Škola Svítání is a school established in accordance with §16, paragraph 9) of Act 561/2004. The school’s mission is to provide children, youth and adults with special educational needs with education and other services aimed at developing their personality and integrating them into everyday life based on their individual needs and possibilities. It was founded in 1992 and became a public benefit company in 1998.
The SVÍTÁNÍ school was founded in 1992 by parents of disabled children as a reaction to the undemocratic regime. Families wanted to stay together with their disabled children, who were previously forced to live in institutions and boarding schools. We started with 26 students and gradually expanded not only their number, but also the types of schools and the types of services we provide. Today, we operate in four workplaces and more than 200 students sit at our desks. Our goal is to create a professional and at the same time sensitive environment in which children and adults feel good and can develop according to their individual needs. We offer high-quality, “tailor-made” education.
Services that follow on from the lessons and that our pupils and other clients can use include, for example, social therapy workshops or a day care center. Our school also includes physiotherapy, occupational therapy, canistherapy, speech therapy and a special education center, where we provide children, youth and adults with combined disabilities with professional special education, social and psychological counseling and care. Our goal is to support their development and facilitate their integration into society. We examine up to 1,000 clients in the special education center every year.
We are also unique in that we transport our students on our own buses – not only between our buildings, but also from home to school and back every day. We finance this transport operation from subsidies, contributions and donations that we manage to obtain.
In 2016, we founded a second non-profit organization, the social community Léthó, to support our graduates in both the open and protected labor markets. We want to enable them to live as independently as possible, or with minimal assistance.
Thanks to European grants, we have submitted a number of projects, we create our own textbooks and special aids and use elements of Montessori pedagogy. A big milestone was when we managed to buy our own school building and renovate it. We are now repaying a loan of CZK 30 million.
In 2024, internationally renowned Czech sculptor David Černý also decided to support us. He created a sculpture of a “paper” boat over six meters high, located near the Automatic Mills in Pardubice, which can not only move, but also help our children from the SVÍTÁNÍ school. The boat will rock every time a visitor deposits a financial contribution into it with a payment card – and will surprise not only with its movement, but also with a sound effect. Everyone could expect the paper boat to sink immediately, but it still bravely sails on, and that is why it is a symbol not only of our school, but also of the fight against prejudice that disabled children and their families still face.
Account Number: 35-6934550257/0100
IBAN: CZ12 0100 0000 3569 3455 0257
SWIFT: KOMBCZPP
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