INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN RUSSIA: THE MEDICAL SUPPORT PROBLEM

Inclusive education is an issue to which Russia, as well as the rest of the world, has been paying great attention recently: state programs for developing a barrier-free environment are already functioning, quotas for admission to higher educational institutions are being allocated to people with special needs, and so forth. However, providing the efficient functioning of educational institutions for children with special needs remains the main issue. In this regard, medical support due to the special requirements of the educational process is crucial. The article presents the results of a nationwide monitoring of special educational institutions, during which almost 1800 medical workers and almost 400 heads of the education authorities of territorial entities of the Russian Federation were interviewed. The article includes the obtained information about the categories of medical workers employed in special institutions, the legal aspects of their work, material and technical equipment of medical rooms as well as a subjective assessment of the adequacy of the conditions for the effective medical support of children with disabilities in special needs institutions. The heads of the education authorities of territorial entities of the Russian Federation have also answered a number of questions related to the problems of medical support in special needs institutions. The results of the analysis of medical workers' and senior officials' responses give us an informative picture of the state of the medical support issue in special educational institutions of Russia.