Inclusion and education

FIGURE 9.1: 
One in four 15-year-old students did not have a laptop
Percentage of 15-year-olds who had access to internet and selected devices at home, 2018
90
100
50
60
70
80
Russian Fed.
Turkey
Albania
Kazakhstan
Georgia
Hungary
Serbia
Croatia
Bulgaria
Czechia
Latvia
Lithuania
Slovenia
Slovakia
Estonia
Poland
%
Internet connection
Tablet computer
Desktop computer
Laptop or notebook
Source
: 
OECD (2019).
In Bulgaria, one in five students with 
disabilities did not receive additional 
support needed for education continuity
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with appropriate education content in the same form 
and format as their Croatian-speaking peers. Croatian 
language classes, which would have enabled these children 
to learn on an equal basis, have not started on the 
country’s School on Channel 3 programmes.
In Slovakia, education portals such as Učíme na diaľku 
(We teach remotely) and Planeta vedomosti (Planet 
of knowledge) contain material in national minority 
languages (Hungarian and Roma) (European Council, 
2020; Poklembová, 2020). Public television also broadcasts 
Tumenca khere (With you at home), a weekly early grade 
programme for Roma children, in Slovak and Romani 
(Poklembova, 2020).
A common obstacle to participating in remote learning 
is lack of internet connection, computers or other 
electronic devices. The 2018 Programme for International 
Student Assessment provides evidence on constraints 
some households face in 16 countries in the region with 
relevant data. On average, 98% of students (but 86% in 
Albania) had internet access, 87% had a portable laptop 
or notebook (71% in Kazakhstan) and 79% a desktop 
computer (74% in Estonia). However, the population 
weighted average was 90% for internet, 75% for laptops 
and 71% for desktops, as Turkish students were less likely 
to have access to these three means (
Figure 9.1
).
In Poland, the Ministry of Digital Affairs and the Digital 
Poland Project Centre have offered local governments 
EUR 9 million, with support from the European Regional 
Development Fund, to buy computers, laptops or tablets 
for students and teachers. Funds can also be used to 
purchase software, hardware insurance, access to mobile 
internet or other resources needed for distance learning 
(Eurydice, 2020).
In some cases, civil society organizations (CSOs) and 
the private sector have supported access to devices 
and internet. In Armenia, telecommunication operators 
teamed up with education authorities to donate 
computers and smartphones for students and teachers. 
Croatia’s Ministry of Science and Education partnered 
with telecommunication companies on provision of free 
broadband and SIM cards for poor students.
In Estonia, while most families have a computer, one is not 
sufficient for households with many children. A citizen-led 
campaign connected such families with potential donors, 
leading to 1,200 devices being exchanged in the first 
month. The initiative then transferred its Facebook group-
based cooperation with schools, local governments and 
companies to the Child Welfare Association (A Computer 
for Every Student!, 2020).
In recent years, many countries had begun investing 
in technological infrastructure development, but it had 
often not been properly tested system-wide when 
remote learning began. In Uzbekistan, an electronic 
register (kundalik) was introduced in 2019 as part of the 
digitalization plan for secondary education to provide 
students and families with a tool to communicate with 
teachers. However, its full use during school closures was 
hampered by inadequate internet infrastructure. The 
Telegram messenger application was preferred as a less 
demanding and more efficient means of communication 
(Khusanov et al., 2020).
Nearly all countries have issued guidelines and 
recommendations on teaching remotely, often 
emphasizing the need to provide access to education 
content for all student groups. Where guidelines and 
assistance addressed students with special education 
needs, however, it was not done systematically. In some 
countries, class teachers and social pedagogues reached 
out to students and their parents or guardians to agree 
on specific arrangements and education paths. In Georgia, 
a multidisciplinary group provided activities designed 
to develop academic, cognitive and motor skills among 
students with special education needs. In Slovenia, in 
addition to guidelines, the National Institute for Education 
offered long-distance counselling services and assistance 
for students with special education needs (Slovenia 
Ministry of Education, Science and Sports, 2020). The 
Slovenian Education Network provided additional guidance 
for teachers and professionals supporting individualized 
education plans (Košnik et al., 2020). In Ukraine, students 
with special education needs received support from 
teacher assistants, psychologists, speech therapists and 
rehabilitators via email, phone calls or online.
Recently, many countries had begun investing in technological 
infrastructure development, but it had often not been tested
system-wide when remote learning began
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Some countries have tried to mitigate obstacles through 
traditional approaches. In Berettyóújfalu, Hungary, 
schools took homework to students’ homes once a week, 
when lunch was delivered to students, and collected it 
the following week. Students could send a photo of their 
homework to their teacher on a messaging app to receive 
feedback sooner (Cseke, 2020). In Montenegro, schools 
provided printed materials for homework to students 
without access to digital tools, particularly in suburban 
and rural areas. Slovakia’s National Institute for Education, 
in cooperation with social workers and community 
centres, provided online support to professional staff to 
help reach Roma students and their parents (European 
Council, 2020). In Ukraine, teachers left study materials 
for Roma students in their mailbox; students also left 
their completed homework in the mailbox so it could be 
collected for teachers to mark and provide feedback.
Countries have also developed television programmes and 
video lessons for those hardest to reach. In Poland, at the 
education ministry’s initiative, public television and radio 
broadcast education programmes with a particular focus 
on grades 1–8. Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Public Education 
prepared live video lessons to run on national television 
channels in Uzbek and Russian, with sign language 
interpretation. They were also uploaded to official social 
media, a learning management platform and cloud 
storage platforms (Meliboeva et al., 2020; UNICEF, 2020). 
Armenia and Kazakhstan also provided lessons with sign 
language interpretation.