Arman Assanbayev, ADA Anniversary Inclusive Education Program fellow spoke on The Role of Disability Support Centers in Facilitating Inclusive Education in Kazakhstani Higher Educational Institutions, the Experience of the USA and Nazarbayev University for Ukrainian students. The online lecture has been the first step of international cooperation between international fellows since the COVID outbreak and can be considered the continuation of Without Borders: Sustaining and Supporting Inclusive Education Learning Community project conducted by Ukrainian fellows and supported by the Global Resource Center on Inclusive Education, Institute on Community Integration, University of Minnesota and newly created Ukrainian National Inclusive Edu­cation Consortium.

The online event was organized by Inclusive Education Lab in Ivano-Frankivsk college, Precarpathian national university, Ukraine. The students and teachers familiarized themselves with Kazakhstani education system, programs of studying and applying for grants in Nazarbayev university, statistics on disability, research in the field of inclusion, backgrounds and prospects of inclusive education, importance of equity, the fellow’s Grand Challenge, its outcomes and the recent renowned social project “Schools without Borders. 1+1”.

Arman’s plans and efforts to develop Disability Support Centers and transition services in his country caused interest and understanding of his Ukrainian counterparts. We found we can mutually benefit from the experience cooperating in providing university students with and without disabilities with relevant services concerning independent living, self sustainment and transition to employment. We hope that international cooperation between Ivano-Frankivsk college and Nazarbayev university will help remove barriers in education and employment for people with disabilities.

The students also learned about Arman’s research and community activity as well as his passion for philosophy and history, so we are ready to invite our Kazakhstan friend to lecture on these topics too. Рақмет, Arman, дякуємо!