Equal Opportunities for all Albanian Learners

Abstract

Inclusive education guarantees the right of education for every child despite their physical and/or mental disabilities. In other words inclusion aims at placement of special education students in general classrooms giving learners equal possibilities of education within the differences in their abilities to learn. Unfortunately, the implementation of inclusive education in Albania is still facing lots of difficulties. Traditionally, Albanian children with disabilities are segregated into separate learning environments. However, during the last two decades attempts are made to integrate them in the mainstream education. Although we are far from a successful implementation of inclusive education we consider it as very important since it maximizes the learning experiences of both mainstream and disabled learners. In this paper, the factors related to the inclusion of learners with disabilities in the mainstream education are discussed. Drafting of an inclusive curriculum which is the same for all schools and all learners, whether they are in mainstream or special schools is considered as crucial. The paper raises the questions of changing the attitude of educators in regard to learners with disabilities, increasing their professional knowledge about the learning differences as well as highlighting the tools of how to address each of them so that equal possibility to gain knowledge within the limits of capability are given to all learners. The significance and relevant effects of these factors will be the basis of the conclusion of this paper.