On State Regulation of the Development of Inclusive Education and the Creation of Special Conditions for the Education of Children with Disabilities in the Russian Federation

The article summarizes the results of the implementation of measures to ensure the educational rights of students with disabilities and special educational needs. We present the results of the implementation of interdepartmental comprehensive plans (for 2015, 2016-2017, 2018-2020) approved by the Government of the Russian Federation . It was revealed that over 10 years, more than 8 thousand kindergartens and more than 10 thousand schools participated in the special events to create accessibility in educational organizations. It was a part of the state program “Accessible Environment.” In accordance with the federal statistical observation form OO-1, in the 2023/24 academic year, psychological and pedagogical support for students with disabilities in general educational organizations was provided by 32466 educational psychologists, 21703 speech therapists, 9530 special education teachers, and 8888 tutors. show that there were 3123 educational psychologist vacancies, 2378 speech therapist vacancies, 1740 special education teacher vacancies, and 1389 tutor vacancies in 2023 in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The article highlights th importance of the Complex of measures for the modernization of defectological education in the Russian Federation through 2030 (dated February 7, 2024, No. SK-1/07vn), and the all-Russian competition The Best Inclusive School in Russia. This article reflects the results of scientific research conducted by the Institute of Correctional Pedagogics, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Moscow State Pedagogical University, Russian State Pedagogical University named after A.I. Herzen. Based on the provisions of the Plan of the Main Events held within the framework of the Decade of Childhood for the period up to 2027, the main tool is a study of the subjective well-being of adolescents, including those with disabilities and special needs. We emphasize the high importance of the Interdepartmental Comprehensive Action Plan for the Development of Inclusive General and Additional Education, Children's Recreation, and the Creation of Special Conditions for Students with Disabilities and Limited Health Opportunities up to 2030. In this article we define the directions of the Russian methodology of inclusive education as the main basis for ensuring the rights and opportunities of any child.

The development of inclusive education is based on the right to education for every child guaranteed by the Constitution and legislation of the Russian Federation.

The opportunity to study near their place of residence, the creation of special conditions for children with disabilities in an educational organization have become a serious challenge for the education system and the professional teaching community as a whole. Since 2020, for the first time, the number of schoolchildren with special educational needs in inclusive classes exceeded the number of schoolchildren receiving education in separate educational organizations; in the 2023/24 academic year, 58.8% of schoolchildren with disabilities received inclusive education.

Over the past decade, issues of developing inclusive education in the Russian Federation have been the subject of systemic changes and discussions in the professional community. Since the entry into force of the Federal Law “On Education in the Russian Federation” at all levels of education, the creation of special conditions for the education of children with disabilities has been provided with methodological, substantive and organizational support for the work both at the level of regional education authorities and at the level of educational organizations.

In order to systematically implement measures to ensure the rights of students with disabilities to education, since 2015, interdepartmental comprehensive plans approved by the Government of the Russian Federation (for 2015, 2016–2017, 2018–2020) have been introduced.

Results of the implementation of those plans:

- the number of educational institutions with a “barrier-free” architectural environment and conditions for the education of students with disabilities (material, technical, didactic, personnel) has increased (up to 8,072 preschool educational institutions out of 35,249 operating, up to 10,106 general education institutions out of 44,425 operating, up to 548 additional education institutions out of 11,030 operating); 146 basic vocational educational institutions and 46 resource educational and methodological centers in the system of secondary vocational education based on vocational educational institutions, 21 resource and methodological educational centers based on higher education institutions have been created. Federal resource centers: Federal Resource Center for the Development of Inclusive education (based at   Moscow State University of Psychology and Education), the Federal Resource Center for the Development of a System of Comprehensive Support for Children with Disabilities and Special Needs (based at the  Institute of Correctional Pedagogy), the Federal Resource Center for the Organization of Comprehensive Support for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (based at   Moscow State University of Psychology and Education); the Federal Resource Center for the Development of a System of Comprehensive Support for Children with Visual Impairments (based at  the Russian State Pedagogical University named after A.I. Herzen);

