The Official State Gazette has published the resolution that expands the number of Specialized Open Classrooms for students with special educational needs in publicly funded centers in the cities of Ceuta and Melilla.
Through this resolution of the Secretary of State for Education, IES Leopoldo Queipo is authorized a Specialized Open Classroom for students with special educational needs and, in the case of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the CEIP Painter Eduardo Morillas will formally count on it.
As explained by the Provincial Director of our city, Juan Ángel Berbel, teaching aimed at students with special educational needs requires very specialized resources and support, being necessary the work of professionals from different fields and the use of very specific methodological and didactic elements.
Berbel has pointed out the importance of creating workspaces and using specific resources for students with needs that meet their peculiarities regarding learning. “In this sense, the curricular proposal will promote the maximum development and preparation of all students to favor their quality of life and access and participate in the greatest number of social situations and activities or, where appropriate, work, guaranteeing transitions to other contexts of development and socialization in the most adjusted and effective way possible,” he said.
Open Classrooms Specialized in Melilla
The Provincial Director explained that specialized open classrooms for students with special educational needs were created to respond to these needs. Thus, in 2021 it authorized the creation of an open classroom specialized in the CEIP Anselmo Pardo Alcaide and in the IES Virgen de la Victoria. In 2022, the number was increased and the opening of an open classroom specialized in the CEIP Real, IES Juan Antonio Fernández Pérez, CC La Salle-El Carmen, was authorized. In 2023, an open classroom specialized in the CEIP León Solá was created.
Next to the seven classrooms described, Melilla has five classrooms for students with autism spectrum disorder, located in the CEIP Pedro de Estopiñán, Reyes Católica, Juan Caro, CC Enrique Soler and, now, CEIP Pintor Eduardo Morillas.
Since 2018, 10 of the 12 centres in Melilla have been authorised. Finally, Berbel has assured that it will continue on the path of expanding them in the network of educational centers of the city.
The purpose of these classrooms, “has been to provide an extraordinary measure of attention to diversity to cater to students with special educational needs by incorporating them in regular centers, in a temporary or prolonged manner, requiring a specific and different socio-educational intervention, favoring their social integration with the rest of the students,” he explained.
The LOMLOE is an educational norm that bets on inclusiveness in ordinary educational centers and this accredits it through the progressive expansion of classrooms for attention to diversity, providing the human and technical resources associated with its implementation in the City of Melilla.
The Ministry of Education and Vocational Training is responsible for providing the necessary equipment and additional resources for schools with specialized open classrooms for students with special educational needs, from the budget available for that purpose.