ArmInfo.Goodwill Ambassador Unicef, captain of the Armenian national football team, midfielder of the Manchester United football club Henrik Mkhitaryan in the unicef video, dedicated to the beginning of the new academic year, stressed the importance of inclusive education for children with special needs.
According to the Unicef press service, the video shows Mkhitaryan's meeting with a group of children with special needs, held in June 2017. Children in the video tell the player about their dreams and problems. "Any child, regardless of his abilities, has the right to receive a quality inclusive education," Mkhitaryan said.
"Unicef" representative in Armenia Tanya Radochar noted that inclusive education in Armenia has achieved remarkable results. Nevertheless, there is a lot of work to be done in this direction, she noted.
According to the data of the Unicef poll and the Civilitas Foundation for 2013-2015, 71% of respondents believe that children with mental retardation should attend special schools.
Nevertheless, in 2017 there are 208 inclusive schools in Armenia, the number of which is gradually growing. The number of special schools, on the contrary, decreased from 40 to 21.
Yunisef suggests the Government of the Republic of Armenia, to transfer children with special needs from special schools to ordinary ones from early childhood, in connection with which it is necessary to carry out a number of reforms, including retraining teachers, to review the process of determining disability in accordance with international standards.
ArmInfo.Thousands of children in Armenia are needlessly separated from their parents and placed in institutions due to disability or poverty, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on February 22. "The government should urgently provide community-based services and quality, inclusive education so that all children, including children with disabilities, can grow up in a family.