Inclusion and education

FIGURE 8.1: 
Two in three countries have a policy on participation in parental councils
Number of education systems prescribing different forms of parental participation and choice
Policies supporting parental involvement 
in governance mechanisms 
(parent councils, school boards, etc.)
Legislation or policies mentioning parental 
right to choose child's education setting
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Yes
No
Education systems
Policies supporting parental 
involvement in schools
Source: 
Data collected for the regional report on inclusion and education in Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
The key to keeping parents, guardians and families informed of their 
rights and enabling them to make informed decisions on their children’s 
education is to strengthen efforts to include them
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or special schools, fearing that mainstream schools 
are unprepared. When choosing a school, especially in 
richer countries, parents take into account school and 
class size, distance from home, teacher interpersonal 
skills, frequency of communication with the teacher, 
possibilities for parental involvement, contact with the 
child’s support system and whether the school shows 
a positive attitude towards children with disabilities 
(Mawene and Bal, 2018). A review of parental attitude 
studies showed that parents of children with disabilities 
were neutral about the concept of inclusive education but 
not in favour when it concerned inclusion of their child
(de Boer et al., 2010).
In Georgia, two of the most pressing problems 
concerning inclusive education are negative attitudes and 
stereotypes towards students with special needs and 
lack of information among parents about their rights and 
responsibilities (Gachechiladze et al., 2019). In Romania, 
a nationally representative survey reported that 62% of 
people believed children with disabilities should be in 
special education (Moraru et al., 2014).
A review of UNICEF’s Come to School campaign in 
Romania concluded that mainstream school attendance 
for learners with disabilities and special education needs 
was often a hard-won victory for their parents (Horga et 
al., 2016). In Uzbekistan, 70% of respondents indicated 
that special schools were the more appropriate setting 
for children with disabilities, while 15% supported special 
classes within mainstream schools (United Nations, 2019b). 
However, views are changing in some countries. In North 
Macedonia, the share of people who believed children 
with special needs should be included in regular education 
and attend regular classes with other children increased 
from 4% in 2014 to 24% in 2018 (UNICEF, 2017). In Slovakia, 
the number of learners with special needs educated in 
mainstream classrooms along with other pupils has more 
than doubled over the past 10 years.
Parents living on the margins of society and subject to 
discrimination themselves may be powerless to prevent 
their children from being discriminated against and 
stigmatized. By contrast, where school choice is possible 
or encouraged, families with adequate financial means 
are more likely to avoid disadvantaged schools and send 
their children to schools that cater to their academic 
or social aspirations. This choice can lead to enrolment 
patterns that increase segregation and reduce social 
cohesion. Tension can thus arise between the parent’s 
right to choose a school and the learner’s right to 
inclusive education.
Working with parents and families to foster a positive 
attitude towards inclusion is key. However, in North 
Macedonia, a survey of about 300 primary schools 
showed that just 9 schools had organized a meeting with 
the school community and 6 with parents to discuss 
inclusion and non-discrimination with respect to children 
with disabilities (North Macedonia Ombudsman, 2016). 
In Turkey, teachers report that even though they make 
progress with social cohesion in their classrooms, families 
teach their children not to be friends with children from 
‘other’ groups.
Parents’ involvement in their child’s learning 
should be fostered
Informed parents are best placed to know their children’s 
needs and the interventions that may be most successful 
(Sayeed, 2009). Increasing parental involvement can 
result in better academic and non-academic outcomes 
for learners, thereby reducing performance gaps across 
socio-economic groups (Borgonovi and Montt, 2012). 
Hungary, which has some of the world’s largest socio-
economic gaps in learning outcomes among 15-year-olds, 
has invested in an innovative programme in the past 
15 years to engage the poorest, mainly Roma, parents in 
the smooth transition of their children into the education 
system (
Box 8.1
).
Parents are increasingly seen as partners who can 
support teachers with valuable information, a view that 
makes parents feel listened to and appreciated. While the 
General Education Law in Azerbaijan states that parents 
are responsible for following schools’ internal guidelines 
and procedures and partnering with them, it also makes 
school leaders and teachers responsible for collaborating 
Parents are increasingly seen as partners 
who can support teachers with valuable 
information, a view that makes parents feel 
listened to and appreciated
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with parents for children’s education and development. 
The Czech School Inspectorate considers cooperation 
with parents the most effective tool in bringing about 
change. In March 2019, Mongolia’s Ministry of Education 
and Science adopted a regulation on education quality 
and child development aiming to create a favourable 
environment for constructive voluntary engagement 
and requiring parents and guardians to be consulted on 
any decisions concerning children. A 2012 law in Tajikistan 
makes parents responsible for their children’s education 
and upbringing. Although they cannot influence education 
content, they can, for example, determine the language 
of instruction. In Ukraine, the 2019 general secondary 
education law is based on ‘new school’ principles, one 
of which is teachers’ responsibility for implementing 
the principle of pedagogy of partnership with parents 
and students (Ukraine Ministry of Education and 
Science, 2019).
Schools in Armenia, Georgia, Slovenia and Ukraine 
engage parents in various types of individual learning 
programmes or approaches for children with special 
needs or disabilities. Some countries also stress parental 
involvement in the school improvement process. In Latvia 
and Mongolia, regulations cover parental involvement 
in school self-assessment and in collaborative problem 
solving; in Latvia, that includes proposing school 
inspections to be carried out. In North Macedonia, 
the school inclusion team, which includes parents, 
develops and delivers inclusion activities at the school 
level, adjusting and applying them to teaching and 
learning practice.
Effective partnerships can be challenging. Parents 
need to communicate and cooperate effectively with 
teachers. They also need access to information about 
school organization and requirements and their children’s 
achievements and challenges. The right to information 
on learner achievement is enshrined in legislation in 
Azerbaijan, Estonia and Latvia. Nevertheless, schools 
need to communicate well and provide clear information 
to all parents, including those harder to reach, for whom 
schools must provide flexible opportunities to become 
actively engaged in their children’s learning process 
(European Agency, 2018).
Countries use a variety of communication channels and 
activities to reach and engage parents. Belarus organizes 
cultural, sport and non-formal education events with 
children with special needs and their parents. In Estonia, 
schools call a meeting of learners’ parents at least once 
a year, giving all of them the chance to participate. 
Georgia’s general education law makes it class teachers’ 
responsibility to communicate with parents and offer 
information on their children’s learning.
In North Macedonia, parental involvement is part of a 
strategy dealing with enrolment rates. The country’s 
share of 6- to 14-year-olds not in school remained 
constant at about 10% between 2006/07 and 2015/16, 
and most were in vulnerable situations, mainly Roma 
(Mickovska et al., 2017). The country’s national education 
strategy for 2018–25, which aims to achieve universal 
coverage and improve inclusion in primary education, has 
established interventions at the policy, institutional and 
individual levels. For instance, scholarships and support by 
local coordinators led to a 95% retention rate of children 
targeted in 2019. Structured informal meetings between 
parents of out-of-school children and class teachers 
are used to monitor the support measures to establish 
positive, trustworthy and productive cooperation. 
Attendance rates in these meetings were higher than in 
regular parent meetings.