UNS — The Special Care Strategy Research Group (RG) from the Special Education Study Program (PKh), Faculty of Teacher Training and Education (FKIP), Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta develops a model of a post-schooling transition program for School for Children with Special Needs (Sekolah Luar Biasa – SLB). The UNS academic members involved in this development are Prof. Dr. Munawir Yusuf, M.Psi., and Dr. Subagya, M.Si. The need for a post-schooling transition program, according to Prof. Gunarhadi is related to the arguments on the limited competency owned by the children with special needs to compete in the working set and academically.
“The limitations appear in the form of disqualification by the employers, bullying, jealousy, and the overprotecting attitude from the parents of the children with a special need. All the discrimination remains, even though, the Regulation No. 8 of 2016 had provided opportunities for the children with special needs to get a decent job and fair competition,” Prof. Gunarhadi explains through a release obtained by the uns.ac.id team, Thursday (12/11/2020).
In an academic setting, children with special needs also face limited opportunities to get enrolled in universities, due to the less-adaptive entry test selection model. Prof. Gunarhadi added that their current research result shows that the proposed model has three stages namely input, process (instruction), and output stage. Meanwhile, a lecturer of Pkh FKIP UNS, Mahardika Supratiwi, S.Psi., M.A., states that children with special needs, who follow academic program will get 70% of academic activity and 30% of life skill program, followed by an additional transitional program, where the children are given a classical and individual academic lecture. On the other side, children following the vocational program will be given 70% of life skills and 30% of academic activity, with an additional internship program. Children taking the academic program are expected to continue their study at the university level, while those from a vocational program can pursue their career, both as entrepreneurs or employees.
In order to implement this post-schooling transition program as well as disseminating the information regarding the applicative program model, all researchers and lecturers in PKh UNS organized socialization and assistance for SLB teachers in Jawa Tengah. The virtual socialization was held on Sunday (30/8/2020) involving 30 SLB teachers and supervisors in Jawa Tengah.
“Our wish is for the teachers and schools can develop a post-schooling transition program, thus equipping SLB students with an academic and vocational program that can be useful for them after graduated,” said Mahardika. Humas UNS
Reporter: Zalfaa Azalia Pursita
Editor: Dwi Hastuti