Inclusive and Supportive Education Congress International Special Education Conference Inclusion: Celebrating Diversity? 1st - 4th August 2005. Glasgow, Scotland

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Worldwide Systems Change And School Reform

Deborah Ziegler
Council for Exceptional Children
Arlington, VA
debz@cec.sped.org
703-264-9406

Ulviya Mikailova
Open Society Institute – Assistance Foundation
Azerbaijan Step by Step Program
Baku, Azerbaijan
umikailova@educationforward.org.az
994-12-986-933

Natalia Sofiy
Ukrainian Step by Step Foundation
Kyiv, Ukraine
sofiy@ussf.kiev.ua
380-44-531-1276

The Step by Step Program

The Step by Step Program is an early childhood education reform project, founded in 1994 by the Open Society Institute (OSI - Soros Foundations Network) to serve the educational needs of all children, including those with disabilities, minorities, and Roma children.   Child-centered, individualized teaching methods form the core of this program, which also encourages active parent and community involvement .   “Parents, teachers, and researchers have found that children benefit in many ways from integrated programs that are designed to meet the needs of all children.” (ERIC, 2000).

The non-governmental organizations (NGOs) implementing child-centered methodology in approximately 30 countries are united by the International Step by Step Association (ISSA), a non-governmental membership organization, that advocates on behalf of their special concerns, and also assists them in forming partnerships and developing relationships with local Ministries.   Thanks to ISSA’s efforts and the growing number of parents seeking inclusive education for their children with special needs, Ministries of Education are becoming more aware of the importance of including these children in the general education classroom, and of the success of child-centered methodology in meeting their needs.

OSI and ISSA are achieving favorable results by supporting a disability initiative for the inclusion of children with disabilities in classrooms that employ child-centered methodology.   The disability initiative builds upon the existing capacity of the Step by Step Program to effect systems change and school reform.   Working with the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) to offer technical assistance, training, and mentoring, this disability initiative provides countries, such as Azerbaijan and the Ukraine, with new knowledge and skills to assist teachers directly in the classroom, as well as to equip families and administrators in advocating for policy reform, forming strategic partnerships, and fundraising.  

AZERBAIJAN: Improving Attitudes, Practices and Policies for Children with Disabilities

Traditionally, Azerbaijani children with disabilities have been segregated from other children, separated from families, and denied a right to education due to societal attitudes and lack of resources. It is estimated that there are 26,000 children with disabilities in Azerbaijan (approximately 10% of the child population) There are only 3 day schools for children with disabilities in Azerbaijan. As a result, 6,000 of 16,000 children in institutions, a disproportionate number, are children with disabilities. Many of the children remain isolated at home, without educational services.

Despite efforts to build an open democratic society, a goal that was declared by independent Azerbaijan, the issue of providing access to quality education for children with disabilities and supporting their families remains a critical one. The Soviet system of specialized institutions for children with disabilities, which Azerbaijan inherited, encourages total isolation of children and adults with disabilities from society life. The existing Law on Education (1999) declares that parents have the right to choose the type of educational establishments for their children but, in practice, there is no such choice. After a medical-psychological-pedagogical committee establishes a diagnosis (very often not accurate), it writes the recommendation for parents to put their child into a specialized school, which is often located very far from the home and community. If parents decide to keep the child at home, a series of problems appear for the families:

• Financial :the state provides very limited financial support of approximately $20 per child per month to the child with disabilities
• Psychological : parents very often feel guilty and try to isolate themselves from other people when they need to communicate with others, especially other parents of children with disabilities
• Informational :parents don’t have the information about the nature of their child’s disability written in simple language, or information about existing services and regulations, etc.

At the same time, the funding of institutions has dramatically decreased due to the economic crisis in Azerbaijan. Material conditions in institutions have deteriorated – only 50% of children with disabilities are provided with adequate clothing and they are generally undernourished. Further complicating the problem is the fact that economic and environmental problems with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in Azerbaijan has resulted in an enormous number of refugees and IDPs, while increasing the number of children with disabilities. Since the fall of the Soviet Union the number of children in institutions has increased 20 percent, according to UNICEF. Significant research by UNICEF has shown that providing support to families so they may keep their children near home using the educational services provided by the local regular school is a more cost effective option for the state than to place children with disabilities into specialized residential institutions.

