The children with mental disabilities are accepted into social inclusion programs with much more difficulties than those with physical disabilities, experts in the field said in a Press Club meeting organized by the Independent Journalism Center. According to a sociological study carried out by the Institute for Development and Social Initiative “Viitorul”, the children with special educational needs are not accepted into community schools. The employers of special schools are the first who are against. There is also the problem of violence used against children in community schools, IPN reports.

Valentina Chicu, head of the Education Ministry’s Pre-University Education Division, said that inclusive education means interaction with society. “Equal chances should be offered for developing the potential of every child. In order to have the expected results, the NGOs and the specialized institutions must also re-teach the parents to work with the children, not only the teachers,” she stated.

She also said that the methodology for distributing the allowances for children with special educational needs in 2014 and 2015 will be the same as the previous years. No salary bonuses are envisioned for teachers who will have such children in their classes.

Galina Bulat, education expert of “Lumos” Foundation, said there is now no comprehensive nominal list of children with disabilities for distributing funds for each of them. That’s why there were created district funds for inclusive education from where money is disbursed depending on the needs.

The representatives of the nongovernmental sector attending the meeting said society must accept the children with special educational needs not only declaratively. The word ‘tolerance’ must be replaced with ‘respect’ as society must respect these people with special problems, not feel compassion for them.

Lucia Gavrilita, a member of the Nondiscrimination and Equality Council, said that she has encouraged the adaptation of the behavior of children with special educational needs in community institutions for 14 years. “The children with behavioral deficiencies are not accepted into community schools, either by students or by teachers. Conditions are created for them to leave, or they are told openly to leave,” she stated.

There are 6,268 children with special educational needs in Moldova, according to official statistics. But the real figures are different as many of the parents do not announce that they have such a case in the family for fear of being rejected.