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WV Romania tackles barriers to inclusive education

24 Oct 2007 06:54:30 GMT
Source: World Vision Middle East/Eastern Europe office (MEERO)

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Children play at inclusive kindergarten #4 in Armenia
World Vision MEERO, http://meero.worldvision.org

Education and child development professionals have begun work in 24 kindergartens in the Armenian capital Yerevan, and surrounding regions as part of a World Vision Armenia drive to support inclusive education for children with special needs.

The specialists will work one-on-one with each child in the classroom, and be available to speak with the parents of children with and without special needs in an important step to begin encouraging a positive view towards inclusive education in the country.

Approximately 600 children will benefit from the trainings of some 300 special educators, psychologists, and speech therapists that will visit the kindergartens on a daily basis.

'This collaborative approach offers parents the opportunity to be involved with teachers and specialists as they jointly address the educational needs of the children,' says Zara Aslanayan, World Vision Armenia's senior social worker. 'Our role is to help parents discover the important role they play in their children's education.'

World Vision will provide the teaching staff and parents with educational materials on a child's growth and development.

'We seek to empower parents and give them guidance for improving their child's education and development,' says Marietta Manucharyan, a special educator from Kindergarten #13.

'Parents, teachers and specialists are each a critical part of effective inclusive education,' she says.

Teachers will be trained to provide quality care for children with disabilities, helping them recognize and address children's individual strengths and needs. By better preparing teachers for the challenges of inclusive education, these trainings will also help retain qualified teachers.

Inclusive education benefits all children in an inclusive classroom. Children with and without disabilities learn academic, social, and communication skills. They also learn to appreciate individual differences and to empathise with one another.

'It is very good for children with disabilities to be integrated into general education classrooms. They take part in all activities with other children and are treated as equals,' says Anahit Hakobyan, the director of the Kindergarten # 4 in Yerevan.

'I encourage the professional development of my teaching staff to be able to accept more children with disabilities into their classrooms and to effectively work with them,' she says.

Inclusive education in kindergartens enables children with disabilities to begin a life of integration into their communities, a right of which many children with disabilities are deprived.

[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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Last updated:Wed Oct 24 22:08:43 2007