Ulaanbaatar
Appropriate learning environment to be created for special needs children to learn among their peers
Society
Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. On May 12, the Ministry of Education and Science, the General Authority for Education, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) co-organized a consultative meeting on ways to ensure the right to education for children with special needs.
As of 2021, there are 11,835 children with disabilities in Mongolia: 2,422 children with physical disabilities, 1,087 children with vision impairment, 825 children with speech impairment, 644 children with hearing impairment, 2,263 children with mental impairment, 1,152 children with multiple disabilities, and 3,342 children with other types of disabilities.
While 63 percent of the preschool-age children are attending kindergartens, 70.7 percent of the children between the age of 6-17 are attending schools.
Around 70 percent of the children are receiving educational services at mainstream schools and kindergartens. Furthermore, there are 400 students with special needs studying at universities and colleges, with 777 students at technical and vocational education and training centers.
About 1,800 school-age children with special needs currently have no access to educational services.
In aims of creating equal access to education, the Ministry of Education is carrying out certain works such as improving the learning environment at schools by reflecting it in the package law on education, preparing special education teachers and personnel, creating the appropriate conditions for the children to attend mainstream schools and learn alongside their peers, and increasing public awareness.
The consultative meeting organized under the theme, ‘The Right to Study’, was attended by the Minister of Education and Science, the Ministry’s State Secretary, Head of the General Authority for Education, representatives of JICA, teachers and executives of special schools, parents and students as well as representatives of NGOs.
