Inclusion and education

BOX 6.5: 
Albania and Serbia are introducing teaching 
assistants in their education systems
Teaching assistants can serve the purpose of inclusive education 
through a variety of functions. In Albania, the initiative to 
introduce such posts is based on the 2012 education law and 
2013 normative dispositions, which recognize the right of 
children with disabilities to be educated in their local school 
and receive additional support based on their needs. Regional 
Support for Inclusive Education in Albania, a joint initiative of 
the Council of Europe and European Union implemented by 
the Network of Education Policy Centers, introduced assistant 
teachers in selected schools through volunteer support. Following 
positive responses from teachers and parents, the Ministry of 
Education, Sport and Youth assigned the assistant teachers to 
support not only students but also teachers, parents and school 
administrators. Awareness-raising campaigns and training have 
focused on improving school community members’ attitudes 
and developing assistant teachers’ capacity. In November 2019, 
a minister issued instructions on assistant teachers for students 
with disabilities in schools, defining selection criteria and 
procedures and describing their duties.
In Serbia, teaching assistants were formerly not recognized at 
policy level. However, a positive experience with pedagogical 
assistants supporting Roma students in a Roma Education Fund 
project led to the establishment of a working group to help 
institutionalize this function. Members included representatives 
of the education ministry, the government’s Social Inclusion and 
Poverty Reduction Unit, the Institute for Evaluation of Quality 
of Education, the University of Belgrade Faculty of Special 
Education and Rehabilitation, the Association of Schools for 
Pupils with Developmental Disorders and Disabilities, the Institute 
for Education Development, the National Council for the Roma 
National Minority, the Association for Pedagogical Assistance 
and UNICEF. A rule book, published in 2019, describes two types 
of teaching assistants: those supporting Roma students and 
their families directly as well as indirectly through support to 
teachers and other professionals, and those providing pedagogical 
assistance to students with disabilities, in accordance with their 
developmental, education and social needs, in line with the 10-
year experience of inclusive education provision.
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There is room for improvement in support 
personnel education and training
The volume and quality of initial education and continuing 
professional development opportunities for support 
personnel are important determinants of inclusive 
practices’ implementation. Support personnel in the 
region are generally not yet suitably prepared to work in 
inclusive environments in collaboration with teachers, as 
countries continue to favour a mainly medical approach 
to inclusion in the education and training of professional 
staff. In Azerbaijan, courses in the initial education 
curriculum alternate focus between inclusion and special 
education. An obligatory inclusive education course for 
corrective pedagogues at bachelor and master levels at 
the State Pedagogical University discusses principles, the 
legislative basis for inclusion and typology of children with 
disabilities. Future professionals are left with ambiguities, 
and in-service training does not always compensate for 
deficits in initial education.
Education and training of professional staff either follow a 
separate track or partially overlap with initial mainstream 
teacher education. The degree of overlap varies. Some 
curriculum units for undergraduate, graduate or specialist 
studies can be the same. Sometimes teachers and 
professional staff who provide inclusive education must 
attend in-service training courses. For instance, in Georgia, 
special teachers are expected to meet at least one of the 
following requirements: an academic degree in teacher 
education at bachelor or master level, or a master’s 
degree and a completed special teacher training module; 
an academic degree in a subject and a master’s degree 
in special education; or a special teacher professional 
development programme or teacher training programme 
after two years of service as a special education teacher.
Reforms have been introduced in relation to qualifications 
and competences required of support personnel. In 
Georgia, plans to introduce a certification process and 
a higher education programme for special education 
teachers have been announced. In North Macedonia, 
new professional standards for teachers and support 
personnel are expected to have a positive influence on 
the system of professional development. Romania’s 
higher education curricula for teachers and special 
educators were reviewed and new versions supporting 
the inclusive dimension in mainstream education were 
produced and approved. The new curricula aim to reduce 
segregation, discrimination and gender-based violence. 
Professional staff, including psychologists, pedagogues, 
special educators and therapists, need at least a master’s 
or equivalent degree. The minimum level for teaching 
assistants is secondary education, albeit some kind 
of vocational pedagogical education. In Slovakia, new 
mechanisms for the licensing and attestation of teachers 
and support personnel, consistent with recent legislation, 
are being introduced.
Few countries have a strategic approach to planning 
and implementing continuing professional development 
of support personnel to develop their capacity for 
work in diverse classrooms or inclusive environments. 
In general, the approach to in-service training remains 
ad hoc. Inclusion-related topics are available for short 
periods, e.g. during the implementation of a national 
project or an accreditation process. In Bulgaria, the in-
service training system sets certain requirements for 
licensing and attestation of support staff and offers 
annual seminars for teachers and special educators 
who work with students with special education needs in 
mainstream schools.
Inclusive education and training curricula for support 
personnel in the region contain a range of inclusion-
related topics, but are mainly related to working with 
students with particular disabilities. In Mongolia, there 
was no pre-service training for special educators until 
the recent launch of a special education programme 
at the School of Education Studies of the Mongolian 
State University of Education. It aims to prepare special 
educators to teach children with disabilities in mainstream 
and special schools.
Topics such as individualized education plans, 
differentiated teaching, communication skills, challenges 
of working in diverse classrooms and the whole-school 
approach to inclusive education are insufficiently covered 
in the curricula for education and training of professional 
staff, especially for special educators and therapists. An 
example of an obligatory in-service training programme 
for professional staff exists in the Republic of Moldova 
and covers inclusive education services at the institutional 
Few countries have a strategic approach to the professional development 
of support personnel to develop their capacity for work in diverse 
classrooms or inclusive environments
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level, the planning and organization of the educational 
process from an inclusive perspective, teaching strategies 
for children with special education needs, and specific 
individual and group interventions, among other topics.