ESTP Paris disabilities policy

ESTP disabilities policy

The French law of 11 February 2005 in favour of the equality of the rights and opportunities, participation and citizenship of persons with disabilities, in addition to affirming the fundamental rights of persons with disabilities, also recognizes that their environment has an impact on their lives. It also introduced the principle of the ‘right to compensation[1].

The ESTP uses the term ‘person with a disability’ (or, in French, personne en situation de handicap). This term places greater emphasis on the situation of the person, rather than on his or her personal characteristics, and on the importance of measures to adjust his or her physical and social environment so as to assist him or her and prevent disability-related difficulties during his or her studies at the ESTP. This term also fits in with the inclusive approach recommended by ESTP policy.

Given its history and its strong values, the ESTP accords great importance to the equality of opportunity of its students and to inclusiveness. It is one of the elite French educational institutions that have joined the CGE[2], which signed a first Disabilities Charter on 23 May 2008 with the French Ministry for Higher Education, Research and Innovation and the French Ministry for Labour, Social Relations and Solidarity. A second CGE Charter was signed on 11 February 2019 with the French Ministry for Higher Education, Research and Innovation and the Secretary of State for Persons with Disabilities.

The ESTP undertakes, therefore, with respect to persons with disabilities, to:

  • promote their access to its educational programs ;
  • improve the clarity and consistency of its policy for accommodating them on campus;
  • facilitate their career prospects (internships and employment) throughout their studies;
  • increase their enrolment in sandwich training;
  • assist them with international mobility;
  • guarantee their access to sport;
  • raise awareness of disabilities among the ESTP’s educational community.

The ESTP has had a Disabilities Contact Person on campus since 2011. Since the opening of ESTP sites in other regions, it now has a trained Disabilities Contact Person on every campus.

The disabilities Contact Persons, working alongside the  AGEFIPH[3], FIPHFP[4] (lifelong education) and MDPH[5], are responsible for implementing measures, throughout our students’ studies, both to meet the specific identified needs of students with disabilities and to help instill the campus’s future construction- sector leaders with the values of diversity and inclusion.
 



[1] Right to compensation: help provided to a person with a disability to improve his or her daily and social life, irrespective of the origin and nature of his/her disability, his or her age and his or her lifestyle.
[2] Conférence des Grandes Écoles
[3] Association de Gestion du Fonds pour l’Insertion Professionnelle des Handicapés
[4] Fonds pour l’Insertion des Personnes Handicapées dans la Fonction Publique
[5] Maison Départementale des Personnes Handicapées


 

Before arrival on campus

Disabilities are discussed at school forums, open days and education fairs so as to encourage applicants with disabilities to find out about the assistance and guidance available to them at the ESTP, which is a disability-friendly institution.

Applicants are given assistance in submitting their applications and are encouraged to get in touch with the Disabilities Contact Person so as to discuss, confidentially, their personal situation. This initial discussion helps determine the educational and non-educational measures to put in place to enable our future students to study in the best possible conditions.

It should be noted that the BCE (Banque Commune d’Épreuves) allows for disability-friendly adjustments to our entrance examinations. In order to benefit from these adjustments, applicants must fill out the adjustment request form.


After arrival on campus 

If they have not done so when applying, on arrival on campus students are invited to get in touch with the campus’s Disability Contact Person so as to establish their educational and extra-educational (accommodation, catering, transportation etc.) needs.

  • The educational adjustments proposed cover human and technical assistance, adjustment of lesson and examination material, access to material in advance, and, for examinations and continuous assessment, additional time, a separate room and breaks.
    The Disability Contact Person requests these measures from the ESTP’s educational directors. He or she ensures their implementation and, where necessary, refers to a Disability Training Resource (RHF) within the AGEFIPH for recommendations on appropriate compensations.
     
  • In 2014, the ESTP undertook to comply with a Programmed Accessibility Agenda (Ad’AP) so as to implement accessibility standards across its student facilities: classrooms, lecture theatres, laboratories, documentation centre, toilets and student leisure areas. The corresponding renovation work was completed in December 2020.
    Moreover, since February 2021 there is a student residence on the Cachan campus with 87 accommodation units accessible to persons with reduced mobility. Students who make the request can therefore be accommodated very close to their place of study. This reduces their travel time, which is often a source of additional fatigue for persons with disabilities.
     
  • Since 2014, the ESTP has held, in collaboration with the student association HILAP6, an annual disability awareness-raising day, in which all our staff are involved. The event is part of our campus Solidarity Week.
     
  • In November 2018, the ESTP signed an agreement with Paris-Saclay University’s Service for Preventative Medicine and Health Promotion (SUMPPS), which is accredited by the CDAPH. Consequently, the ESTP now covers the cost of medical consultations for its students with disabilities. The ESTP renews this agreement every year and plans to develop the service on its regional campuses.
     
  • The ESTP’s Directorate for Business Relations, which is in charge of internships and liaises with our teaching teams and the Disability Contact Person, assists our students in looking for suitable internships that match up with their career plans and will boost their future employment prospects.


Workshops, forums and lectures are regularly offered by our business and other partners. Some of these are socially engaged and offer grants and/or supervision for students with disabilities.
 


[6] HILAP : an ESTP Paris humanitarian student Association founded in 2004 and recognised by the French government to be of public interest since 2004 - asso.hilap@gmail.com


 

After graduation and up to employment

The ESTP’s Directorate for Business Relations considers that assistance to our students should extend beyond graduation. It therefore remains on hand to provide guidance until our graduates secure their first long-term job contract.

A number of partnerships have been concluded with businesses that are committed to helping ESTP students to find an internship and to providing them with support until they secure employment. We request that these partners provide assistance and expertise to facilitate the employment of students with disabilities.

The ESTP’s Disability Contact Persons encourage and assist final-year students in submitting, if they have not already done so, a ‘recognition of status application’ (RQTH[7]) to their local MDPH so that they can benefit from specific aid for persons with disabilities.

Additionally, we make our final-year students aware of the European Employment of Persons with Disabilities Week, which takes place every year in November. This is an opportunity for them to benefit from contact with companies participating in the event.

The ESTP’s alumni network (ESTP Alumni) is composed of over 35 000 former students who are also on hand to advise our students on finding a job. Alumni de l’ESTP - Accueil (estp-alumni.org)

 


[7] RQTH : the Reconnaissance de la Qualité de Travailleur Handicapé (recognition of status of worker with a disability) is an application for a special status allowing persons with disabilities to benefit from specific government aid.
 


Contact persons

 

  • Cachan: Béatrice Bortolussi
    E-mail: bbortolussi@estp.fr
    Tel.: +33 (0) 1 49 08 24 26
     
  • Dijon: Sarah Chefirat
    E-mail: schefirat@estp.fr
    Tel.: +33 (0) 3 73 62 02 52
     
  • Paris: Christel Remir
    E-mail: cremir@estp.fr
    Tel.: +33 (0) 1 75 77 86 09
     
  • Troyes: Laetitia Prost
    E-mail: lprost@estp.fr
    Tel.: +33 (0) 3 25 78 55 01
     
  • Orléans : Nathalie Falp
    E-mail: nfalp@estp.fr
    Tel.: +33 (0) 2 19 00 19 01



​​​The person in charge of cross-campus coordination is Béatrice Bortolussi. Any student with a disability is free to send her the disability declaration form that can be downloaded here 👈

The ESTP guarantees the confidentiality of the information provided on the form.