Higher Education for the People with Disabilities in Russia: On the Path to the Inclusive Format

Abstract

The article describes the modern Russian educational “landscape” where people with disabilities can realize their right to education. Based on the data provided in the Monitoring conducted by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation (data for 2015), to analyze teaching models for the students with disabilities, we have chosen the higher education institutions where a number of students with disabilities exceeds 30. The data from the Monitoring were supplemented with the information which came from the websites of these educational organizations. It has been revealed that most of the selected higher education institutions fail to address the educational needs of the students with disabilities (or do not indicate such an orientation thereto) and accurately articulate the educational format. The higher education institutions which implement specialized, integrated, and inclusive education models and a “transitional” model from specialized to inclusive education appear to be more systematic in their teaching approaches for the challenged students. However, such higher education institutions do not constitute the majority. The key findings in the analysis allow us to perceive that today there exists the system of learning and training students with disabilities, with inclusivity being a property of a particular higher education institution rather than the institute of higher education as a whole.