On 10 March, the Children’s Rights Sub-Committee organised a roundtable on inclusive education in Serbia. The discussion was taken part in by Sub-Committee members, as well as members of the National Assembly’s Education Committee, and the Committee on Labour, Ex-Servicemen’s and Social Issues; officials of the Ministry of Education and Sports and the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Policy also attended, as did representatives of the Children’s Rights Council and Save the Children. The roundtable was moderated by Zivodarka Dacin, Sub-Committee chairperson, and Vesna Piperski Tucakov, vice-chairperson of the Children’s Rights Council.

Welcoming roundtable participants, the Chairman of the National Assembly, Predrag Markovic, said that the Assembly was a good place to hold such meetings, as it must both change the system we all live in, as well as itself. He expressed support for the Sub-Committee’s initiative to be transformed into a full-fledged Committee, and underlined the necessity of implementing inclusive education and integration processes that should run parallel to it. Mr Markovic emphasised the role of adults in the process of inclusion of children, and reiterated that it was only through joint efforts by all – the National Assembly, the Government, Ministries, and international organisations – would Serbia achieve results in the field of protecting children. ‘That process will not be quick, but we have to show understanding for children’s needs, because we who are getting older will one day be cared for by those who are being educated now,’ Mr Markovic concluded, and thanked participants for their time by both saying the words and using sign language.

Save the Children representatives presented the inclusive education concept and experiences gained through projects realised in nursery schools in Subotica, Novi Pazar, and Belgrade. Defining ‘inclusion’ as full and equal participation of all persons in social life based on equal rights and opportunities for all, Save the Children activists underlined that each child was entitled to a quality education; all children could learn, and that right must not be denied them. Children should play an active part in the life of their nursery school or school, individual differences should not be a problem, and inclusive education was the most efficient means of combating discrimination. This educational concept provides flexible answers to varying needs and patterns and makes changes to the educational system; all elements of the new educational system should provide opportunities for promoting inclusion.

Most developmentally-challenged children can be integrated into a group; the ideal period for this is the pre-school age, the speakers pointed out. Children were not the problem; rather, the system needs to be changed. Substantial efforts are needed, both on the part of the legislative and executive power and non-governmental organisations and independent experts, to integrate hitherto neglected children into the regular education system. This applies not only to developmentally-challenged children, but also marginalised Roma children – as many as 80% of all students at ‘special’ schools in Serbia are Roma.

Alison Closs, Professor Emeritus at the University of Edinburgh and consultant for Save the Children’s educational programme in Serbia, presented her experiences in the implementation of such educational policies in England and Scotland, dismissing as unfounded the fear that other students would fall behind if children with special needs were integrated into their classes.

Roundtable participants agreed that this educational concept was positively perceived, and that it was in the best interests of children to undertake joint action by ministries, the non-governmental sector, and experts to start the best practice of integrating all children into the mainstream education system. The Sub-Committee is to discuss a new Draft Pre-School Education Act that includes regulation of issues of developmentally-challenged children; it was also resolved to hold a wider conference devoted to inclusion in primary schools before adopting new legislation on primary education.