Lumos Ukraine hosts launch of co-developed inclusive education course

22.06.2026

More than 800 educators, psychologists, and child welfare professionals across Ukraine joined Lumos Ukraine for the national launch of a new online course last month, designed to change how the country supports children with specialised educational needs.

The course, ‘How to Apply the International Classification of Functioning (ICF) in Education’, marks a shift in how those children are supported. Instead of starting with a diagnosis or a label, it asks professionals to look at a child’s strengths, needs, abilities, and the environmental factors shaping their ability to learn and participate.

A course built through collaboration

The course was developed jointly by Ukraine’s Ministry of Education and Science, national experts, and Lumos Ukraine, who coordinated the project from concept through to launch. Built on the EdEra platform, a Ukrainian education technology company, it is designed as a practical, hands-on tool for teachers, psychologists, and other professionals working directly with children.

The link between education and family separation

Lumos research consistently finds that a lack of access to safe, inclusive education in a child’s local area is one of the strongest drivers of family separation and institutional placement. Our 2023 Global Thematic Review on Education, ‘Learning Curves’, sets out the evidence for this link in detail.

In Ukraine, Lumos has worked with the Ministry of Education and Science to keep that access open even in active conflict zones, developing programmes that support children with disabilities so they may continue their education. This work matters more than ever, as armed conflict raises the risk of family separation, and keeping children in education is one of the most effective ways to help families stay together.

 It is extremely important for two major sectors, healthcare and education, to start speaking the same language. And this is not the language of diagnoses; it is the language of support. The ICF is about a child’s strengths, about what is preserved and about what support is required to unlock a child’s full potential.

– Anastasiia Konovalova, Deputy Minister of Education and Science for Ukraine

A shared language for health and education

“Ukraine is implementing a strategy to ensure every child’s right to grow up in a family environment… The international classification of functioning will help provide children with quality access to inclusive education by enabling a better understanding of their individual needs and the specific interventions and support measures that should be available to both the child and their family,” says Mykola Lytvynenko, Deputy Head of the Coordination Centre for family-based care and child support, Ukraine.

Around 100 of those attendees joined in person, with the approximately 700 professionals tuning in online. The audience included educators, psychologists, Inclusive Resource Centre specialists, and teaching assistants.

Inclusive education begins with understanding the needs and abilities of every child. This course helps introduce preventative measures to ensure that children with specialised educational needs and children with disabilities receive the highest quality support possible. What’s especially important is that this is truly a multi sectoral effort. During the development of the course, we brought together educators, healthcare professionals, social workers and specialists from Inclusive Resource Centres.

– Yaroslav Laguta, Country Director, Lumos Ukraine.

Donate today