Inclusive schools pave the way for inclusive societies

Children’s right to inclusive, quality education remains a challenge for children globally. This is especially true for the nearly 11 million children with disabilities living in 55 countries and territories in Europe and Central Asia.

UNICEF’s recent report presents data from nine countries across the region and outlines the challenges children with disabilities face in accessing development and learning opportunities[1].

Data from four counties and territories in the Western Balkans including Kosovo[2], Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, find that children with disabilities face discrimination and exclusion in their homes, schools and communities, at all stages of childhood.

In their early years, children with disabilities are less likely to be played with at home than children without disabilities, meaning they are less likely to receive adequate early stimulation and responsive care. In Kosovo, only 1 in 10 children with disabilities has access to books at home.

Stigmatisation, discrimination and neglect continue into school years. Children with disabilities are more likely to be out of school than children without disabilities. At primary school level, Montenegro and North Macedonia have the highest rates of out-of-school children with disabilities. Kosovo has the second highest rate among nine countries with available data at the upper-secondary level, with 1 in 6 children with disabilities of upper-secondary age missing out on school.

In most countries with available data, children with disabilities are less likely to demonstrate foundational literacy and numeracy skills than children without disabilities.

What are countries doing to address this situation?

Governments in the region are showing a strong commitment to reverse these trends.  In all four countries and territories in the Western Balkans, ministries of education have put in place ambitious inclusive education reforms that have resulted in systemic changes and attitudinal shifts, and represent good practices for the entire region.

In Kosovo, the focus has been on teacher professional development and the creation of school inclusion teams. UNICEF and EU joint education campaigns to promote inclusion of children with disabilities combined with the support of the Council of Europe, Building capacity for inclusion in education project (INCLUDE) set the foundation for increased access to quality learning among students from disadvantaged groups in pre-primary, primary and secondary education.

In Montenegro, the government has been undertaking comprehensive reforms including the development of an inclusive education strategy, revising the children with disabilities assessment, and introducing individual development and education plans in schools to meet the specific learning needs of each child. Substantial reforms of special schools, investments in accessibility and assistive technology, and cross-sectoral collaboration have all contributed to increased enrolment of children with disabilities in mainstream education.

In Serbia, an EU-funded project implemented with UNICEF support has strengthened the capacity of 4,000 education professionals and 1,000 professionals in all inter-sectoral committees, reaching children in 1 in 10 schools across Serbia. The project contributes to further strengthening national policy and legislation; introducing innovative approaches to build the capacity of teachers and school professionals and specialists; establishing model schools for inclusive education; introducing networks at municipal level and the National Coalition for Inclusive Education to promote attitudinal shifts and support for inclusive education; and establishment of three resource centres for assistive technologies.

In North Macedonia, the adoption of the Law on Primary Education – which served as a legal basis for the inclusion of students with disabilities in the general education system, along with the creation of a special budget line for inclusive education in the budget of the Ministry of Education and Science – facilitated the mandatory enrolment of all children with disabilities in mainstream education as of 2023/2024 school year. Another key feature of the reforms was the transformation of special schools to resource centres that now provide support for teacher professional development required to ensure inclusive classrooms.

What needs to be done?

Inclusive education is not an end goal, it is a continuous process of learning, innovating and improving policies, practices and school culture to accommodate and support the needs of all children.

Development organisations such as UNICEF call for renewed commitment to inclusive education including revising national policy and legislation, and prohibiting any form of discrimination, segregation and violence in education.

UNICEF supports countries to continue on the path of inclusive education reforms from early years through adolescence and calls for acceleration in the following areas:

• Generating robust and inclusive data that go beyond prevalence and help understand participation learning and learning outcomes for children with disabilities. Investing in disaggregated data on children with disabilities, including through Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, as a critical step in evidence-based policymaking.
• Investment in human and financial resources to accelerate the implementation of inclusive policies and legislation.
• Transformation of special schools to ensure the right to education for children with disabilities and to unlock considerable resources that can be used more effectively at school level to accelerate inclusive education.
• Continuous investment in teachers, with emphasis on innovative, flexible and evidence-based approaches to teacher professional development organised at school-level and embracing the potential of education technologies.
• The whole school development approach where children in schools can provide a holistic environment where children can access critical services including health care, immunisation and nutrition support.
• Promote an accelerated investment in accessibility and assistive technology that empowers children with disabilities and enables their functioning and participation in learning.
• Working to end stigma and discrimination against children with disabilities and ensuring that the experiences of children with disabilities inform and influence policy.

Tomorrow’s society starts in today’s schools.  To create a society of equal opportunities, social justice, tolerance, sustainable resource use and peace that embraces and nurtures differences, inclusive education is our best investment. An investment that no society can afford to miss or delay!

[1] Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.,

[2] All references to Kosovo should be understood to be in the context of United Nations Security Council resolution 1244 (1999)

This article is a contribution from a member or partner organisation of Friends of Europe. The views expressed in this #CriticalThinking article reflect those of the author(s) and not of Friends of Europe.