Inclusion and education

COLLABORATION IS A PRECONDITION 
FOR EFFECTIVE DELIVERY OF INCLUSIVE 
EDUCATION
Avoiding overlaps or gaps in responsibility is important for 
delivering inclusive education efficiently and sustainably. 
73
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

---

Collaboration can happen between ministries (horizontal), 
between tiers of government (vertical) or, in a few cases, 
both (
Box 4.1
).
Integrated services with interventions from education, 
social assistance and health departments help address 
learners’ needs in several areas of individual care and fulfil 
their rights. Integrated models improve service provision 
and can lead to cost-effectiveness in the education and 
care of vulnerable children and learners. Depending on 
a country’s level of centralization, clear processes for 
sharing responsibility for the education of disadvantaged 
learners among central, regional and local authorities may 
be needed to ensure no student falls between the cracks.
Whether horizontal or vertical, collaboration can cover 
several areas. Analysis of responses from 30 education 
systems in the region showed that collaboration in 
policy development, implementation and coordination 
was the most common form both between ministries 
and between tiers of government. The second most 
common form involved identification of needs and referral 
to services. Collaboration on data was more common 
between the central and local levels, following the usual 
flow of information, and less common between ministries. 
Two-thirds of education systems reviewed identified 
monitoring and evaluation processes, along with quality 
assurance and accountability mechanisms, as another 
area of shared responsibility (
Figure 4.1
).
Horizontal collaboration between government 
departments takes many forms
Cooperation between ministries whose work affects 
vulnerable learners – usually the ministries dealing with 
education, health, labour and social affairs – is crucial, 
especially in national strategy implementation. In 
Kyrgyzstan, collaboration to transfer children without 
parental care from boarding schools to families takes 
place within the framework of European Union (EU) 
budget support to the Ministry of Education and Science 
and the Ministry of Labour and Social Development.
In Lithuania, three ministries (Health; Education, Science, 
and Sport; and Social Security and Labour) have agreed 
to jointly develop measures to help children identified 
with autism or other developmental disabilities and their 
parents. Montenegro’s inclusive education strategy 
aims to improve collaboration between the healthcare, 
child and social protection and education sectors to 
deliver coordinated services for children with special 
needs, as well as coordinated psychosocial and financial 
support to families.
Poland is working on a new model of education for all 
that ensures that all relevant ministries are involved 
in consultation on inclusive education (notably the 
ministries of Family, Labour and Social Policy; Health; 
Science and Higher Education; Development Funds and 
Regional Policy; and Justice). In Turkey, a cooperation 
protocol between the Ministry of Family, Labour and 
Social Services, the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry 
of National Education aims to make schools and the 
surrounding environment safe.
Government structures need to reinforce collaboration 
on producing and sharing data concerning vulnerable 
learners. Bulgaria has a cooperation agreement between 
the Ministry of Education and Science and the Agency 
for People with Disabilities for exchange of statistics 
on children and learners with disabilities. In Georgia, 
a 2017 memorandum between the education and 
health ministries calls for sharing of information about 
learners with special education needs, but it still needs 
to be formalized as an official document. The Russian 
Federation reformed its needs identification system 
engaging multiple government services (
Box 4.2
).
In some countries, education ministries are the main 
coordinators of inclusive education, with various levels 
of involvement from other ministries and departments. 
In Azerbaijan, the Ministry of Education leads the 
development, implementation and coordination of 
inclusion in education but partners with the Ministry 
of Labour and Social Protection, the Ministry of Health 
and the State Examination Center State Program on 
Inclusion. In Serbia, the Ministry of Education, Science and 
Technological Development has set up a joint body for 
coordination and supervision of intersectoral committees. 
It functions as an advisory group and has representatives 
from all relevant ministries (health, social affairs, public 
and local affairs).
74
GLOBAL EDUCATION MONITORING REPORT 2021

---

In a few countries, policy appears to be implemented 
solely by the education ministry, with little if any 
horizontal integration. The Belarus Activity Plan of 
Implementation of the Concept of Inclusive Education for 
2016–20 indicates the Ministry of Education acts alone.
Social inclusion policies sometimes support 
inclusive education provision
Some social affairs ministries, strongly engaged with 
specific groups of vulnerable learners, coordinate policies 
and initiatives that have an impact on inclusive education. 
In Albania, implementation of the 2015–20 National 
Action Plan for Integration of Roma and Egyptians is 
monitored by an inter-ministerial committee chaired 
by the deputy minister of social welfare and youth and 
composed of deputy ministers from other relevant 
ministries. Responsibility for monitoring implementation 
lies with line ministries, which use data collection focal 
points to identify information gaps. A programme of 
activities related to enrolling out-of-school children refers 
to collaboration in the form of local multisector working 
groups and referrals of families of children ‘at risk for 
abandoning compulsory education to social protection 
services and other sources of support’.
In Hungary, the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Disability 
Affairs was established in 2015 as an advisory and 
consultative committee operated by the State Secretariat 
of Social Affairs and Social Inclusion. Every ministry 
and state secretariat (including that of education)