At the start of the new education year, children from 11 kindergartens of Moldova will benefit from sports equipment, including for children with special educational needs, owing to a project implemented by the Moldovan Football Federation in partnership with UNICEF Moldova. The purchased sports equipment includes balls, goals and articles for children with special needs, such as balance and tactile cushions, IPN reports.

According to UNICEF Moldova, the project “Let’s Grow Healthy Through Football” supports the inclusion of children with special needs into preschool education institutions, encouraging children’s interests in sport and a healthy lifestyle by practicing football and sports games.

The sets of equipment were collected by representatives of the 11 kindergartens in a working meeting at the Zimbru stadium that included several informative sessions conducted by psychologists and kinetotherapists.

“As sport is inclusive, with its assistance we can eliminate in kindergartens the obstacles faced on the path of inclusive education,” stated Desiree Jongsma, UNICEF Country Representative in Moldova. Everyone can take part in a sports game and all the plyers are equal in sport. They are teammates and share the same goal – to play and, ultimately, to gain friends.

“It is a project by which we aim to grow a healthy society, with a healthy lifestyle. It is important that the children with special needs enjoy an additional possibility of being integrated into society,” stated Dragoș Hâncu, vice president of the Moldovan Football Federation.

“The smaller is age, the bigger is the effect on the development of the personality,” said Vasile Onica, specialist at the Sports Division of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research.

Virginia Rusnac, director of the National Center for Psycho-Pedagogical Assistance, said inclusive education should not start in a classroom, but at an early age, by teaching the children what empathy is.

It is estimated that there are at least 93 million children with disabilities worldwide. These are often poor, have reduced access to medical and education services and their voices in society are nor heard. They often face greater risks of physical abuse.

The initiative to donate the equipment was possible thanks to the support provided by the Government of Switzerland and the UEFA Hat Trick Fund.