DUSHANBE, November 17, 2008, Asia-Plus  -- A two-day training on inclusive education, formally titled “Promoting Inclusive Practices as Foundation of Education for All,”  has been launched in Dushanbe today.

The seminar is part of the “Providing Access to High-quality Education or Children with Special Needs” Project that is implemented by Secondary Education and Step by Step programs of Tajik Branch of Open Society Institute/Assistance Foundation (OSI/AF-Tajikistan). 

The Secondary Education Program coordinator, Ms. Gulchehra Qobilova,  said that the main objective of the training is in promoting introduction of approaches and methods of integrated and inclusive education in Tajik general schools.

Specialists from the Institute for Special Pedagogy of the Ukrainian Academy of Pedagogical Sciences and Lvov Regional Institute (Ukraine) have been invited to conduct the training.    

Inclusive education is a developmental approach to the learning needs of all children, youth and adults, especially those who are vulnerable to marginalization and exclusion.

The principle of inclusive education was adopted at the World Conference on Special Needs Education: Access and Quality (Salamanca, Spain, 1994), restated at the World Education Forum (Dakar, Senegal, 2000) and supported by the UN Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities.