According to Denys Shmyhal, parents should have a choice: to send children with disabilities to schools with inclusive education or to specialized educational institutions.

This was stated by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal during a regular sitting of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on September 2. On the outcomes of the sitting, the Government has improved the procedure for enrolling children in institutions of institutional care and upbringing of children.

"This step is designed to preserve those institutions whose pupils cannot receive education in ordinary schools, even with the introduction of inclusion in secondary education," the Head of Government said.

The PM emphasized that the Government sees the need to maintain such specialized schools: “They will allow parents to decide whether to send children with disabilities to schools where there is an opportunity to study inclusively, or to specialized schools where education is specifically designed for such children with the opportunity of living there."

Minister of Social Policy Maryna Lazebna stressed that the Government does not intend to close boarding schools at once, but instead proposes to change the system of sending children to these institutions.

"With this decision, we propose to postpone the new rules for enrolling children in boarding schools for four months, inter alia, for the period of the first semester. Therefore, the child will be enrolled in a 24-hour stay in institutions, as now, by order of the head of the institution. We are also simplifying the procedure for enrolling certain categories of children in special schools without considering this issue at the commissions for the protection of children's rights, " Maryna Lazebna stressed.

Apart from that, the Cabinet of Ministers approved a draft resolution defining the provisions on elderly nursing homes.

"This is the beginning of systematic work to create decent conditions for the elderly people in such institutions: in the field of health care, leisure, and in everyday lives," the Prime Minister underscored.