Almost 500 resource centers with support services for children with special educational needs (SENs) have been created in the national education institutions over the last three years. This allowed about 9,000 children with SENs to attend the school in the community and enjoy the right to grow up in the family. Inclusive education means a friendly and accessible education environment that can meet the needs of all the children, Deputy Minister of Education Igor Grosu said in the first national conference on inclusive education that was held in Chisinau on March 12, IPN reports.

“We have a legal framework in which the inclusion desideratum is enshrined and we have qualified specialists in the system. However, there are challenges related both to the system and to the opposition of parents or members of the community. If we do not invest now in these children and offer them the possibility of realizing their potential, we will pay a higher price in the future,” said the official.

The program for developing inclusive education in Moldova for 2011-2020, which was approved by a Government decision in 2011, put the inclusive education high on the list of state priorities. It envisions ensuring conditions for including the deinstitutionalized children and children with SENs in the general education institutions.

The first national conference on inclusive education in Moldova was organized with the financial support of UNICEF Moldova, the Alliance of Active NGOs in Social Protection of the Child and family, KulturKontakt Austria and Lumos Foundation Moldova.