Inclusion and education

INCLUSIVE EDUCATION DEPENDS ON 
ACCESS TO LEARNING AND LEARNING 
SUPPORT
Widening admissions to mainstream education is part of 
an inclusive vision marking a shift away from traditional 
medically based or competitive access to local schools. 
However, it is not sufficient to ensure access to high-
quality education, equal treatment and academic support 
(Ebersold, 2015; Van Avermaet et al., 2011). School leaders 
with inclusive vision need to organize a wider range of 
activities and take responsibility for and value all learners 
irrespective of their background, needs or ability so as to 
create the best possible learning experience for learners 
and focus on raising achievement and a sense of well-
being and belonging for all (European Agency, 2019a).
School inclusiveness requires within-school, between-
school and beyond-school processes (Ainscow et al., 
2012). School leaders may not be able to mobilize the last 
if the wider policy context leaves them little room for 
manoeuvre, as in the case of school admission policies. 
In Tajikistan, secondary schools provide little additional 
support because students have to pass a medical exam 
and those who might need such support are referred to 
special schools. Even when additional support is offered, 
it takes the form of individualized education, remedial 
teaching in summer breaks or grade retention.
Lack of financial support, including for health and care, 
leaves schools without enough staff to support diversity. 
National policy promoting participation of all learners 
in mainstream schools may not guarantee support for 
learners and teachers. Access to counselling may be 
limited in schools with high student numbers.
School psychologists’ role on school teams may not be 
clearly defined. Schools in rural areas of Lithuania and the 
Republic of Moldova lack psychologists and counsellors.
In Romania, students with disabilities lack career 
counselling and job coaches. Even when support exists, 
it may not be continuous. In Mongolia, psychological 
support does not cater for recently included students 
except when safety concerns arise, such as in cases of 
bullying in dormitories.
Despite the lack of adequate staff, school leaders have 
more autonomy than other staff to respond to diversity 
concerns within their own school and share resources with 
other schools. A whole-school approach can build layers
of learner support into the school’s regular practice.
For instance, school leaders can help create an 
environment promoting diverse teaching, personal 
support for learning and social relationships. They can 
also encourage school collaboration to increase education 
opportunities, including with special schools if they are 
available (Ekins and Grimes, 2009).
Organization of learner support is a key school 
responsibility
Countries are shifting towards inclusive and in-school 
support, and schools are shifting towards a broader 
and more flexible support system in their transition to 
inclusive education. Most of the 30 education systems in 
the region offer multiple support functions: counselling 
and mentoring roles for learner support in 23 countries, 
learning support assistance in 22 countries and specialist 
and therapist support in 21 countries.
The challenge is to overcome the targeted, exclusionary 
and often medical approach that has traditionally 
dominated the relationship with the most vulnerable 
students. Definitions of support for diversity differ 
significantly. Both mainstream and special settings claim 
to be applying ‘inclusive pedagogy’, which can detract 
from a focus on ensuring inclusion in mainstream schools. 
Lack of financial support, including for health and care, leaves schools 
without enough staff to support diversity
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GLOBAL EDUCATION MONITORING REPORT 2021

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In the Russian Federation, common practices include 
additional small group support, individual support or 
remedial classes in mainstream schools. While these 
supposedly follow an inclusive pedagogy, they tend to 
focus on disability defined in medical terms.
Several models of inclusive support have been developed, 
all of which may be initiated by head teachers or local 
networks of inclusive schools. North Macedonia, Slovakia 
and Slovenia use a continuum of support in which 
each school has access to a counsellor for preventive, 
supportive and developmental activities. Counsellors 
can be inclusive pedagogues or other professionals, 
such as nurses or social workers, school psychologists or 
prevention coordinators for challenging behaviour.
School inclusion teams, formed by school networks, exist 
in Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. The teams 
support learners and teachers in mainstream schools 
and are responsible for development of personal learning 
and transition plans. In Serbia, preschool programme 
development is emphasized, with a focus on participation 
of children from the most vulnerable groups. However, 
only 10% of primary school teachers indicate that school 
inclusion teams address individual student needs, and 
the share of teachers in secondary schools reporting 
differentiated and personalized learning is lower still.
For complex assessment and specific interventions, head 
teachers may rely on psychological-pedagogical support 
teams. In Latvia, the Cross-sectoral Coordination Centre 
launched an initiative in 2019 to establish a nationwide 
pedagogical-psychological support service to create 
equal opportunities for students with special education 
needs, strengthen inclusive education and coordinate 
social and healthcare providers. The Republic of Moldova, 
in collaboration with the World Bank, set up resource 
centres for children with special education needs in 
mainstream schools. Support teachers play a central role 
in development of such teaching units, providing inclusive 
support and special psycho-pedagogical assistance, 
physiotherapy and speech therapy.
All education systems in Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus 
and Central Asia 
segregate
certain groups in education:
Despite progress:
1) 
21
have 
separate schools
for linguistic minorities
2) 
Six out of ten
Roma children attend classes in which 
all or most
learners are Roma
in Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia.
3) 
One in three
students identified with 
special needs
in Central and Eastern European countries is placed in 
a special school
School inclusion teams, formed by school networks, exist in Montenegro, 
North Macedonia and Serbia
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School leaders can also encourage teachers to participate 
in professional learning activities. In Estonia, the 
2016–19 Competent and Motivated Teachers and School 
Leaders programme addressed school leader capacity 
for motivating teachers ‘to approach each student 
individually, to participate in the development work of the 
school and in various forms of teacher training’ (Estonia 
Ministry of Education and Research, 2014, p.11).
Special schools can play a new role in an inclusive 
education system
Special schools are increasingly regarded as a potential 
resource in the effort mainstream schools are making to 
offer appropriate support to high-risk learners and families. 
While this is broadly acknowledged, school leaders need 
to ensure that specialist support does not incite new 
exclusionary practices for some, but leads to a broader 
learner support for all within mainstream schools. Some 
countries focus on barriers in the learning environment, 
through counselling and professional development, while 
others focus on remedial teaching, special classroom 
support or other separate education provision (European 
Agency, 2019b). Collaboration with learning support 
assistants is increasing in mainstream classrooms, but 
their deployment does not always support diversity and 
inclusive school development and therefore needs careful 
consideration (Webster et al., 2013).
As in-school preventive and support activities develop, 
most mainstream schools cannot employ special 
pedagogues, psychologists, speech therapists or other 
professionals who work in special schools.
Thus, instead, they use resource centres for counselling. 
In undertaking reforms, schools are developing a new 
role for special provision. In Azerbaijan, hybrid special 
schools will provide services such as rehabilitation and 
family counselling with an inclusive component to 
support deinstitutionalization. In Hungary, pedagogical 
support institutions are being redefined as ‘unified 
special education, conductive education methodological 
institutions’ to assist the education of children with 
special needs together with other learners. They offer 
units that provide education from the pre-primary to the 
secondary levels, developmental education for children 
with special education needs and a network of mobile 
special educators for schools lacking such experts.
Kosovo
2
is working to convert attached classrooms to 
resource rooms to facilitate inclusion and develop support 
teachers’ role. Mongolia will establish child development 
support centres for individual or small groups of schools, 
with teams to provide support services. Poland is 
developing specialized centres to support mainstream 
schools (
Box 7.1
). In Serbia, the Action Plan for Inclusive 
Education aims to transform special schools into 
resource centres. Slovakia and Slovenia are developing 
psychological-pedagogical support centres and resource