Disabled Children to Enter Mainstream Schools in Tajikistan

Tajikistan is planning to open the inclusive schools where disabled children study alongside others.

Until now, provision for disabled children has been in special schools, but the education ministry wants to invest the extra resources needed to bring them into mainstream state education.

Although the regulations allowing the change have yet to be approved, one school in the capital Dushanbe has been doing it for two years. Teachers there say the atmosphere has improved – disabled children are motivated to keep up with classwork, while their peers develop greater empathy.

Manzura Khaitova of the Education for All Centre is sceptical about introducing inclusive schools on a wider scale. She says the system still has a long way to go – buildings must be made accessible, teaching staff retrained, and learning materials adapted.

The audio programme, in Russian and Tajik, went out on national radio stations in Tajikistan, as part of IWPR project work funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.