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).
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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)
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