Inclusive education became in the last decade a panacea for the educational reforms in many countries in Central and Eastern Europe. However, the definition of inclusive education provided by the UNESCO (UNESCO, 2009) differ from the practices in the selected countries - Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova and Romania - when it comes to education of two significant constituencies Roma and children with disability.

The objective of the symposium is to explore the different meanings associated with inclusive education by analysing the recent development in public education reforms in CEE from the perspective of desegregation and inclusive education. Reforms originates in the issues raised by two important constituencies in the region: Roma and and children with disabilities. From the Roma perspective the problem was racial segregation and inferior quality education (Rostas, 2012). From disability perspective was the exclusion from mainstream  education through the lack of accessibility, prejudices and discrimination, and accommodation of differences in special schools. (Berganu & Dyson, 2012; Hegarty & Alur, 2002) The common denominator for both groups was the denial of quality education. 

Human rights activists promoting equality in education for Roma and for children with disabilities have used different strategies to advocate for reforms, including litigation. There was limited correlation between the agenda of the two groups and they worked separately. The decision of the European Court of Human Rights on two cases of misdiagnosis of Roma children in special schools have lead to tensions between the two groups, as the litigation strategies and arguments were adversely constructed by the lawyers. We see these tensions as misleading, since education reforms have to take place in benefit of all children irrespective of ethnicity or disability and that it is the duty of the state to accommodate these differences within the public education systems.

As compared to other sectoral policies, for example health or employment, education was a privileged sector as regards investments. Nevertheless, research conducted by panelists indicate that policy-making in education was not evidence-based, decision were not informed by data collected from all stakeholders at grassroots level. Thus, we use the policy design theory (Schneider & Sidney, 2009) to argue that the content of these policies were insufficiently grounded and that the social construction of the two target groups were biased and non participatory.

The symposium is scheduled for 90 minutes, consisting of four presentation of 15 minutes each and 30 minutes of debates with the audience. Dr Ludmila Malcoci analyzes the determinants of the effective inclusive education of children with special education needs (SEN) in mainstream schools in Moldova and shows the positive impact deinstitutionalisation had over children with SEN. Dr Madalina Turza's paper analyses the inclusiveness of the education system in Romania from the children with disability perspective and identifies obstacles and policy failures in this regard. Dr Iulius Rostas compares the inclusiveness of the education systems in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania and the way educational policies considers Roma identity as an ingredient of inclusive education. Dr Andrew Ryder compares the impact of the litigation strategies in the Czech Republic and Hungary and explores ways in which educational reforms become inclusive for both Roma and children with SEN.

Ainscow, M., Haile-Giorgis, M. (1998) The Education of Children with Special Needs: Barriers and Opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe, Florence: UNICEF. Berhanu, G., Dyson, A., (2012) Special Education in Europe: Overrepresentation of Minority Students, in Banks, J. (ed.) Encyclopedia of Diversity in Education. (pp. 2071-2074). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Hegarty, S., Alur, M. (eds) (2002) Education and Children with Special Needs: from Segregation to Inclusion, New Delhi: Sage Publications. Rostas, I. (2012) Ten Years After: A History of Roma School Desegregation in Central and Eastern Europe, Budapest: CEU Press. Schneider A., Sidney, M. (2009) What Is Next for Policy Design and Social Construction Theory?, in The Policy Studies Journal, Vol. 37, No. 1, 2009. UNESCO (2009) Policy Guidelines on Inclusion in Education, Paris:UNESCO.