Development opportunities: first stem laboratory for children with special needs opens in Belarus

A unique stem space for Belarus has opened in the Borisov District Correctional and Development Center.

This is a special educational and methodological complex for early scientific and engineering education. It is intended for children from 4 to 12 years old, to introduce them to natural phenomena, the laws of physics and chemical reactions. The necessary reagents and equipment are available for conducting about 250 exciting experiments.

Lyudmila Mordovich, Director of the Borisov District Center for Correctional and Developmental Education and Rehabilitation:

"Children with special needs can interact with all this equipment. Since 2014, our center has had a resource center for working with children with autism. An individual program will be developed for each child. The main task is to find the gift in the child, which may be hidden due to his or her special needs. And here, sitting at a desk, interacting with these objects, he or she may open up in a new light, even for parents and teachers."

This is a joint Russian-Belarusian charity project. The furniture and wooden modules for organizing the scientific space are domestic, and the special equipment and teaching materials are from Russia. The laboratory is currently in its basic configuration. The plans include expanding the functionality.