New opportunities for the education of children with special needs are opening up in Belarus within the framework of inclusive education. This was announced today to journalists by the UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia, Afshan Khan, during a visit of representatives of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) to the Institute of Inclusive Education, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.
New opportunities for the education of children with special needs are opening up in Belarus within the framework of inclusive education. This was announced today to journalists by the UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia, Afshan Khan, during a visit of representatives of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) to the Institute of Inclusive Education, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.
"We are holding a meeting of the regional group in Minsk because we want to learn from what our UNICEF colleagues working in Belarus have achieved. Our programme, which we are currently implementing in the region, has three main goals. The first is early childhood development, the second is ensuring inclusive education, and the third is working with adolescents. The UNICEF office in Belarus is engaged in this work, and good results have been shown in achieving the set goals. Therefore, we have come here to exchange experiences, see the existing centres, and observe how new opportunities for educating children with special needs are being opened up. All this is done so that the approaches developed in Belarus can be used all over the world," said Afshan Khan.
She noted that a solid foundation for the development of inclusive education has been laid in the republic. "Our goal is to ensure that as many children with special needs as possible are covered by such programmes. First and foremost, these students should be given the opportunity to receive education according to standard school programmes. This will benefit not only children with disabilities or with special needs but also the children who will surround them. This will help to form a society based on the principle of inclusivity and acceptance of different people. As a result, we will have a society in which the idea that all children, regardless of their specific needs, should have the opportunity to fully realise their potential in life will be ingrained," emphasised Afshan Khan.
As part of the visit of representatives of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to Belarus, the Institute of Inclusive Education was visited by the UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia, Afshan Khan (Canada), and the UNICEF Regional Education Advisor, Philippe Testot-Ferry (France). The foreign delegation also included heads of regional offices from 24 countries. Among them are Australia, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Egypt, Spain, Italy, Canada, Norway, Russia, the USA, Sudan, France, Japan, and others. All of them will take part in a meeting of the regional group, where the state, ways of promotion, and prospects for the development of inclusive education in Belarus will be discussed.