Dynamics of the inclusive environment of the university: the quantity, education and graduation of students with disabilities at TUSUR (2004–2024)

At the moment, an inclusive barrier-free educational environment is being formed in Russian higher education. The article is devoted to the study of the dynamics of the transition to inclusion and a social model in relation to persons with disabilities, and the identification of the most important indicators of this process, stages, and trends at Tomsk State University of Control Systems and Radioelectronics. Based on the data provided to the authors by the Department of Educational Process Support of TUSUR, the authors made several conclusions about this process. We thus analyze the trends in the development of the university's inclusive environment. According to the data, the number of people with disabilities among TUSUR students has been constantly growing over the 20 years under study. The increase in the number of people with disabilities significantly outstrip the increase in the number of non-disabled people. Over the past two years, the increase in the number of non-disabled people in TUSUR has reached a plateau and is stable. The increase in the number of disabled people increases significantly every year. The percentage of disabled people in relation to non-disabled people is also increasing: in 2004, this figure was 0.07%, in 2010 - 0.4%, in 2015 - 0.55%, in 2020 - 0.72%, and by 2025, the model predicts that every hundredth student of TUSUR can be a person with disability. At the same time, a significant number of students with disabilities (especially those who have somatic disease or limited mobility) experience learning problems and accumulate academic debts. This is due to both objective and subjective reasons. People with disabilities often have a low level of socialization, also they refuse to receive legal assistance. On the other hand, they may often be ill during the semester, which causes gaps in their knowledge. As a result, they get academic debts. The need to re-take exams from students with disabilities, taking into account the increase in their number, may increase the burden on the teaching staff. The graduation rate of students with disabilities remains low: they often either drop out or go on academic leave due to illness and continue their studies much longer than the prescribed period. This situation is a challenge for the university. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.

Keywords

Authors

References