A Critical Look at the Status of Inclusive Education for Children with Special Needs in Tajikistan

Abstract

This Thesis was set up with the aim of shedding light on the status of implementation of the inclusive education (IE) policies for children with disabilities (CwD) in Tajikistan, and to find out the reasons behind the government’s reluctance to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which was signed by Tajikistan in 2018, but yet to be ratified. By conducting the relevant literature review and by utilizing a series of 20 semi-structured in-depth interviews with NGO representatives promoting disabled people’s rights (N=4), school principals and teachers who teach CwD at mainstream schools of Sughd province (N=4), parents of CwD (N=8), human rights and/or education specialists working in the field of CwD and people with disabilities (PwD) and their inclusion in the educational system (N=2) and officials in the State Committee on Child’s Rights and Tajikistan’s Sughd provincial Ministry of Education (N=2), this research tested the two hypotheses of H1: the virtuality of IE in Tajikistan, and H2: the economic, political and social factors behind the Tajik Government’s reluctance to ratify the CRPD. Based on the primary data collected via the semi-structured interviews, and the secondary data of social scientific and other relevant literature, this research found sufficient evidence in favor of H1; however, only tentative evidence in favor of H2. The Thesis concluded that there is much work in need of doing to combat stigma, unfavorable and charitable attitudes towards disabled peoples; abandoning the “medical” model and adopting the rights-based “social” model” of disability; modification of domestic legal frameworks; adopting inclusive pedagogy (flexible curriculum, specially trained educators); and ensuring proper infrastructure and transportation systems for PwD. To make the essence of IE a reality for CwD in Tajikistan, there is a need for strong political will by the State, but also participation of the public and civil society as a lobby, resulting in both a top-down and bottom-up approach in dealing with issues affecting disabled people’s lives, and a consorted effort by the authorities and mobilized civil society to ensure proper enforcement mechanisms are put in place to avoid policy and practice flaws in IE implementation and ensuring the ratification of the CRPD in the nearest future.