DUSHANBE, September 28, 2011, Asia-Plus — A roundtable to discuss the National Concept of Inclusive Education in Tajikistan designed for 2011-2015 is being held in Dushanbe today.
Organized by the Tajik Branch of Open Society Institute/Assistance Foundation (OSCE/AF-Tajikistan), the meeting is aimed to outline the top priority tasks and functions of the executive bodies on implementation of the National Concept of Inclusive Education in Tajikistan.
The concept of inclusive education was worked out on initiative of the Ministry of Education of Tajikistan under support of OSCI/AF-Tajikistan and it was endorsed by the government in April 2011.
Inclusion in the context of education is the practice, in which students with special educational needs spend most or all of their time with non-disabled students. Implementation of this practice varies; schools can use it for selected students with mild to severe special needs. Inclusive education differs from previously held notions of ‘integration’ and ‘mainstreaming’, which tended to be concerned principally with disability and ‘special educational needs’ and implied learners changing or becoming ‘ready for’ accommodation by the mainstream. By contrast, inclusion is about the child’s right to participate and the school’s duty to accept the child. Inclusion rejects the use of special schools or classrooms to separate students with disabilities from students without disabilities. A premium is placed upon full participation by students with disabilities and upon respect for their social, civil, and educational rights.
Fully inclusive schools, which are rare, no longer distinguish between “general education” and “special education” programs; instead, the school is restructured so that all students learn together.