- the Federal Center for the Development of Inclusive General and Supplementary Education, created on the basis of Moscow State University of Psychology and Education , provides expert, consulting and methodological support for the development of the inclusive education system; a Hot-line on inclusive education issues (8-800-600-40-44) has been launched, so  anyone can ask questions of interest;

• correctional assistance began to be provided for babies (from 2 months), which made it possible to increase the likelihood of such children receiving education together with their peers with minimal psychological and pedagogical support and to reduce the disability threshold of society as a whole;
• the number of students with disabilities, receiving general education inclusively increased (from 407.8 thousand students in the 2018/19 academic year to 472.6 thousand students in the 2020/21 academic year – by 158%);
• the level and volume of educational and methodological support for the education of students with disabilities and special educational needs has increased (as of 2021, 106 special textbooks were included in the federal list of textbooks);
• the number of teaching staff working with students with disabilities and special educational needs has increased, and their level of qualifications has also improved (from 118.3 thousand specialists in the 2018/19 academic year to 134.5 thousand specialists in the 2020/21 academic year – by 13.7%).

In order to unify the content and learning outcomes of students with disabilities and special educational needs, federal adapted educational programs have been developed:

• preschool education for students with disabilities, approved by order of the Ministry of Education of Russia dated November 24, 2022 No. 1022;
• primary general education for students with disabilities, approved by order of the Ministry of Education of Russia dated November 24, 2022 No. 1023;
• basic general education for students with disabilities, approved by order of the Ministry of Education of Russia dated November 24, 2022 No. 1025;
• students with mental retardation (intellectual disabilities), approved by order of the Ministry of Education of Russia dated November 24, 2022 No. 1026.

At the same time, the Federal Educational Program of secondary general education, approved by order of the Ministry of Education of Russia dated May 18, 2023 No. 371, includes special requirements for organizing the education of students with hearing impairments, vision impairments, musculoskeletal disorders, and autism spectrum disorders.

The unified Federal Educational Programs, including adapted ones, introduced throughout the Russian Federation from September 1, 2023, form a unified educational space and, importantly, unified educational results for all students. These programs take into account the special educational needs of students and, at the same time, retained the possibility of individualizing children's educational routes.

there were More than 8 thousand kindergartens and more than 10 thousand schools participated  in the state program Accessible Environment during last 10 years. The responsability to create conditions for unimpeded access to educational facilities falls within the competence of regional and local authorities, and starting from July 1, 2016, it is inadmissible to build and commission new educational infrastructure facilities, or purchase any equipment which don’t fit the requirements for the accessibility for people with disabilities.

Since 2021, measures to create a “barrier-free” environment in kindergartens and schools are being implemented at the level of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The relevant measures should be included in regional comprehensive action plans for the development of inclusive general and additional education, which are approved in accordance with the federal interdepartmental plan  by Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation T.A. Golikova.

In order to develop personnel support for the education of students with disabilities and special educational needs, the Minister of Education of the Russian Federation S.S. Kravtsov approved the Complex of Measures for the Modernization of Defectological Education in the Russian Federation up to 2030 (dated February 7, 2024, No. SK-1/07vn) (hereinafter referred to as the Complex of Measures).

Both educational institutions of higher education subordinate to the Ministry of Education of Russia (pedagogical universities) and institutions of higher education subordinate to the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia and constituent entities of the Russian Federation participate in the implementation of the Complex of Measures.

In accordance with the Federal Tax Service  form OO-1 in the 2023/24 academic year, psychological and pedagogical support for students with disabilities in general education organizations was provided by 32,466 educational psychologists, 21,703 speech therapists, 9,530 teachers of defectology, and 8,888 tutors.

At the same time, the constituent entities of the Russian Federation presented data for 2023 on the availability of vacant positions: 3,123 educational psychologists, 2,378 speech therapists, 1,740 special education teachers, 1,389 tutors.

Regardless of the institution where a child with disabilities receives his/her education (in a special kindergarten or school or in an inclusive setting), he or she needs qualified support from specialists who know and can practically apply methods of working with such children. And if children of one group of students with disabilities traditionally study in special schools, then it is important for teachers of inclusive schools to have competencies in working with children of different groups.

