Inclusion and education

BOX 5.1: 
Flexibility is the answer to early childhood education for nomadic people in Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, the Russian 
Federation and Uzbekistan
The education of nomadic populations presents challenges.
A number of initiatives respond flexibly to these children’s needs. 
In Kyrgyzstan, pastoral communities move from the end of May 
to the beginning of September to high-mountain pastures (jailoo), 
where children previously could not attend a 100-hour government-
run school preparation programme in August. Under the Mountain 
Societies Development Support Programme, initiated by the Aga Khan 
Foundation, the Jailoo Kindergartens project in Alai district (rayon) 
began providing early childhood care and preschool preparation 
for children in pastoral communities in 2006. In 2018, during the 
jailoo season, more than 600 children were educated in 21 jailoo 
kindergartens, while 107 jailoo educators received child development 
care and early childhood development science training modules. In turn, 
teachers trained more than 500 parents and caregivers.
In Mongolia, more than 80% of districts (soum) are located more than 
100 km from provincial capitals, and nomadic herders, who account for 
about 40% of the population, live between 10 and 55 km from soum capitals. 
The preschool education law states that children who cannot attend basic 
kindergarten are entitled to alternative education in shift classes with state-
financed mobile teachers and tent (ger) kindergartens. Ger kindergartens 
are an innovative adaptation designed to suit nomadic peoples’ socio-
economic and cultural setting. Affiliated with and managed by regular 
kindergartens, they are driven by pickup truck to remote locations 
where they stay up to six weeks in the summer, serving communities 
of 10 to 15 herding families with up to 25 children, sometimes moving 
with the herders. They run for a full eight-hour day, and children may 
stay with teachers overnight. In recent assessments, ger kindergartens 
performed better than fixed kindergartens in terms of quality of 
interactions but worse in other quality domains (World Bank, 2017).
In the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, a federal subject of the 
Russian Federation, children of nomadic families had no preschool 
education opportunities in the early 2010s. The local government and 
some public agencies amended the regional education law in 2013 to 
recognize parents’ right to select a nomadic form of education. The 
Nomadic School project, developed as part of a support programme 
for indigenous populations, aims at providing preschool and primary 
education along traditional nomadic routes, taking into account the 
way of life and traditions of northern ethnic minority communities. 
For instance, a school preparedness activity every summer offers 
intensive preschool training in nomadic camps (University of the Arctic, 
2015; Mercator, 2016; Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug Education 
Department, 2017). Overall, the share of children from indigenous 
northern ethnic minorities ready for school was 64% in 2018 (Russian 
Academy of Education, 2018).
In Uzbekistan, the pilot project Aklvoy, in 12 of the 15 districts of the 
autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan, has two components. First, it 
is designed to increase preschool education coverage in remote rural 
areas through mobile groups. It has reached about 2,000 preschool-age 
children not previously covered by preschool education. Classes are 
held outdoors and on a bus equipped with teaching aids (cards, posters, 
workbooks, didactic games, education toys, children’s literature, sports 
equipment, magnetic boards, construction sets, educational photos 
and videos). Second, the Ministry of Preschool Education has developed 
a cycle of television programmes and online classes, master classes 
and experiences for 3- to 7-year-olds with the technical support of the 
National Television and Radio Company. Over 200,000 preschool-age 
children follow the cycle. All programmes are accompanied by sign 
language interpretation.
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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

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According to Azerbaijan’s education law, the state 
guarantees equal conditions in general education, with 
the language of instruction being Azeri, including for 
foreigners and people without citizenship. Citizens or 
those in charge of education institutions can ask to use a 
language of instruction other than Azeri. The curriculum 
can also differ but must meet national general education 
standards or those of internationally accredited education 
programmes. Where the language of instruction is 
not Azeri, Azerbaijan history, literature, language and 
geography must be taught according to the general 
education curriculum.
It should be noted that inclusion is best served through 
intercultural learning in mainstream schools, ideally 
bilingual schools where the ethnic majority and minority 
learn together in both languages and the common 
curriculum includes and is representative of both groups. 
Several countries (e.g. Croatia, Estonia) have bilingual 
schools in which some teaching is in the minority 
language, but they are attended only by minority 
students (Czech and Russian, respectively). In Prekmurje, 
a multi-ethnic region in Slovenia, Slovene-Hungarian 
bilingual schools operate with common curricula designed 
with respect to the equal position of the Hungarian and 
Slovene communities, languages and cultures in the 
society, and with both groups attending.