BULGARIA: Inclusive Education

Summary: This report is part of a series of lessons learned from Save the Children’s work. The first report was based on their work in Central America and the Caribbean; a similar report on Egypt will be made available on the CRIN website in the coming months.Save the Children has launched a compilation of lessons learned in contributing to rights-based legal and policy frameworks for children in Bulgaria.

Save the Children UK started working in Bulgaria in 1926. The programme closed in September 2007 following Bulgaria’s accession to the European Union.

This is a record of lessons learnt, challenges identified and recommendations which have come out of Save the Children’s experiences.

Inclusive Education in Bulgaria

Save the Children worked in Bulgaria to ensure that children are able to claim their right to education without discrimination. The programme on inclusive education focused on getting children currently enrolled in ‘special schools’ into mainstream schools.

Although ‘special schools’ in Bulgaria do not fit the official government description of institutions, documented accounts of children reveal that they are institutions. This segregated schooling system is a legacy of the communist era in which every child or did not fit the ‘norm’ – whether they were talented, disabled, etc, - was hidden. These schools are located in very small villages in the mountains, invisible to society.

Lessons learned

Dialogue: It is not the role of child rights organisations to deliver services, but to make the government do its work properly. Through dialogue and tools such as the media and EU monitoring reports, the programme increased government accountability.

If the carrot does not work, try the stick! If promoting dialogue and incentives for change do not work, try a more assertive approach using direct advocacy.

Successful advocacy is crucial: De-institutionalisation and inclusive education are much more attainable with government support.

Send feedback to: [email protected]

For more information, contact:
Save the Children UK
1 St John's Lane, London EC1M 4AR, UK
Tel: + 44 20 7012 6400; Fax: + 44 20 7012 6963
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.savethechildren.org.uk

Further information

• Bulgaria: European Union Advocacy
• EU leaders sign first Treaty to include children's rights (14 December 2007)
• Child rights and the European Union
• Central America and the Caribbean: Lessons learned from Save the Children’s programmes