The Senate approved today (22) a bill (PL) that guarantees priority access to orthotics, prostheses and assistive technologies for people with disabilities of school age. According to the text, public and private schools, with support from the Unified Health System (SUS), the Unified Social Assistance System (SUAS) and bodies for the protection of the rights of children and adolescents, must promote monitoring and follow-up actions for this guarantee. . The bill goes to the Chamber of Deputies for analysis.
According to the author of the project, Senator Mara Gabrilli (PSDB-SP), the purpose of the proposal is to ensure that all children with disabilities enter and remain in schools. The intention was reinforced by the rapporteur, senator Mailza Gomes (PP-AC).
“We must praise the initiative to strengthen the means to ensure equitable conditions in access to school and success in studies, with a focus on people with disabilities”, he said.
The Statute for Children and Adolescents (ECA) already provides, in its rules, for the free supply of orthoses, prostheses and the like for children and adolescents. The rapporteur highlighted, however, that many young people from poorer families do not attend school or do so in a precarious way, due to failures in the supply of prostheses and orthotics and assistive technologies.
“It is truly astonishing to see that thousands and thousands of children are excluded from education due to the lack of accessibility, which causes them to drop out of school. This is a failure of the entire society,” she stated.