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106 - Inclusive Education for Children with Disabilities in Ukraine, CCDS,
Canada and Ukraine
CONTACT
The Canadian Centre on Disability Studies (CCDS)
Dr. Susan L. Hardie
Canada
+1 204 287 8411ext. 25
OVERALL GOAL /MISSION
To advance inclusive education in two regions (i.e., Lviv and Simferopol/Crimea) in Ukraine by developing civil society
capacity, supporting policy development; and enhancing the capacity of the school system to deliver quality education
for all students, including those with disabilities. Inclusive education has many benefits over segregated education. The
most damaging aspect of the segregated system is that it separates children with disabilities from their family and
community, with few opportunities for inclusion. With limited access to quality basic social services for treatment and
care of their children, parents see institutionalization as the only viable alternative. In Ukraine, children are still placed
in institutional schools. Although parents have resisted the institutionalization of their children, many parents have been
compelled to place their children in residential schools due to the lack of available resources in the community
THE SOLUTION THAT HAS BEEN DEVELOPED
The project took a multi-pronged approach to create the conditions to support inclusive education: - The establishment
of policy frameworks in Ukraine, which promote inclusive education in schools and communities in the two pilot
regions, and nationally. These policy frameworks include the Ukrainian Index of Inclusion, which was approved by the
Ministry of Education and Science. The Index was developed by the project in collaboration with the Open Society
Foundation. - The increased role and capacity of civil society organizations to support and advance inclusive education in
the two pilot regions and nationally (created network of parents became an instrumental tool of information and
knowledge exchange, advocacy and lobbying. - Five 18-hour courses on inclusive education have been integrated into
the national IPUT (Institutes for Professional Upgrading of Teachers) curriculum taught to all working teachers across
Ukraine.
COUNTRY IN WHICH IT WAS DEVELOPED: Canada and Ukraine