In the Irkutsk region in 2012, 87.4 million rubles will be allocated to distance education for disabled children. The funds will go to computer and specialized equipment, internet access, and teacher training. In the new school year, 536 disabled children are planned to be taught, and more teachers will be involved and methodological support expanded. The system has operated in the region since 2009 and already includes a distance education center, weekly monitoring, and an electronic School Journal.

87.4 million rubles will be allocated for distance education for children with disabilities in the Irkutsk Region in 2012. This was announced by the Governor of the Irkutsk Region, Sergei Eroshchenko. The head of the region explained that 44.9 million rubles will come to the Angara region from the federal budget for these purposes, and 42.5 million rubles have been allocated from the regional treasury as co-financing. The Governor noted that in the near future a corresponding agreement will be signed between the Government of the Irkutsk Region and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation on the organization of distance education for children with disabilities at home under general education programs.
Budget funds are provided for equipping with computer, telecommunications, and specialized equipment and software for organizing distance education for children with disabilities and connecting the workstations of children and teachers to the Internet, as well as training teaching staff. It is planned that in the new academic year, education will be organized for 536 children with disabilities, and as a result of the agreement, 120 additional children with disabilities in need of home-based instruction will be involved in the educational process using distance learning technologies. Methodological support for the teaching activities of 483 teachers directly providing distance education to children with disabilities will be achieved. In 2012, it is planned to involve another 190 teachers in the implementation of the program. In addition, the funds will be used for organizational support, including technical administration of the work of children with disabilities and teaching staff on the website supporting the educational process.
In the Irkutsk Region, the priority national project “Education” direction “Development of distance education for children with disabilities” has been implemented since 2009. Departmental target programs have been developed and are being implemented. Since 2011, a regional model of distance learning for children with disabilities has been operating in the Angara region. Distance learning is carried out by state and municipal educational institutions implementing general education programs, according to an individual curriculum that provides for a combination of distance learning with home visits by a teacher. The region has a distance education center - the regional operator for implementing the direction — the coordinator of the progress of the measure, the activities for organizing the educational process; the center provides methodological support for the project, advanced training for teaching staff, and monitors the implementation of the project.
The regional operator conducts weekly monitoring of the state of the educational process organization; monitoring of the state of access of children with disabilities and teaching staff to the Internet. To organize monitoring of the educational process on the regional platform of the information and educational environment, an electronic “School Journal” has been created and launched.
Funding for the measure in 2011 amounted to 102.9 million rubles: federal subsidies — 60.3 million rubles, regional budget funds — 42.5 million rubles. As part of the implementation of the measure in 2011, the workstations of 200 children with disabilities and 200 teaching staff were equipped with sets of computer equipment, digital educational equipment, office equipment, and software adapted to the specifics of developmental disorders in children with disabilities. The equipment is provided for free temporary use and installed at the child’s place of residence. The workstations of children with disabilities and teaching staff have been connected to the Internet. As part of the organization of consultative and methodological support, training events were held to improve the qualifications of 201 teaching staff and 204 parents of children with disabilities. Technical maintenance, software setup, and equipment setup of the workstations of children with disabilities were carried out upon requests from parents and teaching staff.
Based on materials from the press service of the Governor of the Irkutsk Region and the Government of the Irkutsk Region