Inclusion and education

partly attributed to underdevelopment of community 
services, including education (European Expert Group, 
2012; USAID, 2013; Jones, 2019). In Armenia, despite a 
deinstitutionalization programme with ambitious targets, 
a lack of reasonable accommodations and individualized 
approaches in mainstream schools, as well as a lack of 
opportunities beyond grade 9, resulted in continued 
parental demand for residential institutions (Human 
Rights Watch, 2017).
Regardless of whether selective admission and alternative 
provision are the result of a structural lack of resources 
and support, lack of teacher preparedness, arbitrary 
local decisions or negligence, they prevent a change 
in assumptions regarding the learning of all and the 
adoption of inclusive values that would enhance full 
participation. In Belarus, many professionals and parents 
lack awareness about the right to education. A continuing 
emphasis on developing cognitive skills for children with 
special education needs while neglecting their social 
skills hinders inclusive school culture (Radyhina and 
Turchanka, 2017).
FIGURE 7.1: 
Alternative provision remains all too common
Number of education systems offering various forms of alternative education provision
Limited hours of regular classroom
participation, programme differentiation,
developmental groups or special classrooms,
and non-residential special schools
Home schooling
Special schools, boarding schools 
or other institutions, hospital schools,
rehabilitation centres, etc.
Schools in prisons 
or juvenile detention centres
Non-formal education provision, 
e.g. day care, after-school programmes
Separate schools for Roma 
and other ethnic minorities
Special schools for arts, sport, mathematics,
foreign languages, gifted children
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Yes
No
Education systems
Source: 
Data collected for the regional report on inclusion and education in Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
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To raise awareness on the need for full participation of 
learners who are excluded or learning in separate settings, 
affirmative measures may be needed. Serbia provides 
priority registration for students with special education 
needs, interpreters to help assess children from linguistic 
minorities and bonus points on entrance exams for 
national minorities. Such measures emphasize and secure 
a rights-based approach and set an example for schools of 
more flexible admission policies.
Schools may provide socialization and extracurricular or 
peer activities to enhance a sense of belonging for those 
who are in separate classrooms, home-schooled or not 
in school. In Romania, primary schools reach out to early 
school leavers, providing second-chance programmes 
through day or evening classes, part-time education or 
distance learning.