All higher education must be accessible and designed for everyone. Examination methods, teaching environments and learning tools need to be developed beyond norms for how teaching has traditionally been conducted. In addition to a developed and accessible higher education, there is a need for pedagogical support measures.
A disability should not be an obstacle for someone to apply for higher education. Lack of pedagogical support measures or premises that have not been adapted for accessibility should also not be reasons for a student to interrupt his or her studies. Therefore, it is of great importance that funds for pedagogical support measures are never jeopardized in the universities' budgets. SFS also demands that at national level there should always be secure funding for pedagogical support measures.
There are no national guidelines for what is meant by special educational support measures. The lack of national guidelines contributes to an imbalance between the Swedish higher education institutions in the supply and design of pedagogical support measures. There is also no minimum level for what a student can expect for support as accepted at a course. Therefore, SFS wants guidelines prepared for a national consensus. With a common definition, SFS wants to see a standardized basic palette with pedagogical support measures. The pedagogical support must then be able to be individually adapted to meet the individual student's needs.
Information about available support functions must be clear to both prospective and admitted students. Lack of information on available pedagogical support measures should also not prevent studies abroad. To ensure the availability of pedagogical support measures at the Swedish higher education institutions, SFS proposes that the University and College Council be commissioned to investigate the pedagogical support measures and their quality in order to produce a standardized minimum level for pedagogical support.