The Ministry of National Education has been providing transportation services to people with special needs receiving training and formal education in special education schools and institutions during the school year. The Ministry made an amendment in the regulation concerning transported education in an effort to provide transportation services to special education students and trainees during the summer term.

 

The new regulation amended the "transportation within the school year" paragraph into "throughout the education".

 

Pursuant to the amendment that came in force after it was published in the Official Gazette, special education students and trainees will continue to benefit from transportation services throughout the summer.

 

Noting that his Ministry has been working in an effort to lift the barriers preventing accession of people with special needs to special education services, Minister of National Education Mahmut Özer said the Ministry of National Education will use its all means in order to support people who are either at home or hospital due to acute illnesses as well as other people with special needs in the entire country.

 

Minister Özer stated that 453 thousand people with disabilities are benefiting from education services offered by the Ministry adding that, "The amendment made in the transported education regulation will allow us to provide transportation to special education students and trainees to their schools or education institutions."

 

Reminding that the Ministry has established a new mechanism that will provide people with disabilities who are older than 18 the opportunity to continue their education, Özer said that they will establish public education centers designed for only disabled people in İstanbul, Ankara and İzmir.

 

"The Ministry will provide free transportation to disabled trainees and their parents to the public education centers. We will always continue to support all people with special needs from their childhood to adulthood and increase their education options," said Minister Özer.

 

A guidance counselor is present at the vehicles that transported special students and trainees to schools and education institutions. Social Aid and Solidarity Promotion Fund is financing the special education transportation. According to the data concerning transported education in May, total of 108,800 people who need special education, 106,162 of them being students with special needs and 2,638 trainees benefitted from transportation services.