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meant that there are few issues with sustainability, with local ownership, with integration into existing parallel
initiatives and with rolling out the programme to impact an increasing number of areas.
2.
Statistic comparisons show that in 2007 when the programme was taken on by the Ministry of Education it was
expanded to reach 316 children through 42 schools and 62 teachers. By 2010, the figures increased to 2051
children, 318 schools and 400 teachers.
3.
The groundwork has been laid for the Ministry of Education to integrate the programme completely into
existing structures and policies without significant effort, cost or added infrastructure. A department in the
college of education has been established to take up the role of training further teachers.
T
RANSFERABILITY
, S
CALABILITY AND
C
OST
-E
FFICIENCY
Kurdistan’s Inclusive Education Pilot Programme has potential to be implemented in a very similar form in other
countries in the region (Middle East) and in the wider Iraq.
F
UTURE
D
EVELOPMENT
(W
ITH
A
DDITIONS FROM THE
Z
ERO
P
ROJECT
T
EAM
)
Full integration of the programme into general policy and aligning the policies with existing policy still remains a large
task to complete so that the initiative can reach all schools. Integration of training package into the training of all
teachers will also extend the coverage and long-term impact the programme can have. Success of this stage of the
programme would play a big role in the sustainability and long-term effectiveness of the efforts put into its
establishment. While there will be some additional costs for specialised resources, they are minimal and in many places
a redistribution of existing budgets, personnel and adaptation of existing resources will meet the needs of programme.
As well, better cross-ministerial collaboration is needed; as of now the responsibility for the education of disabled
children is shared between the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA), and
families and disabled children are often caught up in ministerial rivalries and confusion. In general, addressing inclusive
education is exceptionally challenging in a nation where:
• Infrastructure and professional expertise is depleted;
• There are very mixed views about the relationship between people with disabilities and their community;
• Understandings of inclusive education are disparate and sometimes conflicting.
W
EBSITE
:
(
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
)
Karen Chesterton Khayat
, The role of people with disabilities in teacher training in Iraq ,2013:
Alison Alborz, Establishing the foundations for an inclusive education system in Iraq:
reflection on findings from a nationwide survey ,2009: