Ognen Spasovski (OS) is the Focal Point for the Policynet team in the “former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”. He has recently been promoted to the post of associate professor, Department of Psychology, Ss Cyril & Methodius University of Skopje. He has been involved with inclusive education for the past 10 years. He spoke to journalist David Addis (DA) at the end of the Skopje meeting about...

Greater parental involvement, developing a more holistic teaching approach, ensuring constant capacity building of the school and teaching staff and improved monitoring and evaluation of the inclusiveness in schools. These are some of the regional policy recommendations that the members of the PolicyNet working group on secondary education in South Eastern Europe identified as priorities on the...

When it is about what happens in the classroom, it is often said that teachers know best. They know what students need and which tools and methods can be used to stimulate the creation of a more inclusive environment. However, it is rare that input from teachers is used in creating new policies and when defining practices that can further improve the inclusiveness of schools in South Eastern...

When seven school teams from the South East Europe (SEE) region went on a study visit to schools of The Greater Region* in March 2014, for what was intended to be a fairly straightforward learning experience, they seem to have sparked the beginning of a new inclusive education partnership that is now developing even further. At least that is the impression after a return visit of...

Improved communication and greater co-operation in the South East Europe region is essential for identifying appropriate tools and mechanisms needed for promoting truly inclusive education. At least that is the shared impression of Snežana Vuković, head of the department for strategy and development in the Ministry of education science and technological development of Serbia and Tatjana...

Three teachers from the 49 pilot schools involved in the Regional Support for Inclusive Education project have participated in the final event of the SIRIUS European Policy Network* in Brussels, on 19-20 November 2014.

Project will bring together a working group with participants from the three Networks: SchoolNet, TeacherNet and PolicyNet.The one-day meeting will be organised in Pristina, on 18 November 2014.

From raising awareness campaigns in Albania to the setting up a school radio station in Montenegro, and to the training of teachers on how to work with pupils coming from deprived environments in Serbia.

Identifying appropriate mechanisms and measures on how to change a school’s culture in order to create a more inclusive environment in secondary schools in South Eastern Europe will be the focus of the first meeting of the regional PolicyNet working group on secondary education.

At a school graduation day in Croatia, school librarian Ms. Zdenka Špes gave a unique prize to a girl with special needs and in doing so gave her the joy of recognition. The concepts of the project that loyalty, love and trust in a child play a key role in education, inspired her to change her approach. Seminars on inclusive education held in Strasbourg held in April, gave her a new view on...

Lida Kita works at the European Training Foundation. She has two roles – she is country manager for Turkey & Israel and is a specialist in inclusion in education and training for the Western Balkans and Turkey. She is also on the project’s steering board

Two recent studies carried out in the frame of the project shed light on how inclusion is perceived and practiced in schools in the South East European region. Both studies – the quantitative baseline survey and participatory action research – indicated several issues related to inclusion. According to the survey the two essential preconditions for inclusion in schools were the inclusive...

When Nataša Borović enters a new classroom, at first children see her disabilities, but after a moment or two they only see a teacher. They don’t make any difference. This strong message from pupils motivated Ms Nataša Borović to take part in the Joint EU/CoE Project “Regional Support for Inclusive Education“. Her reasons are professional and personal. She is paraplegic and a teacher at an...

The achievements and progress of South East Europe towards inclusive practices at school will be acknowledged in a major regional event to take place by end-October in Zagreb. Ministries responsible for inclusive education across the region will have the opportunity to share best examples of inclusion in the creative Expo for Inclusion, a presentation of the diverse tools used in embracing...

The inclusive teacher values student diversity, supports all learners, works with others and pursues personal professional development. More than 140 participants from all over South East Europe shared this vision of an inclusive teacher at Regional TeacherNet Workshops held in Skopje and Tirana. They all agreed on the areas of competences of an inclusive teacher.

The first meeting of the PolicyNet working group on primary education will take place in Podgorica, Montenegro, on 24 September 2014. The thematic meeting of the Regional Inclusive PolicyNet includes members from 7 Beneficiaries of the Joint EU/CoE Project “Regional Support for Inclusive Education” in South East Europe.

I have worked as a math teacher for more than 20 years. I have not been directly involved with inclusive education, just in normal education. However in every class we have children with special needs, including those medically recognised as such and others those who are “hidden” and who are not officially recognised.

The results of the Baseline survey carried out in our 49 pilot schools, in partnership with the LSE Enterprise are now available for download. Those results comprises one Cross-Beneficiary Report and seven individual Beneficiary Reports.

The goal of the meetings was to present project activities conducted in the previous period, announce upcoming activities and discuss process and procedures for preparation of the small grants project proposals (as part of the project activities, each school will be awarded a grant of 9,500 Euro).

Regional TeacherNet Workshops will gather more than 120 Project participants from all over South East Europe to share their vision of an inclusive teacher and to discuss current trends in teacher education. The workshop in Skopje will be on 24-25 June, and the one in Tirana a week later, on 2-3 July.