Inclusion at Nittel primary school: Tim can control the blackboard with his eyes

Nittel/Konz, March 14, 2023

"Good morning" the children greet the mayor of the Konz municipality, Joachim Weber. Today he is a guest at the Nittel elementary school. And one thing is immediately clear: inclusion is a top priority at the elementary school in Nittel.

It's physical education. The children sit in a circle around the teacher. And as with the greeting, the teacher and the children not only use German in class, but also sign language. Normal everyday life in this class. Because if a student is hard of hearing, everyone helps to ensure that participation in the class still works.

That is the goal in all classes: disabled and non-disabled children teach together, even if the school is a regular school. And the municipal administration of Konz supports this project wherever possible.

This is currently also evident in another class: Tim's class. The second grader uses a wheelchair. He can neither move his legs nor his arms. But he is part of the class community like any other child. And thanks to a new technical option, the boy can now take part in lessons even more than before.

Because Tim has a special computer with him that he can control with his eyes. The IT department of the municipal administration has now linked this to the digital blackboard. The result: Tim is now able to use his eyes to solve tasks on the board and, for example, to mark words there. Controlling the table is practiced diligently when Joachim Weber visits.

Photo: Tim, his supervisor Wladimir Kurz and his class teacher Barbara Männle demonstrate the new technical possibilities to Mayor Joachim Weber.

"The primary school in Nittel lives the word inclusion," says the mayor. “I think it's great what opportunities we can create together for the children today. So Nittel is a role model for all of Germany.”

And the classmates immediately had suggestions on how Tim could be helped further. They had painted their wishes as pictures on a long banner. Mayor Weber promised: "The municipality of Konz and the local municipality of Nittel will be happy to check which wishes can be implemented and how."

Photo: The children from Tim's class drew pictures with wishes for Tim.