Inclusive Education in Ukraine

Abstract

Since 2017, Ukraine has intensified the processes of reforming and developing inclusive education and creating a learning environment that meets European standards in all educational institutions. At the same time, some challenges and barriers arise while implementing the strategy and conceptual framework of inclusion, which require in-depth study and argumentation. The article aims to study the challenges, conditions, and strategies for implementing inclusive education in Ukraine. The research methodology is based on a legal analysis of international and national legislative acts that contain legal, organizational, financial, personnel, and other conditions for the implementation of inclusive education in Ukraine. The results of a survey of 304 educators at the Inclusive Resource Center of Ternopil National Pedagogical University, named after Volodymyr Hnatiuk, were used to understand the prospects for implementing inclusion in Ukraine. The results prove that Ukraine has prerequisites for the development of inclusive education. The authors have identified the following key conditions that are formed for implementing a multidisciplinary model of inclusion: legal, strategic, financial, organizational, institutional, personnel, social, and sanitary and hygienic conditions for inclusive education. The international and national legal framework regulates a wide range of issues related to the organization and implementation of inclusion in the educational environment of all types of educational institutions. However, some of them, especially those associated with the provision of correctional and rehabilitation services, require amendments and approval. For Ukraine, information, mental, institutional, and physical barriers to the development of inclusive education are typical.