In the Russian Federation, the Education 2019–2024 project
contains a roadmap with indicators and key objectives
for the development of the education
system in priority
areas. It includes 10 federal projects addressing areas
including school upgrading; extracurricular activities,
including online courses, for students with special needs;
networks of support centres; psychological, pedagogical
and consulting assistance to parents provided by regional
non-government organizations (NGOs); and digital
opportunities for rural schools.
Strategies or action plans for inclusive education exist
in 21 of the 30 education systems, with target areas
including non-discrimination, equal opportunity and
school dropout. Examples include the 2019–23
Kyrgyz
concepts and programmes for development of
inclusive education and the Republic of Moldova’s
2011–20 development programme for inclusive education.
Other countries are moving in this direction. Armenia is
developing an action plan on universal inclusive education
in two regions. The policy framework is expected to
be revised by 2025 to enable inclusive education in all
regions. The US Agency for International Development
has supported a draft strategic vision and roadmap on
inclusive education for 2019–25. In Tajikistan, the Ministry
of Education and Science and the Academy of Pedagogical
Sciences are developing a strategy for inclusive education
provision taking into account an expanded understanding
of the terms ‘inclusive’ and ‘vulnerable’. The strategy
addresses disability, ethnicity, migration and gender.
Does all mean all?
A key dilemma in inclusive education involves maintaining
a focus on all learners while
addressing the needs of
specific groups that may be particularly vulnerable to
marginalization and exclusion. While attaching labels
to particular groups can have negative consequences,
countries risk not responding to the education interests
of the most disadvantaged if they emphasize only what
learners have in common (Norwich, 2002). The Learning
Slovakia plan notes that ‘the so-called ordinary pupils and
their needs are often overlooked … at the same time, they
are also unique individuals with diverse potential’ (p. 16).
There is often a perception that learners from
disadvantaged groups cannot benefit from mainstream
school organization, curricula and teaching approaches.
Approaches focused on individual support for learners
with disabilities and special education needs, often based
on a medical diagnosis, can
result in individual teaching,
separate interventions and segregated provision,
Strategies or action plans
for inclusive education exist in
21
30
21
of the
30
education systems
in Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia
43
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
which reduce opportunities and lead to fragmented,
resource-intensive initiatives that cannot be sustained
in the longer term. The individual focus becomes a way
to manage diversity in an inflexible system in which
differences are seen as problems to be fixed. In some
systems, learners may be excluded through a ‘readiness’
approach that requires them to have particular skills
or levels of independence that will enable them to ‘fit
into’ the system.
Many governments focus efforts on groups at high risk
of exclusion: 27 of the 30
education systems reviewed
have plans focusing on disability and special education
needs, while 18 focus on Roma or other ethnic minorities.
Some, influenced by EU policies, focus on learners at
risk of dropping out or leaving education early (Albania,
Kosovo,
2
the Republic of Moldova, Serbia). In Hungary,
a medium-term 2014–20 strategy for early school
leaving aimed to reduce the number of school leavers
without a qualification and improve transition to the
labour market for socially disadvantaged learners,
especially those from the Roma community. Actions to
support vulnerable groups include providing assistants,
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