Only 19% of children in Azerbaijan aged three-to-five years old are currently being educated.   According to the 2003 statistical data from the Azerbaijan State Statistical Committee, children with disabilities are in the less-than-two percent category.   It has been proved that interventions in the early years of childhood (prenatal to 10 years) offer an extraordinary opportunity to avoid or moderate learning problems and bring lasting benefits to individuals and society.

Azerbaijan is a country that highly values children. However, those with special needs are considered to have little or no value to society.

Inclusive education means that children with disabilities develop, play, and learn together with other children in the general education system, within their home communities, assisted by the necessary special support services. While a decree was passed on June 19, 2001 to include children with disabilities in general education, mainstream preschool and schools have little capacity to accommodate them in inclusive classrooms. There are no schools in Azerbaijan that take children with disabilities into a regular school setting as matter of policy or practice. Before any systemic change can take place, society must first see a need for that change, and observe those changes in practice.

Building on Step by Step Program:

The Step By Step schools and classrooms that have worked for seven years on implementing child/family center practices are ideal environments for the inclusion of children with disabilities.   Many families of children with disabilities are approaching these schools and asking them to educate their children.   As more and more children with disabilities become members of these schools, it is abundantly clear that there needs to be a formal system of services and supports put into place. Therein is the need for this project.

“Improving Attitudes, Practices and Policies” is an integrated project, specifically targeting societal decision-makers, with a secondary aim at a broader society. This will be extremely useful in advocating for policy changes that will support inclusive programs.   The project will not only support the right of children with disabilities to receive education, but also will address the needs regarding the services, infrastructure and resources for inclusion. The influence of the Ministry of Education as responsible state body will impact the society at large. This will insure that the project has a professional look and feel. International Step by Step Association, Center for Innovations in Education and World Vision looks at this project as a foundation year to start the process as for a three-year activity to build critical mass of teachers, facilities and public acceptance of mainstreaming children with disabilities into regular schools. In years two and three, it is anticipated that a national strategy will be realized and replication plans established, based on a solid resource base.

In March of 2004 CIE and WV held a presentation with the Ministry of Education, which informed targeted groups (i.e. mass media, NGOs, educators and administrators dealing with children with disabilities, and government officials) on what constitutes the rights of children with disabilities in Azerbaijan, what is the international experience on education of disabled children (USA and Ukraine Cases). The importance and timeliness of the inclusion issue were once again pronounced during this event, and stimulated wide media attention on this topic.   Educators and education field decision-makers that participated in the event, together with representatives of educational NGOs and related specialists and experts, were unanimous in assessing the critical importance and urgency of supporting the rights of disabled children to equal educational opportunities

The presentation being one of the central and latest ones conducted in the field of inclusion of children with disabilities into the mainstream education, served as a basis for the present project. The results of the conference proved that there is a lot that can be done in the matter of protecting the rights of children with disabilities once the interested parties unite their efforts and expertise and act with a common voice.

Results of this presentation were the verbal commitment to have a Memorandum of Understanding signed between Ministry of Education, OSI-AF and WV; appeal of the Ministry of Education to the Parliament to increase sensitivity toward terminology related with children with disabilities including the Law adopted in 2001; decision to work out a national program on children with disabilities jointly with the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Social Protection; creating a Task Force Group for drafting this program. It is also an honor to mention that CIE and WV’s representatives are invited to be members of this Task Force Group, and that this project will be a part of the national program, which the President of Azerbaijan is expected to sign.

Changing the mindset of Azeri people toward children with disabilities will take many years. The efforts of CIE and WV have already started this process, but now these efforts must be continued and developed.

The Ministry of Education requested that Center for Innovations in Education and World Vision International pilot as the first stage of a National Action Plan on Inclusive Education a one-year inclusive early childhood development program. The pilot will be evaluated after one year and considered for replication in the Republic of Azerbaijan in a broader context. The Project aims at changing teaching practices, educational policy and societal attitudes toward children with disabilities in Azerbaijan.

