INCLUSIVE EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS IN UZBEKISTAN

The project pushed forward the work of the Centre in terms of the provision of the rights of children with special needs. Of course, this work was done in the past, but the project proved to be a powerful impetus to the furtherpromotion of our work.

Secondly, the project made it possible to improve the competences and the level of knowledge of professionals not only of the ministries and agencies, but also of the NCSAC. Working in the framework of the project, our employees, by studying the experience of other countries, acquiring skills of inclusive practices, we can say, tripled their knowledge in the field of inclusive education. Thirdly, it is about the approach to inclusive education.

We know that in the world there is no single approach to inclusive education. Every country has its own approach, and thanks to the project, we received a huge amount of information. Positive experiences and lessons learned in any country are always helpful; as they say, is easier to learn from others' mistakes. It was very important for us to know how some aspects of inclusive education could result in problems.

When we are together with the specialists of the involved ministries and agencies developed the scheme and the approach to the development of inclusive education in Uzbekistan, we naturally took into account all these factors, as well as our internal aspects - the mentality, lifestyle, education and healthcare system, etc. Based on all these factors we have tried to develop the model, which proved to be effective in the conditions of Uzbekistan.

And, of course, the most important thing - we were able to deeply analyze the existing legal framework in the field of inclusive education. We found that there are a lot of strengths in the legislation of Uzbekistan, but at the same time, we realized where and what still needs to be refined for inclusive education to work, for creating conditions for parents and children with special needs to receive quality education.

Within the project we were able to introduce a course on inclusive education for students of higher educational institutions, to develop the National Strategy for Inclusive Education for 2015-2017, as well as other documents relating to the provision of rights of children. Of course, this was made possible with the support of international and national experts. It is necessary to emphasize the fact that it was a team effort.

None of the involved Ministries remained on the sidelines, all participated in the work. And another important point. Thanks to the work for raising awareness among the public parents, teachers, professionals, increased awareness in this area. The main indicator of this is the increase in the number of inquiries of parents in the Resource Centers, the branches NCSAC and the Ministry of Public Education for advice or help in the matter of child's placement in the educational institution.

And this demand is increasing day by day all over Uzbekistan. As the leader of the Main Beneficiary of the project, I has received a great experience directly from the project team. The experience in the organization of work, knowledge, the approach to the project work, views - all this had a positive impact on the work of our specialists and the NCSAC as a whole. Of course, we are all different, different origin, nationality, mentality - but I always try to take for myself something new and the best.

For myself, I got a lot of useful information, starting from the principle of the organization of work and ending with the establishment of personal communication. I hope that the gained experience will help me and my colleagues a lot, both in work and in life in general.