Definition of the Target Groups

Higher education institutes in Malta are committed towards providing a user-friendly environment with specially designed facilities to provide equal opportunities for access to higher education to all learners alike. Inclusive education units as well as disability support units are available in higher education institutes to provide advice on how to make them more accessible to persons with disability. This is being achieved through preliminary confidential meetings with the students themselves before they actually start a course so that their particular needs, level and type of support can be determined and implemented, if not already in place, so that students can successfully follow the courses of their choice. Outreach initiatives aimed at specific target groups are adopted while such learners can ask for assistance through counselling units, student councils and the chaplaincy among others. Schools also accept learners in need of additional support based on defined criteria as indicated on their statement of support issued by the Statementing and Moderating Panel (SMP) within the Ministry for Education.

Categories of learners making use of support measures include:

•    Persons with mobility impairments

•    Persons with vision and physical impairments

•    Persons with specific learning difficulties

•    Persons with ADD/ADHD/PTSD

•    Persons who have a hearing impairment

•    Students experiencing health issues themselves or a family member

•    Students experiencing identity crises 

•    Substance Abusers

•    Persons with Suicidal Thoughts

•    Persons with Eating Disorders

•    Victims of Domestic Violence

•    Race and Ethnicity

•    Socio-economic groups

•    Gender and sexual diversity

Specific Support Measures

In general, the following support measures are provided at higher education institutes:

1.    Installation of ramps and lifts to help wheelchair-bound persons or persons with limited mobility to reach areas not at ground level; 

2.    The provision of motorised wheelchairs for physically disabled students who do not have their own motorised wheelchairs;

3.    Provision of food, clothes, learning resources etc.

4.    Provision of PCs and Laptops for the academic year

5.    Nutrition advice

6.    Speech synthesisers which allow text to be read by computer so as to enable blind persons to engage fully in courses;

7.    Enlarged printable material, Braille paper, tactile enhancement and/or digital/specialist equipment (such as talking thermometer, tactile ruler, specialised compass or specialist stationery) for persons with vision and physical impairments;

8.    Use of mechanical or technological aids, scribers, personal/practical assistants, supervised rest periods and extra time for coursework/assignments/practical sessions and during examinations for disabled students. 

9.    Language Support

10.    Individual meetings according to the specific need to help learners from different countries with their transition

11.    Financial support through Solidarity Funds

12.    Training (Psychoeducation) to staff in leadership, mentoring,handling challenging and suicidal students 

13.    Provision of Social Workers

14.    Provision of Psychiatrists and Psychologists

15.    Referral systems for specialised services including substance abuse and eating disorders