Ulaanbaatar
Inclusive Education in Schools of Mongolia
Society
Ulaanbaatar, January 4, 2024
/MONTSAME/. At the invitation of the Autism Association of Mongolia,
Dr. Matthew Brock, an Associate Professor of Special Education at Ohio State
University, is working in Mongolia as a
specialist in inclusive education. Head of the Mongolian Education Agency T.
Nyam-Ochir and the inclusive education team met with Dr. M. Brock to talk about
the results of his work in primary schools.
Dr. Matthew Brock noted that parents have
gained a better understanding of inclusive education in Mongolia and emphasized
the importance of meeting and listening to the voices of school staff.
As a
specialist in inclusive education, Dr. M. Brock shared some of his observations:
- It is
commendable that secondary schools have begun to employ teaching assistants. Commonly
the parents of children, including those with disabilities are working as
teaching assistants. Therefore, there is a need to secure wages and social
security for them as well as provide methodological support.
- Individual learning plans have been
developed but there is a mismatch between the plan and implementation, the
goals and results are too general and the methods for the goals are not
well-defined. Also, monthly work reporting adds more workload, and the plan is
used only to get a bonus.
- Involvement of parents in the development
process of individual education plans is not sufficient. Accordingly, the assessment
of parents and teachers to evaluate children is different.
- Teacher support teams are effective only on
paper. They do not know how to assist the teacher. In addition, more flexible
time adjustment that suits the child's needs is required.
Dr. Matthew Brock has givien an online lecture on Inclusive Education for Students with Cognitive Disabilities to teachers, specialists, parents, and guardians via the Mongolian Education Agency's website.
