The Eleventh Meeting of Students Support Offices/Centers Representatives from BiH held

At the University of Mostar on 15 October 2021, the Eleventh Meeting of Students Support Offices/Centers Representatives from BiH was held at which University of Mostar, Center for Support of Students with Disabilities. disability of the University of Banja Luka, the Office for Student Support of Students with Disabilities of the University of East Sarajevo and the Office for Student Support of the University of Sarajevo participated.

The following topics were discussed at the meeting:

• SSI Support Offices/Centers conducted a survey on the aforementioned topic, and the results of the survey questionnaire were presented, which was distributed to all registered students;
• Office representatives, after processing the data, pointed out that they were (mostly) not satisfied with the response of students (about 50% of the total number) to participate in the research. As the main reason for the poor response of students to participate in the research, in a larger number, their inertia and disinterest were pointed out;
• Further on this topic, a debate developed as to whether the system had made a mistake or whether it was "something completely different". The meeting also discussed the Guidelines for Students with Disabilities (Center for Assistance to Students with Special Needs in Banja Luka); on the biggest challenges, such as defining students with disabilities ,; defining the documentation that students need to submit to the Office, in order to exercise their rights, as well as who decides on the necessary support or adjustment;
• Possible reasons for students not registering with the Support Offices were also discussed; the number of registered students is far less than the actual number of students who fall into one of the categories of students with disabilities (stigmatization, shame, insufficient information of students, lack of self-confidence ...);
• A discussion on projects and cooperation of all Offices / Centers regarding the employability of students with disabilities and cooperation with the Employment Services was encouraged and developed.