Today we pay special attention to improving the qualifications of teachers. Last year, more than 75 thousand teaching and administrative workers were trained at advanced training courses and various training events on the organization of education and comprehensive support for students with disabilities.

We also need to increase the number of specialized  professionals for psychological and pedagogical support in educational organizations, –among them special education teachers. According to data from the constituent entities of the Russian Federation ( 10 thousand specialists are required. The professional standard Teacher-defectologist, which came into force on September 1, 2023), in addition to traditional competencies for working with children with hearing and vision impairments, mental retardation (intellectual disabilities), also includes  functions for working with young children, with musculoskeletal disorders, with autism spectrum disorders, severe multiple developmental disabilities. This professional standard provides for the opportunity to work as a teacher-defectologist (speech therapist) for both specialists with higher specialized education and specialists with higher education within more general areas like Education and Pedagogical Sciences, Psychological Sciences with a professional retraining program. This should contribute to an increase in the number of teachers-defectologists in educational organizations. Universities, in turn, are developing and testing new formats for organizing the practical training of future specialists in the field of defectology. And this is one of the priorities of the work – not only from the point of view of high-quality university training, but also from the point of view of increasing the motivation of graduates to remain in the profession. Therefore, it is necessary to change the very approach to career guidance and to the training of future defectologists.

In order to get more specialized educators, better psychological and pedagogical support for students with disabilities, the Minister of Education of the Russian Federation S.S. Kravtsov on February 7, 2024, as already indicated above, approved the Complex of Measures; its implementation has started in 2024.

The Complex of Measures includes:

• analytical activities that provide for monitoring of the current staffing, the formation of regional-level personnel registers of special education teachers, speech therapists, and special psychologists; an analysis of the research base of scientific organizations, and the formation of registers of the main professional programs in the field of training Special (Defectological) Education and programs of additional professional education (retraining), and improving of the professional competencies of special education teachers, speech therapists, and special psychologists;
• activities to ensure unified approaches to the training/advanced training of special education teachers (development of one software and methodological support for the training and retraining of special education teachers taking into account the requirements of the professional standard Defectologist Teacher, advanced training for the educatorsers who will train special education teachers);
• career guidance events for students of 9–11 grades of general education organizations to get acquainted with the profession of a special education teacher;
• events to attract young specialists in the field of correctional pedagogy and special psychology to scientific and scientific-pedagogical activities (like contests of scientific and practical projects).

In order to identify the best practices in inclusive education, as well as to increase the activity of educational organizations in the development and implementation of inclusive  education practices in the Russian Federation, there is the All-Russian contest “Best Inclusive School of Russia” (hereinafter referred to as the Contest) which is held annually. In 2024, it was the XI edition of the ContestWinners were selected in the following nominations: Best Inclusive Kindergarten; Best Inclusive School; Best Resource Organization for the Development of Inclusive General Education; Best Inclusive Organization for Children's Recreation and Health Improvement. In 2023, the organizers edited the Contest Almanac, which included the best practices of the last editions’ winners. Along with the development of inclusive education in the Russian Federation, much attention is paid today to supporting individual (correctional) schools. Thus, within the framework of the national project Education, since 2019, the material and technical base of individual (correctional) schools has been updated; 776 schools have already taken part in the project during last 5 years. Within the framework of the project, schools do not just purchase equipment for the implementation of the subject Technology, – the approaches to teaching children in correctional schools are changing, new modern and in-demand profiles of labor training are opening, correctional schools are becoming resource centers for organizing inclusive education. Another important aspect of organizing the educational process for children with special educational needs are special textbooks. Not all students with disabilities require special textbooks, but, for example, for children with visual impairments, it is impossible to build a high-quality educational process without special textbooks. Taking into account changes in the legislation in the field of education, according to which the organization of work on the preparation, examination, testing and publication of textbooks is carried out by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, since 2021 the subordinate Institute of Correctional Pedagogics has been developing and including previously unpublished special textbooks in the Federal List of Textbooks, for example, Computer Science for Bblind Students, Fine Arts (Typhlographics) for blind students.

A key component in providing special conditions for obtaining education for students with disabilities, with limited health capabilities is a financial support for the implementation of adapted educational programs.

