Educators and representatives of the local public authorities will be taught how to ensure inclusive education at kindergartens. The activities form part of the project “Partnerships for Inclusion” that is implemented by the Criuleni-based public association “Woman and Child – Protection and Support”, the Ministry of Education and the Czech foundation Caritas, IPN reports.

The association’s executive director Victoria Secu said the training seminars involve key players in the area of early inclusion such as educators, social workers, representatives of district education divisions and preschool teachers of psycho-pedagogical assistance services. About 300 kindergartens were selected within the project whose goal is to increase access to education for children with special educational needs and to contribute to improving the quality of education, including by strengthening inter-sector partnerships.

Head of the Education Ministry’s Preuniversity Education Division Valentin Crudu said that over 1,000 children with special educational needs are involved in preschool education, but this figure is low compared with the total number of children with such needs. The given training seminars represent a start and more educational programs are to be developed in this regard.

The project is implemented by the public association “Woman and Child – Protection and Support” and Caritas between October 2015 and June 2017, with the financial assistance of the Czech Development Cooperation Program. The project has a budget of €135,000.