Planting the seeds for inclusive education: One resource centre at a time

A Non-Government Organisation (NGO) in Kazakhstan introduced a pilot project to support schools through school-based resource centres for inclusive education as requested by the Ministry of Education and Science (MoES). This initiative came about as a way to support the State Program for the Development of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2016-2019 (MoES) that set the goal of having 70% of mainstream schools inclusive by the end of 2018. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how school-based resource centres are assisting in the development of creating conditions for inclusive education in mainstream schools of Nur-Sultan City. Data was collected using 22 one-to-one interviews with resource centre staff, teachers, parents of SEN students, school specialists and principals thus giving voice to all stakeholders. The main findings of the study were the positive impacts of resource centres in contributing to the continued development of inclusive education in Kazakhstan. Other findings revealed areas for further improvement in order to sustain and grow this initiative. These findings have implications for further detailing policy outlining a focused and practical plan for the continued development and reform of inclusive education beyond the capital city.