Multicultural diversity and special needs educuation

This report is a summary of the results of the analysis conducted by the European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education (the Agency) focusing upon the topic of Special Needs Education and Immigration – a priority area for the Agency’s member countries. In 2005, the representatives from the ministries of education involved in the Agency expressed their interest in an investigation exploring this sensitive topic, with the centre of attention placed upon how to respond in the best way to the special educational needs of pupils coming from different cultures and very often using a different language than the one used in the host country. A total of 25 countries were involved in this analysis – Austria, Belgium (Flemish and French speaking communities), Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland (French and German speaking communities) and UK (England)