This Proposal builds on the experience and achievements of   “Children with Disabilities: Improving Attitudes, Practices, and Policies,” and proposes a four-year extension to the on-going intervention with a broader and more holistic approach to inclusion of children with disabilities in Azerbaijani society.   This project pilots three primary schools and four kindergartens in Baku and Sumgait, where children with disabilities will be included as 10%-15% of the classroom population. Approximately 25 students per class times 10 classes equals 250 students, and translates to two-to-three children with disabilities in each class.

Project Goal & OBJECTIVES

To contribute to the inclusion of children with disabilities in Azerbaijani society through improving their access to education and changing attitudes, practices, and policies at community and national levels.

The objectives of the Project are:

• To educate typically developing children and their families that children with disabilities are as important a part of society as they are;
• To stimulate systemic change in education of children with disabilities;
• To mobilize communities to respond to the educational needs of their children through a strong model of participation in the actual classroom activities;
• To educate children from the most vulnerable communities in a child centered interactive educational environment;
• To give children with disabilities an opportunity to be educated with their typically developing peers; and
• To pilot in four kindergartensandthree schools, a community-based model of inclusion of children with disabilities, which can be expanded nationally.

Project Activities

• Joint Press Conference by OSI-AF and World Vision with the Ministry of Education to inform public on the rights of children with disabilities in Azerbaijan and to highlight the means and importance of education of disabled children;
• Task Force group activities on National Action Plan (NAP);
• Feedback of international experts sought;
• Signing an agreement (MOU) between CIE, WV and Ministry of Education;
• NAP is approved by the Cabinet of Ministries and one mln of USD is allocated for its five year implementation;
• Selection of pilot kindergarten/schools, preschool and primary teachers, pilot Higher Education institutions and faculty;
• Selection of children with disabilities from communities around pilot schools;
• Hiring teacher assistants for pilot classrooms;
• Trainings for selected target groups including parent’s community activists on inclusive education. Parents who had training specifically to help with instruction can be a great resource in the classroom especially to help the teacher with children with disabilities;
• Trainings for parents on community advocacy skills;
• Implementation of inclusive educational model in teaching practice;
• Establishing child study teams (SbS teachers, teachers from special schools, parents of the child being studied, administrators, university teachers, social workers, psychologists, occupational therapists, physical and speech therapists and etc. can be involved);
• Trainings for parents, teachers, and teacher assistants;
• Mentor visits (once a week);
• Mini workshops (at least three times a school year);
• On-going monitoring and evaluation;
• Physical rehabilitation of school entrance and toilets to include handicap access (contingent upon individual plans/children’s specific needs; accommodations for children to assist the educational process);
• Special equipment for children with disabilities where there is functional need;
• Public Awareness Campaign;
• Working with other organizations dealing with disabled children throughout the year, such as newspaper stories, round table discussions and TV interviews with prominent deinstitutionalization and inclusion advocates.   CIE and WV has already taken part in six prominent public TV interviews, featured in several newspaper stories, and participated at round table discussions.
• Conducting a National Conference to make pilot results publicly visible (June 2, 2005) (to be held by CIE & WV with the Minister of Education).
• Publishing documented case studies – children’s success stories. Challenges and successes relating to individual children with disabilities in pilot classrooms are in the process of documenting and will be published. These documented case studies also serve one type of evaluation. Success stories will help to gain parents confidence in the regular schools; and
• Publishing project evaluation results.

UKRAINE: Policy Reform to Improve the Rights of Children with Disabilities

During the last 10 years, Ukraine as the former republic of the Soviet Union has passed through the numerous changes in its political, economical, and social aspects of life. In 1991, the Ukrainian people realized their sovereign right to self-determination and, as a result a new country—Ukraine—appeared on the World Map. Ukraine has existed as an independent Republic state since the proclamation of Ukrainian independence on August 24, 1991. After three years of public and political debates, the Verkhovna Rada (sole legislative body) approved the new Constitution on June 28, 1996.  

The most significant acts of Ukrainian independence have been the joining of the Council of Europe in 1996, and the creation of a Ukrainian national currency (Hryvna) in 1996.   The democratic transformation of society has been the official political agenda since the creation of the Ukrainian State.   However, in reality democratization has been difficult to work towards due the nation’s lack of democratic experience and civic culture.   Civic culture accompanied the process of modernization in Western countries and was instrumental in assisting with the growth of democratic institutions.   The major consequence of Soviet modernization efforts in Ukraine is the lack of a developed complex infrastructure of democratic institutions including political parties, interest groups, and mass media (Stepanenko, 1999).   

