Geneva - Post Report Question and Answers
What accommodations do schools make for special-needs kids?
They helped guide me through our educational assessment and cc all teachers on any issues with our son and guidance. They have many different classes and will help your child as much as they can. - Jun 2022
NONE! This was my biggest disappointment in Geneva so far. My daughter is 9 and has Down syndrome. She has been included in ordinary schools with typical peers since age 2 in the U.S. and Brazil. I was appalled to find out that such a rich country as Switzerland is in the middle ages as far as school inclusion goes, despite international and federal laws saying that students with disabilities must be integrated. 11 local international or non private schools said no to my daughter. Apparently the only one that does have a program for kids with disabilities is Ecolint, but of course it cannot cope with the demand, so there are long waiting lists. As for the public system, they do tons of evaluations and meetings before deciding which school your kid has the "competence" to go to - neighborhood school with an aide 1 x week (very few cases), special class inside ordinary school (few cases) or specialized school (most cases). The essence of inclusion, where the school has to adapt to the student, not the other way round, is considered lunatic talk around here. The public school system is also very slow. We have been here nearly one month and a half and my daughter is still out of school! Plus, they offer French lessons for kids who do not speak French, but not to my daughter! Here is the link for special education public services http://www.ge.ch/enseignement_public/enseignement_specialise.asp Here is the link for ASK, an organization that helps expats find schooling and services for kids with disabilities http://www.allspecialkids.org/wp/schools/ - Mar 2014
The international schools do make accommodations. - Mar 2013
Not much. Really. - Feb 2012
