The rights of a pupil with special educational needs in Georgian law are not a declaration but a catalogue of funded and conditionally burdened obligations: adapted study plans, state-funded human resources, an increased voucher and the teacher's direct duty. This page explains that catalogue under the Law on General Education — by what the pupil actually owns.
The right to adaptation of study plans
The law's norm writes directly: for a pupil with special educational needs an alternative study plan is used, an individual study plan based on the national curriculum, or an extended study plan, in accordance with which his or her teaching, social adaptation and integration into social life are carried out. The three formats answer three different needs — and their selection rests on the assessment conclusion, not on the school's convenience.
Human resources at the state's expense
The second part of the same norm contains the financial guarantee: a pupil of a public school with special educational needs must, where necessary, be provided with the appropriate human resources and programmes/services, whose funding is ensured by the state. This means that support is not the school's charitable initiative — it is a budget-covered obligation, and its absence points not to the school's helplessness but to a violation of the right.
The increased voucher
The accessibility norm adds: where the pupil's right to receive education close to the place of residence cannot be exercised through the standard voucher, the state provides an increased voucher or additional funding within a targeted programme. With the increased voucher the ministry ensures, among other things, the introduction of inclusive education in the public school and the improvement of the school's human resources — so the voucher is the school's instrument as well, not only the pupil's.
The teacher's direct duty
The catalogue of rights is completed by the teacher's obligation: by law, the teacher must ensure that the educational needs of a pupil with special educational needs are taken into account in the learning process; and also — promote the pupil's effective transition and prepare him or her for continuing to the next level of education and for independent life. This norm operates beyond the classroom as well — the teacher's role is not exhausted by teaching. These rights read as one system: the equal right to education, a safe environment, an adapted plan, funded support. The American special-education frame — IDEA with its concepts — is non-Georgian: the Georgian page is carried by the norms of the Georgian law, and precisely on them a demand against the school must be built.
Building a demand
Building a demand begins with three documents: the psycho-educational assessment conclusion, the individual or alternative study plan, and the written trail of communication with the school. On these three stands what can be demanded: the implementation of the format defined by the conclusion, the provision of the funded human resource, or the increased amount of the voucher. Each demand is built against a specific norm — and that is precisely why a general complaint that the school cannot provide is always weak: a strong demand names which obligation, by which document and within which deadline is violated.
For a pupil with special educational needs the law supplies three instruments: an alternative curriculum, an individual curriculum based on the national one, or an extended curriculum — and teaching proceeds under these plans together with social adaptation and integration into community life. Where needed, such a pupil at a public school must be provided with the corresponding human resources and services, financed by the state. Alternative forms of education are possible considering the age of the pupils and their working and family conditions; assessment must be fair and cannot be conditioned by discipline; and a pupil expelled from school keeps the right to continue studies at another school. The whole construction is directed at one aim — that the equal right to full general education is not nominal but supported by plans, resources and procedural guarantees.
Frequently asked questions
Below we answer the most common questions about the rights of a pupil with special educational needs.
Which study plans are used?
An alternative plan, an individual plan based on the national curriculum, or an extended plan — by the assessment conclusion.
Who funds the support?
The state — the human resources and services of a public-school pupil are covered by the budget.
What is the increased voucher?
An alternative to the standard one, where education close to residence is impossible through the standard voucher.
What is the teacher's duty?
Taking the SEN pupil's needs into account in the process and promoting the transition.
How We Help on Legal.ge
The Legal.ge team identifies which right is violated or unused in your case, explains the financing channels and builds a demand against the school or the agency in a lawful format. In a written consultation you receive a list of rights for your pupil's situation. Contact us through the Legal.ge website.