Outline of the Project

Name of the project

The Project for Strengthening Teachers' Ability and Reasonable Treatments for Children with Disabilities (START)

Country of the project

Mongolia

Overall Goal

All children with disabilities (hereinafter "CWDs") receive developmental support and education in accordance with each child's needs.

Project Purpose

Model of assessment, developmental support and education for CWDs is established.

Background of the project

The Government of Mongolia (hereinafter "GOM") has been facing challenges of ensuring increased access and improving quality of education for CWDs.

There are approximately 16,000 CWDs within 500,000 students in primary and secondary education (MECS, 2012), however, that the number of CWDs who are not attending school has not been identified. According to the research conducted in 2004, 2,920 among 6,713 CWDs (around 43%) answered that they had not attended school at all (MECS and National Statistical Office, 2005). Lack of appropriate detection and intervention for disabilities is considered as one of the main factors limiting education access of CWDs.

Currently, CWDs are enrolled in either 6 special schools located in Ulaanbaatar or local general schools, but they are not provided quality education in accordance with each child's needs. Curriculum and teacher skills are required to be improved.

The issues related to education for children with disabilities are summarized below.

Issues related to access to education

• Difficult to detect disability
• Lack of comprehensive developmental support including medical, education and welfare support
• Limited access to education (There are only 6 special schools. Regular schools sometimes refuse to accommodate CWDs)
• Lack of understanding on disability (caretakers, community)
• Caretakers of CWDs have difficulty in continuing working, and this has led to poverty
• Inappropriate access to road and public transportation for CWDs

Issues related to quality of education

• Current education is not consistent with the needs of CWDs
• Insufficient teaching ability
• Too many students in one classroom
• Insufficient motivation for teachers to teach CWDs
• Shortage in teaching and learning materials, facilities and equipment

In order to overcome those challenges, the GOM amended the Social Security Act of Person with Disabilities, Education Act, and other acts in February 2013, and has begun to establish an integrated system to support CWDs. Under this circumstance, the GOM has requested the Government of Japan for technical cooperation project to formulate models of assessment, developmental support and education for CWDs.

Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Sports (hereinafter "MECSS", formerly called as MECS), Ministry of Labor and Social Protection (hereinafter "MLSP", formerly called as MPDSP), and Japan International Cooperation (hereinafter "JICA") agreed to implement the technical cooperation project titled "Project for Strengthening Teachers' Ability and Reasonable Treatments for Children with Disabilities (START)" in April 2015 and the Project started in August 2015.

Outputs

1. Capacity for early detection and developmental support for CWDs is enhanced in pilot areas.
2. Capacity to provide quality lessons to CWDs (with intellectual disabilities) is enhanced in the pilot schools.
3. Effectiveness of various options of education in accordance with each CWD's needs is examined through ‘mini project’.
4. Experiences from Output 1 to 3 are shared among stakeholders and reflected to national systems and policies.

Activities

Output1

1-1	Select pilot areas
1-2	Review and improve tools for assessment and developmental support for CWDs.
1-3	Conduct training regarding assessment and developmental support for Commission of Health, Education and Social Protection for CWDs and sub-commissions in the pilot area.
1-4	Local ‘Commission for CWDs' conducts assessment and developmental activities (including announcement for parents).
1-5	Review the activities 1-4.
1-6	Examine possible assessment, developmental support and therapeutic care activities prior to school enrollment other than activities of ‘Commission for CWDs".
1-7	Examine management mechanism of information regarding each CWDs that each relevant institution has.

Output2

2-1	Select pilot schools.
2-2	Establish Core Group [1].
2-3	Core Group reviews and improves current tools for developmental assessment, individualized education/teaching plan, and lessons.
2-4	Conduct training in order for Core Group and pilot schools’ teachers to use the improved tools and to conduct quality lessons.
2-5	Pilot schools’ teachers develop individualized teaching plan for CWDs and conduct lessons based on the plan.
2-6	Review the activity 2-5.
2-7	Develop a manual how to develop individualized teaching plan.
2-8	Develop a book composing educational practices for CWDs (with intellectual disabilities).

Output3

3-1	Plan possible options of education in accordance with each CWDs‘ needs as ‘mini projects’. (for all the disabilities)
3-2	Implement ‘mini projects’.
3-3	Evaluate ‘mini projects’.

Output4

4-1	Hold seminars on experiences from Output 1 to 3 for personnel and institutions relevant to education.
4-2	Introduce experiences from Output 2 to regular school administrators to accommodate CWDs at their schools.
4-3	Reflect experiences from Output 2 to curriculum for pre-service teacher training (both course for special needs education and regular course).
4-4	Reflect experiences from Output 2 to program for in-service teacher training.
4-5	Reflect experiences from Output 2 to school curriculum for special needs education.
4-6	Conduct campaigns to promote assessment, developmental support and education for CWDs.

Project Site

• Bayangol district in Ulaanbaatar and Khuvsgul Aimag (Province) as pilot areas
• 4 special schools for intellectual disability and 10 regular schools as pilot schools

Organizations to be involved

1. Department of Education Policy, MECSS (in charge of education for CWDs)
2. Department of Population Development, MLSP (in charge of diagnosis and developmental support for CWDs)
3. Officials of public institutions responsible for assessment, developmental support and education for CWDs.
   • Officer in charge of Special Needs Education, Department of Education Policy, MECSS
   • Officer in charge of Special Needs Education Curriculum, National Institute of Educational Research
   • Officer in charge of in-service teacher training for Special Needs Education, Institute of Teacher's Professional Development
   • Lecturers in charge of the course for Special Needs Education, Mongolian National University of Education
   • Officials of Department of Population Development, MLSP
   • Chairperson and Officials in charge of assessment, developmental support and education for CWDs, Rehabilitation, Training and Vocational Center
4. "Commissions of Health, Education and Social Protection for CWDs" (under the MLSP)
   • Members of " Commission of Health, Education and Social Protection for CWDs"
   • Members of "Sub-Commissions of Health, Education and Social Protection for CWDs" in the pilot areas
5. Specialists in charge of assessment, developmental support and education, Department of Education in the pilot areas