Students with Reading Difficulties
The basic principles of state policy in education in Kazakhstan are equal rights for all to quality education and its accessibility regardless of the psycho-physiological and individual characteristics of each student.
Inclusive education implies inclusion of children with special educational needs in the regular educational environment and their integration into society. Persons with special educational needs include children with disabilities, migrant children, children of repatriated families, ethnic minorities, and children with difficulties in social adaptation in society.
In Kazakhstan there are preschool organizations and secondary schools that implement the program of inclusive education.
In accordance with Standard Rules for Operation of Educational Organizations of Primary, Basic Secondary, and General Secondary Education and consistent with interests of parents in educational institutions, classes are provided for children with developmental disabilities and regular children (there can be no more than two children with developmental disabilities in one class) or special classes according to the type of disability.17
According to the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Education, individual training at home free of charge is organized for citizens whose health condition does not allow them to attend the secondary education for long periods of time.18
Educational organizations can independently carry out the educational process using distance learning technologies. It is regulated by the Rules on Organization of Educational Process Using Distance Learning Technologies.19
Seminars for teachers and professionals working with blind and visually impaired children are organized at various levels around the country. They undergo special training on braille technique and methods of teaching children reading and writing based on embossed fonts. There are special books written in braille in school libraries. Educational institutions are equipped with specialized equipment for writing and studying and sets of special braille training and instructional materials.
The National Scientific and Practical Centre of Correctional Pedagogy includes a Montessori room. The center’s specialists are developing a training course on the Montessori method with the inclusion of video materials and practical exercises. The course is for teachers, speech pathologists, psychologists, and other specialists of correctional educational institutions. Training is held annually in the framework of the state system of professional development.