profiles: Informative (dissemination of legislation and other relevant information on SEN, ensuring centralised and accessible management of information and streamlining procedures and support actions); Academic (registration and updating of SSENPV data); Assessment and Monitoring Technician (registration of SSENPV procedural assessment, with automatic sending of technical opinions to authorised users). Regarding underlying scientific production, one paper was accepted at an international congress for oral communication and publication by Elsevier as a volume of the Procedia Computer Science series in an open access volume and another paper is being finalised for submission for publication in an indexed international journal.