Tomas: We Set Up Early Intervention Centre at University of Agriculture in Nitra

Nitra, February 21 (TASR) - A regional Early Intervention Centre has been established in the premises of the Creative Centre of the Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra and it was set up by the Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Ministry in cooperation with the Slovak Paralympic Committee as part of a project called 'We Are Equal 2', said Labour Minister Erik Tomas (Voice-SD) at the official opening in Nitra on Friday. Early intervention centres are designed for the people with disabilities. They have been set up in every region of Slovakia. The centre in Nitra is the last of the regional network, stated Tomas. There are currently 48 social motivators working in them. "Our goal is to help 1,100 clients across Slovakia and to keep at least 300 of them in employment or find them other suitable employment on the labour market," said the minister. The aim of the centres is to motivate the disabled to be active and to seek employment through motivators and in cooperation with psychologists or methodologists. Slovak Paralympic Committee head Jan Riapos stated that the education of mentors and motivators from the community of disabled people, who become companions for those who need it, is the most effective social rehabilitation. Riapos pointed out that the Slovak Paralympic Committee is dedicated not only to professional sports for the disabled, but also to creating conditions for the entire population of Slovakia. During the Paralympic Games in Tokyo, the International Paralympic Committee pointed out that the number of people with disabilities is increasing. According to World Health Organization statistics, 12.5 percent of people were disabled in 2012, and 15 percent in 2020, a 2.5 percent increase. "If we translate this into numbers, this is more than 1.3 billion people worldwide and in Slovakia roughly 800,000 people have some kind of disability," noted Riapos. am/mcs