BOX 6.5:
Albania and Serbia are introducing teaching
assistants in their education systems
Teaching assistants can serve the purpose of inclusive education
through a variety of functions. In Albania, the initiative to
introduce such posts is based on the 2012 education law and
2013 normative dispositions, which recognize the right of
children with disabilities to be educated in their local school
and receive additional support based on their needs. Regional
Support for Inclusive Education in Albania, a joint initiative of
the Council of Europe and European Union implemented by
the Network of Education Policy Centers, introduced assistant
teachers in selected schools through volunteer support. Following
positive responses from teachers and parents, the Ministry of
Education, Sport and Youth assigned the assistant teachers to
support not only students but also teachers, parents and school
administrators. Awareness-raising campaigns and training have
focused on improving school community members’ attitudes
and developing assistant teachers’ capacity. In November 2019,
a minister issued instructions on assistant teachers for students
with disabilities in schools, defining selection criteria and
procedures and describing their duties.
In Serbia, teaching assistants were formerly not recognized at
policy level. However, a positive experience with pedagogical
assistants supporting Roma students in a Roma Education Fund
project led to the establishment of a working group to help
institutionalize this function. Members included representatives
of the education ministry, the government’s Social Inclusion and
Poverty Reduction Unit, the Institute for Evaluation of Quality
of Education, the University of Belgrade Faculty of Special
Education and Rehabilitation, the Association of Schools for
Pupils with Developmental Disorders and Disabilities, the Institute
for Education Development, the National Council for the Roma
National Minority, the Association for Pedagogical Assistance
and UNICEF. A rule book, published in 2019, describes two types
of teaching assistants: those supporting Roma students and
their families directly as well as indirectly through support to
teachers and other professionals, and those providing pedagogical
assistance to students with disabilities, in accordance with their
developmental, education and social needs, in line with the 10-
year experience of inclusive education provision.
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There is room for improvement in support
personnel education and training
The volume and quality of initial education and continuing
professional development opportunities for support
personnel are important determinants of inclusive
practices’ implementation. Support personnel in the
region are generally not yet suitably prepared to work in
inclusive environments in collaboration with teachers, as
countries continue to favour a mainly medical approach
to inclusion in the education and training of professional
staff. In Azerbaijan, courses in the initial education
curriculum alternate focus between inclusion and special
education. An obligatory inclusive education course for
corrective pedagogues at bachelor and master levels at
the State Pedagogical University discusses principles, the
legislative basis for inclusion and typology of children with
disabilities. Future professionals are left with ambiguities,
and in-service training does not always compensate for
deficits in initial education.
Education and training of professional staff either follow a
separate track or partially overlap with initial mainstream
teacher education. The degree of overlap varies. Some
curriculum units for undergraduate, graduate or specialist
studies can be the same. Sometimes teachers and
professional staff who provide inclusive education must
attend in-service training courses. For instance, in Georgia,
special teachers are expected to meet at least one of the
following requirements: an academic degree in teacher
education at bachelor or master level, or a master’s
degree and a completed special teacher training module;
an academic degree in a subject and a master’s degree
in special education; or a special teacher professional
development programme or teacher training programme
after two years of service as a special education teacher.
Reforms have been introduced in relation to qualifications
and competences required of support personnel. In
Georgia, plans to introduce a certification process and
a higher education programme for special education
teachers have been announced. In North Macedonia,
new professional standards for teachers and support
personnel are expected to have a positive influence on
the system of professional development. Romania’s
higher education curricula for teachers and special
educators were reviewed and new versions supporting
the inclusive dimension in mainstream education were
produced and approved. The new curricula aim to reduce
segregation, discrimination and gender-based violence.
Professional staff, including psychologists, pedagogues,
special educators and therapists, need at least a master’s
or equivalent degree. The minimum level for teaching
assistants is secondary education, albeit some kind
of vocational pedagogical education. In Slovakia, new
mechanisms for the licensing and attestation of teachers
and support personnel, consistent with recent legislation,
are being introduced.
Few countries have a strategic approach to planning
and implementing continuing professional development
of support personnel to develop their capacity for
work in diverse classrooms or inclusive environments.
In general, the approach to in-service training remains
ad hoc. Inclusion-related topics are available for short
periods, e.g. during the implementation of a national
project or an accreditation process. In Bulgaria, the in-
service training system sets certain requirements for
licensing and attestation of support staff and offers
annual seminars for teachers and special educators
who work with students with special education needs in
mainstream schools.
Inclusive education and training curricula for support
personnel in the region contain a range of inclusion-
related topics, but are mainly related to working with
students with particular disabilities. In Mongolia, there
was no pre-service training for special educators until
the recent launch of a special education programme
at the School of Education Studies of the Mongolian
State University of Education. It aims to prepare special
educators to teach children with disabilities in mainstream
and special schools.
Topics such as individualized education plans,
differentiated teaching, communication skills, challenges
of working in diverse classrooms and the whole-school
approach to inclusive education are insufficiently covered
in the curricula for education and training of professional
staff, especially for special educators and therapists. An
example of an obligatory in-service training programme
for professional staff exists in the Republic of Moldova
and covers inclusive education services at the institutional
Few countries have a strategic approach to the professional development
of support personnel to develop their capacity for work in diverse
classrooms or inclusive environments
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level, the planning and organization of the educational
process from an inclusive perspective, teaching strategies
for children with special education needs, and specific
individual and group interventions, among other topics.
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