News

29 November 2023

The support provided to children and pupils with special needs in the education system is not effective. Thousands of children with SEN fail to complete their education required by the Constitution by the age of 16. Few of them have the opportunity to be supported by teaching assistants due to the lack of financial resources. For many pupils, the main burden of their involvement in education falls on the family rather than the educational institution. These problems are systematic and require serious resources and a new model of working with children with SEN to address them. 

This is according to the analysis of Ombudsman Prof. Diana Kovacheva, based on detailed data by region on key indicators for the implementation of the policy on inclusive education for children and pupils with SEN, provided by the Ministry of Education and Science.

The analysis will be presented at a discussion “Inclusive education –problems and solutions”, which is organized by the public defender and the Minister of Education and Science Prof. Galin Tsokov, today, 30 November 2023, at 10.30 a.m. in the meeting room on the second floor in the building of the institution of the Ombudsman, 22 George Washington Street.

The discussion will be attended by Members of Parlaiment, university teachers, parents, principals of educational institutions, directors of resource centers for inclusive education from Sofia, Plovdiv, Pazardzhik, the head of the regional education department in Sofia Vanya Kastrova, experts and others.

The discussion is part of the Ombudsman's National Campaign “For the Rights of Children and People with Disabilities”, within the framework of which, at the insistence of Prof. Kovacheva, BGN 8 million in additional funds were provided for inclusive education of children with SEN for 2023.

According to the Ministry of Education, at the end of 2022, there are 7,126 children at kindergartens with special educational needs. The problem in kindergartens is the work with parents, timely identification and support of children with SEN. Thus, valuable time is missed for working with these children and for overcoming deficits in their development. There are 20,040 pupils from first to twelfth grades falling in this group. The detailed data by educational stage shows that a small proportion of students with SEN reach high school education, and with each subsequent stage of education the number of pupils with special educational needs decreases.

In order to address these problems, better coordination among relevant institutions such as the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, the Ministry of Education and Science and municipalities, and adequate provision of funding and resources for inclusive education are essential. A targeted effort is also needed to change the attitudes of both teachers and parents towards children and pupils with special educational needs, is the firm view of Ombudsman Diana Kovacheva.