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Paper short abstract:

This paper offers insights into the context specific perceptions of inclusive education and experiences of children with disabilities, their parents, NGOs of/for disabled people and other stakeholders in Kazakhstan.

Paper long abstract:

The paper will present the implementation of inclusive early childhood education in Kazakhstan. The review of early childhood education substantiated with the statistics of inclusive early childhood education of independent Kazakhstan demonstrates lack of awareness among the parents of children aged 0-6 about the significance of early childhood education and what inclusive education is. The literature review with regards to Kazakhstani inclusive education shows that the legislation is weak, the implementation of inclusive education is inconsistent which seems to be weakened with the limited human and financial resources, inefficient pre-service and in-service teacher training, and passive society and private sector toward inclusive education.

It is argued that the success of inclusive education depends on the contextual factors and how its philosophy and values embedded into domestic culture and values. The reason for underdeveloped inclusive early childhood education in Kazakhstan is also contextual and expounded by range of factors, including political, economic and social variables. Based on the analysis of secondary data and the legal framework of Kazakhstan, I argue that the gap in early childhood education in the ninety’s echoes in the present practice as the inefficient implementation of inclusive early childhood education. This paper, evidenced from the secondary data analyses, attempts to demonstrate that multi-layers barriers in the implementation of inclusive early childhood education in Kazakhstan with an emphasis on the generation barrier. Having this prominence in mind, I emphasise the need for policymakers to research the insights for a better adaptation of the international standards on inclusive education.