Inclusion and education

FIGURE 3.7: 
Cognitive and psycho-emotional difficulties are the most common disabilities among children and adolescents
Prevalence of functional difficulties among 5- to 17-year-olds, selected countries and territories, 2018–20
a. By domain
1
0
2
3
4
5
%
Hearing
Kosovo Roma; 0.6
Serbia Roma; 1.2
Georgia; 0.8
N. Macedonia Roma, 0.8
Kosovo Roma; 1.7
4.4
1.6
0.8
0.8
0.8
0.6
0.7
0.6
0.6
0.4
0.3
0.3
0.0
Kosovo Roma; 2.4
Serbia Roma; 3.7
Kosovo Roma; 1.8
Kosovo Roma; 2.6
N. Macedonia Roma; 6.0
Montenegro Roma; 7.6
Montenegro Roma; 24.5
Seeing
Concentrating
Self-care
Communication
Controlling behaviour
Making friends
Remembering
Accepting
change
Walking
Learning
Depression
Anxiety
5
0
10
15
20
25
%
Total
Turkmenistan
Serbia
Belarus
Mongolia
Montenegro
Kosovo
Kyrgyzstan
Median
Georgia
N. Macedonia
Serbia Roma
Kosovo Roma
N. Macedonia
Roma
Montenegro Roma; 30.6
Note: 
References to Kosovo shall be understood to be in the context of Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999).
Source: 
MICS Survey Findings Reports.
2 
An additional module developed by UNICEF covers a broader range of inclusion and participation dimensions, such as attitudes, 
accessibility, transport and affordability (Cappa, 2014). The aim is to understand the prevalence of disability and education outcomes, the 
education environment and specific barriers to education.
b. In at least one domain
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C E N T R A L A N D E A S T E R N E U R O P E , C A U C A S U S A N D C E N T R A L A S I A

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However, functional difficulty levels are much higher in 
Roma settlements in four Balkan countries and territories: 
Kosovo,
3
Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.
For instance, walking difficulties were mentioned by twice 
as many children and adolescents (1.5%) and anxiety by 
three times as many (12%). The share of those with a 
functional difficulty in at least one domain was 20%, on 
average, varying from 14% in Roma settlements in Serbia 
to 31% in Montenegro.
Youth with disabilities are over-represented in the 
out-of-school population. In Georgia, they account for 
7.5% of the in-school youth population but 13.9% of 
the out-of-school youth population. Across
Georgia, 
Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia, the share of youth with 
disabilities in the out-of-school population is twice as 
large, on average, as the share within the in-school 
population (
Figure 3.8
).
The education disadvantage associated with sensory, 
physical or intellectual disability increases at higher levels 
of education. In Mongolia, the out-of-school rate of children 
of primary school age without functional difficulties is 
2.7%, while among those with functional difficulties it is 
9.1%. Having a sensory, physical or intellectual disability 
increases the out-of-school rate by 2 percentage points. 
For adolescents of lower secondary school age, the gap is 
4 percentage points, while for youth of upper secondary 
school age, the gap is 11 percentage points (
Figure 3.9
).
Across 
Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia
, 
the share of youth with 
disabilities
in the 
out-of-school population
is on average 
twice as large as
the share of the in-school population