INCLUSIVE EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS IN UZBEKISTAN

A workshop with the directors and teachers of the pilot educational institutions was held in the Resource Center on Inclusive Education on the basis of secondary school No.324 in Tashkent on May 8, 2015. This event is one of the regular activities of the Resource Center under the Project “Inclusive Education for Children with Special Needs in Uzbekistan”. The purpose of the seminar is in-depth work with a tool to assess the needs of schools and kindergartens, as well as with the method of identifying children who would benefit from practice of inclusive education.

During acquaintance of participants with the draft Concept of the Pilot Resource Centers, the Project Manager, Mr. Jürgen Becker noted that cohesive joint team work of pilot kindergarten and school plays an important role in activities for inclusion of children with special needs in mainstream education. He highlighted the importance of the Project sustainability, as children with special needs included in inclusive education should get continuous quality education irrespective of the Project completion.

In order for a school and kindergarten have become inclusive, it is necessary to identify the needs – what we need, what we have, and what we can do. During discussion of these issues, the participants actively expressed their opinions, shared their experience of existing inclusive practices. In the course of the discussion participants came to opinion that large-scale changes are necessary. When considering the issue of identifying children with special needs and their readiness for learning in an inclusive school, three main aspects were covered:

1)readiness of children for school;
2)readiness of schools for children;
3)family and community support that contributes to children’s readiness for school.

Process of selection of children who can be included in inclusive education takes place at this stage of the Project activity. In addition, such an issue as the goals, objectives and operating model of the Pilot Resource Centers on Inclusive Education was also discussed in the course of the seminar. It was agreed that the Resource Center needs to closely cooperate with the city and district Public Education Departments, as well as with other organizations on the basis of the Memorandum of Understanding.

(Prepared by Tulyaganova Dildora, Coordinator on Inclusive Education in Tashkent region)