On June 14, 1994 a co-operation treaty was signed with the European Union (EU) and the interim trade agreement between Ukraine and the EU came into effect in February 1996. On September 2003 Presidents of Ukraine, Russia, Byelorussia, and Kazakhstan signed the agreement about the single economic space. Ukraine’s long-term goal is to become a full member of the EU and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Ukraine’s population has fallen from about 51.5 million in 1989 to 49.1 million in 2001, with the birth rate declining sharply between 1989 and 1991 (from 691,000 to 389,200/year). We can define the following reasons for a drop in the birth rate in Ukraine: increasing unemployment, worsening living conditions, and greater economic uncertainty that have accompanied the transition process.

The good news stories on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) are sustained by a range of socio-economic considerations which suggest that economic reform is benefiting the wider population: 2002 birth rates rose for the first time in several years, up 3% on 2001, suggesting a slight renewal of confidence in economic stability. However, mortality rates were twice as high and as of the beginning of 2003 the population numbered just over 48 million, more than 400,000 less than the number recorded in the census a year earlier.

Poor economic performance has left a legacy of rising poverty and falling standards of living for most citizens.   Social problems have worsened, with rising crime, alcoholism, homelessness, and declining life expectancy.   The most vulnerable members of society—the elderly, handicapped, widowed, and orphaned—have been especially hard hit.   Between 1989 and 1999, the percentage of children in orphanages doubled, and the registered juvenile crime increased at the rate of 974 per 1000, to 1163.   The adoption rate of children age zero-to-three almost doubled from 154.6 per 1000 in 1990 to 309.7 in 2001.   The adolescent suicide rate (especially amongst boys) increased from 8.6 in 1990 to 11.2 in 2001.   The divorce rate also increased with 58/100 families being affected in 2001, as compared to 39.9 in 1990 (UNICEF, Social Monitor 2003).

The time period from November through December 2004 entered into the history of Ukraine and of the world due to the Orange Revolution, which once again proved the willingness and capacity of Ukrainian people to have an open, democratic society.

One of the basic rights, which have to be provided by each of the democratic society, is to provide the right for education for all children, including children with disabilities.

The education system in Ukraine includes preschool, general secondary, extra school, vocational, higher education, post-graduate education, post-graduate studies, and self-education. These levels are based on the following legislations:

• Constitution of Ukraine (1996)
• Law of Ukraine on Education (1991)
• Law of Ukraine on General Secondary Education (1999)
• Law of Ukraine on Pre-school Education (2001)
• Law on Vocational Education (1998)
• Law on Higher Education (2002)

The state provides supports for education and socio-medical rehabilitation for students with disabilities. The Law of Ukraine On Education (1991) states education is a right for all Ukrainian citizen “regardless their health conditions to be provided by the network of general education establishments for children with disabilities.” The Law regarding education of students with disabilities has been recently introduced. A draft of amendments to some of the legislative acts of Ukraine for education was created with the aim of providing students with special needs the right to quality education by means of developing more educational-rehabilitation centers as type of general educational establishments.

Special Education for People with Special Needs:

Most of the above-mentioned legislative acts are aimed at creating and developing network of special educational establishments for disabled children. Creating conditions for the implementation of the inclusive education is only mentioned in the Decree No.848 of 5.07 2004.

In the above-stated document the term “integration of the disabled children” is used.

Within the framework of the program of pedagogical experiment, “ social adaptation and integration of children with special needs into society by means of their inclusive education in the general educational establishments” (Decree of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine of 10.08 2001 No.586) new approaches are being implemented to ensure the rights of children with special needs to quality education and social integration. First and foremost, it presupposes inclusive education for children with special needs in educational establishments for children without disabilities.

