Between Rupture and Continuity: The System of Care and Education for Deaf Children in Slovenia between 1945 and 1950

The following contribution examines the development of the system of care and education for deaf children in Slovenia in the early years after World War II and places the issue within the broader Yugoslav context. It ascertains that, at the level of the republics, certain ambiguities existed regarding the division of jurisdiction among the Ministries of Education, Social Welfare, and Health in relation to the education and schooling of children with special needs. Therefore, the Ministries in question highlighted numerous obstacles to the development of institutions for deaf children and other children with special needs. The Slovenian authorities attributed the problems to a lack of information from the federal Ministries. The latter, on the other hand, believed that issues with the post-war organisation of special education stemmed from inadequate organisation inherited from the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Another problem was the shortage of professionally qualified teaching staff, which the authorities sought to address by establishing special education departments at teacher training colleges. The present contribution establishes that the vital foundations of the general system of care and education for deaf children and children with sensory impairments in Slovenia were already laid during the interwar period. Although the post-war communist regime emphasised a break with the pre-war arrangements and the construction of a new system, the development of special education between 1945 and 1950 was largely grounded in the continuity of institutions, personnel, and professional practices from the pre-war period.