Inclusion and education

 
of
 
Moldova
Virginia Rusnac, Republican Centre for Psychopedagogical 
Assistance and Educational Centre PRO DIDACTICA
Other contributors
: Angela Cara
Nina Sterpu, District Office of Education 
Nisporeni Dana Lichii, Psycho-Pedagogical Assistance 
Service, Balti
Galina Chistrea, Psycho-Pedagogical Assistance Service, 
Drochia 
Veronica Căpătici
COVID-19
: Nadejda Velisco, Ministry of Education 
Culture and Research
Romania
Cristina Popescu, European Agency for Special Needs and 
Inclusive Education, Bielefeld University, Germany, and 
CEMS-EHESS, Paris, France
Other contributors
: Ciprian Fartușnic, Irina Horga,
Roxana Paraschiv and Loredana Adriana Tudorache
COVID-19
: Virgil Paraschiveanu, Center for Applied Education
Russian
 
Federation
Marina Moiseeva
Serbia
Verity Donnelly, European Agency for Special Needs and 
Inclusive Education 
Anamarija Viček, Ministry of Education, Science and 
Technological Development
Other contributors
: 
Dragana Malidžan-Vinkić, Social Inclusion and Poverty 
Reduction Unit
Ljiljana Simić and Snežana Vuković, Department for 
Human and Minority Rights in Education 
COVID-19
: Vitomir Jovanović, Center for Education Policy
Slovakia
 
Mette Højgaard Nielsen, European Agency for Special 
Needs and Inclusive Education
Mária Tekelová, Ministry of Education, Science, 
Research and Sports
Slovenia
Amanda Watkins, European Agency for Special Needs and 
Inclusive Education
Alen Kofol, Zveza Sonček so.p., Zveza društev za cerebralno 
paralizo Slovenije
COVID-19
: Eva Klemenčič, Educational Research Institute
Tajikistan
Kutbiddin Mukhtori
Turkey
Burcu Meltem Arık, Özgenur Korlu, Merve Mert, 
Fidan Gözde Ertekin and Kayıhan Kesbiç, Education 
Reform Initiative
Other contributors
: 
Seda Soydemir, Ministry of National Education
Hande Sart, Boğaziçi University
Melisa Soran and Ulaş Karan, Istanbul Bilgi University
Seda Akço, Humanist Buro
Yelkin Diker Coşkun, Yeditepe University 
Bülbin Sucuoğlu, Hacettepe University
Ukraine
Natalia Sofyi
Uzbekistan
Paula Fredrica Hunt and Ulviyya Mikailova
Vignette:
Yelena Tsai
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GLOBAL EDUCATION MONITORING REPORT 2021

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Contents
CHAPTER 1
Introduction .................................................................................................. 15
CHAPTER 2
Laws and policies ...................................................................................... 29
CHAPTER 3
Data .................................................................................................................47
CHAPTER 4
Governance and finance ........................................................................ 71
CHAPTER 5
Curricula, textbooks and assessments .......................................... 85
CHAPTER 6
Teachers .......................................................................................................101
CHAPTER 7
Schools ..........................................................................................................117
CHAPTER 8
Students, parents and communities .............................................129
CHAPTER 9
Covid-19 .......................................................................................................141
CHAPTER 10 
Conclusion and recommendations ................................................. 151
ANNEX
 ........................................................................................................................................... 158
REFERENCES
 ............................................................................................................................. 170
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GLOBAL EDUCATION MONITORING REPORT 2021

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KEY MESSAGES 
Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia has made progress towards a rights-based approach 
to inclusive education. 
• 
In the past 20 years, out-of-school rates fell by half. 
• 
Two in three education systems have a definition of inclusion that embraces multiple marginalized groups. 
• 
Countries have been moving away from the medical model. The percentage of children with disabilities 
in special schools fell from 78% in 2005/06 to 53% in 2015/16. The percentage of children in residential 
institutions fell by 30% in the same period. 
• 
Schools are making their support systems broader and more flexible. Among the 30 education systems 
reviewed, 23 offer counselling and mentoring, 22 learning assistance and 21 specialist and therapist support.
But the shift to inclusion is far from complete. 
• 
One in three students with special needs in Central and Eastern Europe is still placed in special schools. 
• 
In Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia, the share of youth with disabilities in the out-of-school population is 
twice as large as the share of the in-school population. 
• 
In 15 of the 30 education systems, school admission depends on medical-psychological assessment and 
other selection procedures. 
• 
What is considered in some countries to be inclusive pedagogy may instead be a medically defined focus 
on disability. In Belarus, integrated classes use two curricula: a standard one for general education and 
another for special education; joint instruction is limited to a narrow list of subjects.
Other forms of segregation and discrimination persist, hindering inclusion. 
• 
About 60% of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian youth in the Balkans do not attend upper secondary school. 
Members of these groups are also disproportionally diagnosed with intellectual disabilities. In Slovakia, 
Roma constituted 42% of those in special schools in 2018. 
• 
In Mongolia, 94% of the richest but only 37% of the poorest complete secondary school. 
• 
Turkey, which has the world’s highest number of refugees, absorbed more than 600,000 Syrians in its 
public schools but 37% of Syrian refugees are still out of school. 
• 
In 22 of the 30 education systems, there are separate schools or classes for linguistic minorities. This 
parallel provision often works against inclusion. 
• 
In several countries, a traditional gender lens reinforces gender stereotypes. 
• 
Just 7 of 23 countries have policies or action plans explicitly addressing and prohibiting school bullying 
based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Countries must deploy a range of policies boosting inclusion. 
• 
Policies to accelerate a move towards inclusion in education are particularly urgent, as the COVID-19 
education crisis, which fed on existing inequality, is creating new gaps. 
• 
Inter-ministerial collaboration on data exchange needs to be strengthened. 
• 
Management responsibilities for local authorities and schools promote efficient resource use but require 
clear mandates and adequate resources. 
• 
Only one in two teachers in the region feels prepared to teach in mixed-ability settings and one in three in 
multicultural settings. The ageing of the teaching force makes this need more pressing. 
• 
Students and parents need to be involved more; only the Republic of Moldova reported engaging students 
in curriculum design. Students’ voices are rarely accommodated in policy design.
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Students participate in a German lesson at a school with Roma and 
non-Roma students in Nagyecsed, Hungary, on 22 September 2016. 
CREDIT: Akos Stiller/Open Society Foundations

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