The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs’ Convention on Inclusion took place for the third time. This year it was held at Berlin Congress-Centrum from November 24^th -26^th. Chair members Dr. Peter Wachtel and Marianne Schardt represented the German Association for Special Education.
24 workshops in total served as forum for preliminary discussion and an exchange of views on the development of the National Action Plan. The symposium on “Inclusive Education” was the focal point on day three of the convention.

Within the workshops participants from various vocational and social fields of action formed small work groups and seized the opportunity to work out suggestions and demands addressed to the host and to present these to the plenum. Representatives of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs welcomed the results as valuable means for the further development of the Nation Action Plan. Besides the lively discussions within the workshops, talks “aside” were of particular interest – as usual at major events like this.

Conversations were held with representatives of the Association for the Blind and Partially-sighted, the Primary School Association, the “Lernen Fördern” Association and further cooperative associations.

Peter Wachtel and Marianne Schardt were able to introduce the positions of the Association for Special Education firmly at several levels of opinion formation.

The Symposium on Inclusive Education took pace on day three of the convention. Prof. Dr. Rolf Werning of Hannover University held the opening talk on “The current stage of proceedings from a science point of view”.

Subsequently selected experts of both Federal Ministries of Labour and Social Affairs, and Education and Research, the German Rectors’ Conference, the Deutsches Studentenwerk, the German Youth Institute as well as experts from various associations discussed the following three issues:

Inclusive education has been around for a while. What issues have proved worthy in terms of the implementation of inclusive education? Where are its boundaries? What is worth keeping and being developed further?

In the implementation process of inclusive education there is always the danger of resigning from the complexity of challenges or frittering in the diversity of tasks. What are the biggest difficulties/ obstructions in the implementation of inclusive education? What are the priority options for action?

Concerning the implementation of inclusive education there are still large knowledge gaps in several fields of action. Which questions must be answered preferentially – and by whom?

As in previous years the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs will make the results of the “Inclusion days” open to the public.

Marianne Schardt

Translation: Ruth Stang