After an independent audit of all public buildings belonging to the École des Mines de Saint-Étienne in 2005, and in accordance with the objectives of French law related to this area1, the MINES Saint-Étienne took all the necessary measures to make all the school’s facilities accessible for both students and staff with physical disabilities in compliance with legislation by the 1/1/2015 deadline.
On campus there are specific disabled parking, ramps, elevators and toilets that are all adapted for wheelchair access. Several lecture halls are equipped with the necessary facilities to help those who suffer from a hard-of-hearing disability. We are currently in the process of fitting the final corridors and stairwells with the required equipment to help those students and staff with limited vision in Saint-Étienne (this work is already finished on our campus in Gardanne).
As a public higher education institution, we also feel it is our duty to make our students and staff more aware of the difficulties involved in working with a disability and working with those who may suffer from a disability.
Every year a new group of ten first-year students organizes disability-related events where the whole school is invited to experience one or several disabilities for the day. The lessons learned on these days not only enable our students and staff to better understand the challenges of working and living with a disability, but also to improve our ways of organizing, not only our school, but also other local schools who take part in these events.
We feel that making our school as disability-friendly as possible is an ongoing process of continuous improvement and it is something that we take very seriously. We also work closely with several local associations for people with disabilities who are always on hand to help us deal with any new situations that arise. For this reason, we encourage any new student or member of staff to always contact us before arriving in St Etienne or Gardanne so that we can make absolutely sure that your particular disability will indeed be catered for in an efficient and sensitive manner.
Finally, we also believe that it is important to be able to ensure that our students’ disabilities are not an obstacle to their education, which is why we have built up numerous partnerships with companies, in both the secondary and tertiary sectors. These companies are committed to providing projects, internships and jobs for students with disabilities.
Please send all requests for information to:
1 Loi d’égalité des droits et des chances, 2/11/2005.