Regulatory and legal support of inclusive education: Ukrainian trends and international practice

Abstract

The relevance of the research is explained by the fact that inclusive education in Ukraine requires improvement of the regulatory framework to regulate both the physical presence of a child with special needs at school and changes in the school itself, school infrastructure, and the relationship between students and teachers and between teachers and medical professionals: psychologists, psychiatrists, defectologists, etc. The purpose of the research is to explore the current state of legal regulation of inclusive education and prospects for its further development in Ukraine. One of the main methodological techniques of the study is a comparative approach. The comparative legal approach analyses the legislation of different countries of the world that regulates inclusive education. The author identifies the correlation between the provisions of international law and Ukrainian legislation on the implementation of the international principles of inclusive education enshrined in international legal instruments into the legal system of Ukraine, including the education system. The practice and shortcomings of regulatory and legal regulation of inclusion at the state level are explored. The author analyses the content of the concept of “special learning conditions”. Particular attention is devoted to the development of inclusive vocational education and training in different countries. The specific features of inclusive education in Ukraine and the world are identified. It is noted that inclusive education is based on the value idea “all children are equal”. It is emphasised that in Ukraine, inclusive education can be assessed as an advanced system of education for children with special educational needs, based on the joint education of healthy children and children with disabilities. The practical significance of the study is that the conclusions and proposals presented in the research will contribute to improving the mechanism for protecting the rights of children with special needs as one of the most vulnerable categories of the population. The generalisation of the results of the work is designed to improve the legislation of Ukraine in the field of inclusive education and to implement foreign provisions and standards for the protection of the rights of children with special needs in Ukrainian educational practice.