Preentation by Desislava Koleva about Bulgarian Centre for Inclusive Education's experience on introducing inclusive education.

1. Inclusive education
sharing experience from Bulgaria

2. Why Inclusive education?
What was the situation in Bulgaria at the beginning of 2000s
-Institutions managed by:
• Ministry of Health (0 to 3)
• Ministry of Education (3 – 18)
• Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (for CWDs)
-Many special boarding schools, especially for intellectual impairments 
practically functioning as institutions– i.e. children live separated from family
-Majority of children in these institutions for wrong reasons
• poverty
• politically inconvenient move to close down institutions for loss of jobs
• nepotism & corruption in the system of institutions
-Segregated education system: special schools for children with disabilities
(visual & hearing impairments, intellectual disabilities)
-Many children with disabilities (primarily motor function impairments) do
not attend school but receive education at home by teachers
-Integration   inclusive education (focus on physical access rather than changing
ways of teaching)

3. Why Inclusive education?
What was the situation in Bulgaria in figures (2006)
Population: 7.5 mln
Children ( 0-17): 1 120 000 (14,6%)
Retired (over 65): 22,6%
10,600 children in institutional care (1,2% of the total child population)
5,700 children in other special school institutions practically living away from their families
Only 1,8% of children in institutions are orphans (have lost both parents)
129 special schools
13,000 children in special schools (total)
7,300 children (56%) in boarding schools for intellectually impaired students
19% of children in regular institutional care go to special schools for intellectually impaired
students
All children in special institutions for CWDs do NOT go to schools – considered uneducable

4. Why Inclusive education?
What did we do?
Child protection – deinstitutionalisation
- Worked directly with maternity wards & institutions to prevent abandonment
- Advocacy – regular alternative reports to inform the monitoring reports of the
Delegation of the EC in Bulgaria
- Managed to put child rights on the EC Delegation agenda & include in their
reports
We realised:
-There is much experience and projects for deinstituionalisation and improvement of
service quality in institutions
-Most NGOs work on these issues but receive funding from the pre-accession EU
financial instruments managed by the government  conflict of interests hence
NGOs do not engage in advocacy
-Education for children in institutional care neglected problem – they do not go to
school
-Education aspect in services packages for CWDs is missing – hence now it is not
funded

5. Why Inclusive education?
What did we do?
-Shifted our focus mainly on inclusive education
-Direct support to kindergartens & schools
- Worked with over 70 mainstream + 2 special
- Used a tool INDEX FOR INCLUSION
- They identified barriers to inclusion, drafted an action plan, identified needs for support
- We provided trainings (how to work with CWDs & SEN in a mainstream classroom, etc.),
regular visits & support to use the Index
- Direct individual learning aid support for children – documented to prove the costs are less
than in a special school + how children felt
- GATEKEEPING: Guidelines for the work of the Expert Commissions referring children to
special schooling
- Participation: Involve the kids and the parents (also through support groups) & in research
done by THEMSELVES – e.g. slogan of campaign
-Advocacy
- Position papers on education with statistical data on numbers of children and costs 
segregated education is MORE expensive & with LESSER quality, facts understood by every
common person
- Involved local and central education authorities  regular meetings with experts & decision
makers & always give them opportunity to comment before you go public, ask them for
solutions to suggest in your papers
- National campaign One School for All
-Change of language – inclusive not integrated education, special education needs, not
retardation, disabilities, etc. diagnoses

6. The model of Index for Inclusion
Practices
(what we do every day, how we do it)
•E.g. Every teacher can work with SEN,
there are assistant teachers, etc.
•Trainings tailored to needs – from what
is IE to working with specific SEN,
individual learning aids, supporting
parents to enroll kids in mainstream
school, etc.
Policies
(documents that guide our work)
•National laws, programs, local
documents of municipality, expert
commissions, etc.
•Schools develop their own annual plans
for inclusion
•We all lobby for improving national
documents
Culture
(what we believe in, what we see as
business as usual)
•We find it normal that CWDs & children
with SEN in school
•IE & SEN are used NOT disabilities,
diagnoses, the debate is HOW to support
CWDs/ SEN and NOT SHOULD we include
Change
INCLUSIVE
EDUCATION

7. What guiding principles we use in our work:
1.Child protection – including:
• Non exploitation of children – they participate if they want
• Parent consent when children participate
• Transparent to all – we 1st
present our ideas, let kids & parents decide
1.Child participation
2.Efficiency – much can be done pro bono by experts even

8. Why Inclusive education?
What happened 2000 – 2010
-Decentralisation of social and education services – more power, including
planning and finances to local authorities (municipalities)
-Bulgaria in the process of accession to EU & joined in 2007
-Advocacy & services from NGOs – now hired by municipalities to provide
services for vulnerable children

9. Why Inclusive education?
What is the situation now
-28 Resource centers supporting the integration of children with SEN
(covering every administrative region): provide assistant teachers,
psychologists, speech therapy, special teacher support, rehabilitation
-49 schools for children with intellectual impairments
- non-boarding
- mostly offering vocational training
- limited number of children, placed ONLY by one central mobile commission
-2 schools for children with visual impairments
-2 schools & 2 kindergartens for children with hearing impairments
-Language change – Special Education Needs not RETARDATION, no
олигофрено-педагог, etc.
Everything is fine, hurray!

10. What do we do now?
2007 left Bulgaria 
Main problems:
• Mainstream system not ready
• Resource Centers and specialists are not part of the school & are not well
prepared
• Insufficient access to therapy
• Insufficient qualification of teachers & professionals offered in universities
• Lack of practical tools & guides
1. Provide tailored trainings upon request (not a project) for:
- Kindergarten/School teachers & management
- Specialists from the Resource Centers (psychologists, speech therapists, GPs,
any professional working with children with SEN)
- Parents & children (child participation)
1. Publications – practical guides for work with SEN in mainstream classroom
2. Advocacy through European wide projects (main focus is learning difficulties or
hidden disabilities, specific target group children who were in institutional care)
3. Individual support to children and parents (special focus on adopted or fostered

11. Inclusive education
What can YOU do?
•You know MORE about working with CWDs than any public body (local
education authorities, universities, kindergartens, schools)
•Your expertise is valuable – use it to teach others
Capacity building:
1.Work directly with local kindergartens/schools – learn what are their fears and
support them to overcome these
2.Start from as early age as possible – target kindergartens and primary schools
3.Develop & Provide trainings for teachers on how to work with CWDs (where to place
a child in the classroom, how to write on the blackboard, how to develop an individual
plan for learning and development, etc.) Use your trained education specialists as ToT
4.Document every step & success story – use it to develop guides & to advocate
5.Support the parents to fight for their kid`s right to go to school
6.Involve children & parents - they are the best advocates (we rarely featured during
the campaign, mostly teachers & kids & parents on media)
7.Use your access to foreign experience & possibilities for training & support
8.Draft unified standards & guides for provision of education services to CWDs in your
centers, add development of individual education & development plans

12. Inclusive education
What can YOU do?
Advocacy:
1.Change the language – from инвалидности to disabilities, special education needs,
focus on what a child CAN do NOT on what they CANNOT because of their diagnoses
2.Advocate for change/ improvement of legal framework for education of children
with SEN – provide suggestions for change, write it for them
3.Work with education authorities to develop guidelines to be followed by expert
commissions & monitor their work – entice them, people like to receive free help
materials & practical trainings that make their lives easier
4.Organise positive campaigns in your community/ nation-wide showing that CWDs
CAN LEARN
5.If you can identify a media/PR expert use them to train you how to work with media,
how to speak to media, how to engage media