By order of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, an approximate methodology (and toolkit) for determining costs of state (municipal) services for the implementation of adapted basic educational programs has been developed and sent to the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, which allows the full implementation of educational programs, including their correctional and developmental parts. Currently, there has been caaried out themonitoring of the application of the materials in the regional budgets for 2024 and the planning period of 2025, 2026. By order of the Ministry of Education of Russia in 2017–2024, organizations subordinate to the Ministry conducted scientific research in order to scientifically support the development of the inclusive education,

Institute of Correctional Pedagogy has conducted research aimed at:

• studying the clinical, psychological and pedagogical characteristics of modern children with disabilities;
• studying the factors and conditions that affect the health of students with disabilities in certain general education organizations (correctional schools), analyzing the academic workload and organizing health-preserving activities in these organizations;
• studying the impact of computer technologies and e-learning on the health and quality of education of students with disabilities;
• studying modern approaches to identifying the special educational needs of students with disabilities;
• studying the problems of socialization and development of life competencies of students with disabilities;
• designing models of early correctional assistance;
• studying the specifics of digitalization of special and inclusive education, including the development of special requirements for organizing the inclusion of students with disabilities in the educational and rehabilitation process in the context of a digital educational environment;
• development of a system of continuous education of specialists in the field of special psychology and correctional pedagogy, including the reconstruction of the system of additional professional education of these specialists.

Moscow State University of Psychology and Education conducted research aimed at:

• studying the mechanisms of development of an inclusive educational environment in the system of general and vocational education;
• substantiation and development of a program for training a tutor to support students with disabilities in accordance with the professional standard Specialist in the Field of Education;
• research of the inclusive educational environment of preschool, general and secondary vocational education organizations in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation;
• study of the provision of psychological support to students in an inclusive educational environment of general education organizations.

Moscow State Pedagogical University conducted research aimed at:

• studying the basics of the system of education of children with disabilities;
• substantiation and development of new specialized training programs in Special (Defectological) Education.

Russian State Pedagogical University named after A.I. Herzen conducted studies aimed at:

• improving and assessing the professional competencies of teachers of inclusive educational organizations;
• developing diagnostic and methodological support for correctional and developmental activities for children with visual impairments.

In accordance with paragraph 128 of the Plan of the main events carried out within the framework of the Decade of Childhood for the period up to 2027, approved by the Order of the Government of the Russian Federation dated January 23, 2021 No. 122-r, has been provided a study of the subjective well-being of adolescents, including those with disabilities.

A study made in 2023 showed that students with disabilities compared to their peers are significantly less satisfied with their health, achievements in all areas of life important to them, with communication with loved ones and relatives. At the same time, students with disabilities who are educated in inclusive schools (classes) are more satisfied with their future life prospects and transparency than their peers from separate classes/correctional schools. At the same time, students with disabilities who are educated in separate schools (classes) have a higher level of subjective well-being than their peers who are educated in an inclusive format.

Understanding the high importance of the development of inclusive education in general, including relying on feedback from public associations of parents representing the interests of children with disabilities, specialized non-profit organizations, the main strategic document defining the development of inclusive education in the country is the Interdepartmental Comprehensive Action Plan for the Development of Inclusive General and Additional Education, Children's Recreation, Creation of Special Conditions for Students with Disabilities, with Limited Health Opportunities for the Long-Term Period up to 2030, approved by Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation T.A. Golikova in 2021.,It provides the improvement of regional regulatory, legal and methodological support for education of children with disabilities, conducting scientific research on the modern population of children – students with disabilities and special needs, their families, offering them psychological and pedagogical assistance; introduction of new organizational and managerial decisions in the field of education of students with disabilities and special needs; educational, methodological and didactic support; development of educational infrastructure for students with disabilities and special educational needs; development of a system of psychological and pedagogical support and information space for the education of students with disabilities and special educational needs; activities to develop personnel provision for the education of students with disabilities and special educational needs, to improve the quality of education for special categories of children. Systemic changes are taking place in the country in educational policy and practice, and an inclusive culture is being formed. We are gradually creating Russian methodology of inclusive education as a foundation for the solid provision of rights and opportunities for every child.