The case in summary Tina Sleire Sandvik, a partially sighted student at the University of Western Norway, experiences a lack of accommodation in her study day. She needs a tour, better signage and to be sent learning material before teaching, but feels that this has been difficult to achieve. A survey carried out by the Norwegian Association of the Blind in 2023 showed that 71 per cent of the respondents needed extra assistance or adaptation during their education due to visual impairment. 18 percent received little or no assistance at all. Vice-rector for higher education at the University of Vestland, Anne-Grethe Naustdal, thinks it’s a shame that Sandvik has had these experiences. She nevertheless underlines that the university feels that they have had close contact with the student regarding arrangements, both at the start of the course and throughout the course of the course. According to department director of Bufdir, Anna Bjørshol, fewer people with disabilities take higher education due to a lack of provision. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – I’m telling you. But when nothing happens, you stop talking, says Tina Sleire Sandvik. She studies social work at Høgskulen på Vestlandet (HVL), campus Sogndal. Tina is severely visually impaired. To see clearly, she uses a mobile camera as a magnifying glass a few centimeters from her eye. Sandvik does not need a lot of preparation in the study day. A good tour on the first day of school, a little better signage on campus, and getting learning material sent before teaching is at the top of the wish list. But this, she has experienced, has been difficult to achieve. – It makes the study day more demanding, when it actually doesn’t need to be, says the Sogndal student, who is also active in the Norwegian Blind Association’s Youth. Severely visually impaired Tina Sleire Sandvik has experienced that it has been difficult to get the accommodation she needs. Photo: Sondre Dalaker / news Blindeforbundet Ungdom: – It becomes more difficult to complete Students with disabilities have the right to their own individual adaptation of the classroom, teaching, learning materials and exams. So-called universal design. A survey carried out by the Norwegian Association of the Blind in 2023 showed that 71 per cent of those questioned needed extra assistance or adaptation during their education due to visual impairment. Well into her second year of study, Tina Sleire Sandvik feels that she still has to ask her fellow students for help too much. Photo: Sondre Dalaker / news 18 percent received to a small extent or not at all the facilities they needed. – Bad arrangements mean that our prerequisites for completing education are lower, says Silje Solvang, chairman of the Norwegian Federation of the Blind’s youth. She herself quit her master’s studies due to a lack of facilities. Dependent on help from others Tina Sleire Sandvik experienced challenges with arrangements even before the start of her studies. In the summer of 2022, HVL asked for a tour of the campus on the first day of school. HVL offered a mentor via NAV, but Sandvik believed that the mentor would have arrived too late. – A mentor takes time to get in place, and in that time I’ve learned my way anyway. What’s the point then? It is still difficult to find certain rooms. Although the university is located in new, modern buildings, the signage at HVL has also presented problems for the partially sighted student. Sandvik struggles to find these group rooms. Photo: Sondre Dalaker / news Several room numbers are written in such small print that even with the help of a mobile phone as a magnifying glass it is difficult to find and read the room number. For Sandvik, the door is just a brown surface. The solution is to count the doors on the road. If she comes out of the count, fellow students must show the way. – I don’t think anything of that. I become dependent on others for something that I manage perfectly well myself because society does not facilitate it. She adds that society misses out on important resource persons when buildings and education are not arranged for persons with additional needs. Tina Sleire Sandvik’s disability is not easy to spot. But the student is severely visually impaired. Sondre Dalaker/news Small things become big obstacles Sandvik has also wanted to have teaching material from the tutors sent in advance. Learning material, such as power points, videos and group assignments, he can read if he gets the chance to zoom in strongly. Here too, Sandvik has always experienced HVL as accommodating. – It could have been as simple as learning material being available digitally, so that I didn’t have to ask others about what was there. Then I could have watched it digitally while we were at it, and not have to depend on everyone else all the time. A lack of guided tours at the university and colleges, and getting power points and other learning material ahead of the teaching, are recurring challenges, affirms Solvang in Norgs Blindeforbunds Ungdom. Silje Solvang is the leader of the Norwegian Association of the Blind Youth. Photo: Private – There are such small things that take so little time to fix. It is a shame that it is such small things that prevent us from completing our education. HVL: Having been in close contact with the student Pro-Rector for Higher Education at the University of Vestland, Anne-Grethe Naustdal, I think it is a shame that Sandvik has had these experiences. Naustdal nevertheless underlines that the university feels that they have had close contact with the student regarding arrangements, both at the start of the studies and throughout the course of the studies. – It was still clearly not good enough, so we just have to apologize and learn from it. Vice Chancellor Anne-Grethe Naustdal regrets that Sandvik has had bad experiences at the University of Western Norway. Photo: Tony Ågotnes / news The vice-chancellor says they are working to give learning material a universal design, so that it should be accessible to everyone. In Sandvik’s case, the university has tried to provide the learning material well in advance of teaching. – We have passed that information on to the individual subject manager. Nevertheless, there have probably also been some times that the student has not received the learning material in advance. According to Naustdal, HVL also sees that they have challenges with the universal design of the building, but are working to improve this. – It is the first time we have a student with exactly what Tina needs on this programme. Then it is unfortunately the case that challenges may be discovered by this student. It could be an unfortunate situation for him, but we try to do the best we can. She adds that the work with facilitation, universal design and an inclusive learning environment has a high priority at the university, and that they are currently working on a new action plan for this. The University of Western Norway is located in new, modern buildings on the Fosshaugane campus in Sogndal. Nevertheless, visually impaired Tine Sleire Sandvik has had great difficulty reading the signs in the building, because they have poor color contrasts. Photo: Sondre Dalaker Fewer take higher education Kjell Andreas Knarlag is head of universal design and learning environment in the Directorate for Higher Education and Competence. He says that all public higher education institutions are aware of the duty to make arrangements for students with a functional impairment. – The directorate perceives that the institutions have good systems for organizing the examination, but that the organization of the place of study is otherwise systematized to a lesser extent. In a survey from 2018 among young people with various types of reduced functional ability, 80 per cent answered that they experienced educational barriers at the university. Anna Bjørshol is department director at Bufdir. Photo: Ida Yasin Andersen/news – The consequences are that fewer people with disabilities take higher education, says department director at Bufdir, Anna Bjørshol. Among people with reduced functional ability, 30 per cent have at least one year of higher education, compared to 46 per cent in the population as a whole, figures from 2019 show.
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Visually impaired Tina just needs a little preparation for her studies – despairs of the College of Western Norway – news Vestland