There is the special education for children with disabilities, which is realized as the parallel system to the educational system of Ukraine.   The main goal of the special education is, as it stated in the Conception of Special Education, “to provide the adaptation to the social environment, future labor skills, and self-service skills for children with disabilities”. Special education includes pre-school education; general secondary education (except for children with mental retardation); vocational education; extra school; higher education; postgraduate education; and self-education. There are different types of educational establishments for following categories of children with disabilities:

• Children with mental retardations, including children with mild intellectual and socio-emotional disabilities and children with sever mental retardations;
• Children with hearing impairments and deaf children;
• Children with visual impairments and blind children;
• Children with heavy speech problems;
• Children with cerebral palsy;
• Children with squint and partial lost of eyesight; and
• Children with emotional and behavioral problems.

Based on the state statistical report, there were 397 special (boarding) schools in Ukraine in the 2003-2004 school year with a total enrollment of 64,667 students, 304 boarding schools in urban areas with 52,051 students, and 93 in rural areas with 12,616 students. Approximately 69,000 students with special needs received their education in specialized classes at general secondary schools.   The enrollment of students in all of the schools for social rehabilitation in the country (8 in urban and 2 in rural areas) was 597 (413 students in urban and 184 in rural areas). It has been reported that the currently available educational services and institutions for students with disabilities do not satisfy the current need.

The main education policy document in Ukraine, which is the National Doctrine for Development of Education, declares “Equal Access to Quality Education” as a main principle.   Despite the fact that this principle was confirmed right after Ukraine gained its independence, a policy for the inclusion of children with disabilities into the general school system has not been set as of today.   Furthermore, all recently adopted laws and acts of education still recognize the separate system of special schools and/or internats (boarding schools) for children with disabilities. This contradiction between the National Doctrine and recent laws of education automatically limits the possibility for children with disabilities to gain access to general education and community resources.

During the past few years, a number of non-governmental organizations in Ukraine, including those established by parents of children with disabilities, have been successful in advocating nationally as well as locally the right of children with disabilities to inclusion.   For example, due to the initiative of the Ukrainian Step by Step Foundation, the experimental program on inclusion of children with disabilities into regular schools has been developed and supported by Ministry of Education and the Institute of Special Pedagogy of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences. Today, this program is being implemented at 27 different schools in Ukraine and included about 150 children with different kinds of disabilities into the regular preschool and primary classrooms.   Furthermore, some rehabilitation centres (especially those run by parents of children with disabilities) are cooperating and partnering with local schools on issues related to the inclusion of children with disabilities.

Ukrainian Step by Step Foundation (USSF) is non-governmental organization, which was established in 1999 as the spin-off program of the International Renaissance Foundation. The mission of the USSF is to provide the equal access to quality education for all children, including children with disabilities with active parent and community involvement. Within its mission, USSF initiates and implements different projects and programs in the educational sector of Ukraine. The example of such a program has become the mentioned above experimental pedagogical program in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Institute of Special Pedagogy.  

 During 2003-2004, the project on “Development of the Model Centers for Inclusive Education” has been realized by the USSF in partnership with EveryChild organization (UK) and International Step by Step Association (NL), and supported by TACIS program of European Commission. The evaluation of the impact of the inclusive educational model on all participants of the educational process has been conducted within the project, which provided the positive results.

During 2005 – 2006, the project “Developing Parents Community Resource Centers” will be implemented, in partnership with the International Step by Step Association, due to the support of TACIS program of the European Union. The project is aimed at providing the support for parents with disabilities and developing the network of parents’ organization in their advocacy efforts for the rights of children with disabilities.

Another project that will be implemented during 2005-2006 is the “Rights of Children with Disabilities for Equal Access to Quality Education” project, which was developed by International Renaissance Foundation in partnership with USSF, Ministry of Education, and Institute of Special Pedagogy. This project aims at developing specific recommendations for the educational policy of Ukraine towards inclusive education.

Since the decision to join the European Union and to build a real open society, there have been many changes taking place in the Ukraine in various aspects of life.   These changes also affect the provision of quality education for children with disabilities.   Since there is an over seventy year history of separate education for such children, Ukraine needs extra support in developing and promoting the new alternative to this system:   inclusive education.   The initial results of implementation have proven the benefits of inclusive education for all participants of the educational process – children with and without disabilities, their parents, teachers and school administration, and other specialists.

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