Inclusion is an integral part of the New Educational Space creation. Today, 514 classes with inclusive education have been established in hub schools, and over 2,000 pupils with special educational needs are studying there, said Hennadii Zubko, Vice Prime Minister – Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine, during the conference call on reforming education within the framework of decentralisation.

According to him, a subvention for children with special educational needs comes from the state budget for the second year in a row. In addition to inclusive classes and state subventions to local budgets in the amount of UAH 300 million in support of people with special educational needs, the issue of creation of inclusive and resource centres (IRCs) is acute.

"Last year, 112 IRCs were opened. In 2018, according to the needs of children, it is planned to open about 500 inclusive and resource centres (1 centre for 7 thousand children in rural areas, 12 thousand – in cities, city districts). And this is a priority task for local self-government bodies this year," said Hennadii Zubko.

The Vice Prime Minister stressed that very few educational institutions are architecturally accessible to children with special needs above the ground floor. Extremely little attention is paid to the accessibility of school yards (accessibility of entrances, parking places for persons with disabilities (including transportation of children in wheelchairs), equipment of sports grounds for children with disabilities, presence of special toilet rooms, accessibility of corridors, etc.

"Once again I want to emphasise that the issue of implementing educational reform and the issue of state support is the responsibility of the central government. Ensuring accessibility and creation of the appropriate infrastructure of educational institutions to meet the educational and household needs of children living in certain territories belong to the authority of local self-government bodies," noted Hennadii Zubko.

He informed that as of 1 January 2018, the access to the first floor of the educational institutions was provided by 100% in the Volyn, Luhansk, Khmelnytskyi, Chernihiv and Chernivtsi Oblasts. The lowest figure – 58% – is observed in the Poltava Oblast. At the same time, the Vinnytsia Oblast is the leader by the number of institutions, with 766 of them. In terms of toilet rooms equipped for people with disabilities – most of them – 65 – are equipped in the Donetsk Oblast, and the least – in the Ternopil and Chernivtsi Oblasts with one equipped toilet room in each respectively (as of 20 September 2017).