A UNESCO report including 30 education systems in Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia shows that exclusion from education proves to be constant especially for disabled and members of ethnic minorities.
The report All Means All, https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000375490, created by the Global Education Monitoring Report at UNESCO, the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education and the Network of Education Policy Centers urges governments to move towards inclusive education.
22 countries have separate schools for linguistic and ethnic minorities, which bears the risk of consolidating the ethnic stereotypes. The subjects, offered for the minorities are limited, textbooks are translated from the majority language.
Roma children are still the most excluded in the region.
The report also highlighted the effects of COVID-19 on the inclusion in the region, the pandemic will set back the efforts. According to the estimations, one in four secondary school students were struggling with online education due to missing a laptop and one in ten does not have access to the internet.
During the school closures, psycho-social support should be provided for students, especially for those with special needs. Students can feel more isolated and can become disengaged from learning.
Only 7 of 23 countries have a policy to prohibit school bullying and discrimination for reasons of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression.
The report also shows that there is some improvement towards the more inclusive education systems and also examples, on how the countries could reach this.