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European Education Area

Quality education and training for all

Early childhood education and care in Europe: Welcoming children with disabilities or with migrant backgrounds

This event will discuss how ECEC staff and institutions can welcome children with disabilities or with migrant backgrounds.
15 October 2021

Quality ECEC is for everybody

On 15 October, the European Commission will host an online event on early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Europe.

This webinar is the final event in the series ‘Early childhood education and care in Europe’, initiated by Commissioner Gabriel at the launch event on 3 March 2021. 

It will discuss how ECEC staff and institutions can welcome children with disabilities or with migrant backgrounds, as well as means of ensuring the provision of inclusive and high-quality education and care to all young children, regardless of their individual or family circumstances.

Programme

For all sessions, questions can be asked in advance by writing to eac-et2020-wg-ecec@ec.europa.eu or during the event via Erasmus+ on Facebook.

Welcome

  • Michael Teutsch – Head of Unit, Schools and multilingualism, Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC), European Commission

Children with disabilities

Barriers and recommendations for the inclusion of children with disabilities in ECEC

  • Géraldine Libreau – Policy Officer, Schools and multilingualism, DG EAC, European Commission

The Inclusive Early Childhood Education (IECE) project

Find out more about the IECE project

  • Mary Kyriazopoulou – European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education

National strategies

  • Daniela Marrocchi - Italian Ministry of Education
  • Brigita Mark - Slovenian Ministry of Education

The AGORA project

Discover the AGORA project

  • Irene Bertana – European Association of Service providers for People with Disabilities (EASPD)

Children with a migrant background

Barriers and recommendations for the inclusion of children with a migrant background in ECEC

  • Géraldine Libreau - Policy Officer, Schools and multilingualism, DG EAC, European Commission
  • Ides Nicaise - University of Leuven, Belgium

The Erasmus+ project MyRef (Multilingual ECEC for young refugee children)

Read about the MyRef project

  • Jeroen Aarssen – Sardes BV / CPS, The Netherlands

The 'Kita-Einstieg' programme 

Learn about the 'Kita-Einstieg' programme 

  • Tobias Wandrei - Policy Advisor, Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, Germany

Conclusion

 

Follow the event online

Watch the online event live from 14:00-16:00 Central European Summer Time (CEST) on 15 October 2021!

You can also follow the event at:

The event will be held in English only. 

Background

At the ECEC in Europe launch event on 3 March 2021, Commissioner Gabriel presented the Toolkit for inclusive early childhood education and care

On 27 April, a first webinar examined further how to improve the availability, accessibility and affordability of ECEC. On 10 June, we discussed how to work with families and the whole community to make ECEC more inclusive. 

The Education and Training (ET) 2020 Working Group on early childhood education and care also published guidelines that examine the variety of professions and profiles working in ECEC settings, the need to recognise the value of their work, how to make the professions attractive and how well-trained staff contribute to high-quality ECEC.

The EU Quality Framework for ECEC, annexed to the 2019 Council Recommendation for High-Quality ECEC Systems, underlines the importance of setting up inclusive ECEC provision, to ensure equal access and the provision of quality education and care to all children, including those with disabilities or with migrant backgrounds. 

Finally, the European Pillar of Social Rights recalls in its principle 11 that “children from disadvantaged backgrounds have the right to specific measures to enhance equal opportunities”.

Towards a European Education Area

Early childhood education and care policy has a key role to play in the Commission’s vision to achieve a European Education Area by 2025, as outlined in the 2020 Commission Communication on Achieving the European Education Area by 2025. 

One of the dimensions of this vision focuses on fostering inclusive education across all levels and sectors of education and training. 

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