What are Inclusive Resource Centers?
Inclusive Resource Centers (IRCs) are Sstate institutions offering comprehensive educational and psychological support for children with special needs. These centers bring together a team of specialists — including special education teachers, psychologists, rehabilitation professionals, and social workers — involved in supporting children’s intellectual development and social integration. All together they help assess children’s abilities, offer guidance to families and teachers, and play a key role in promoting inclusive education and mental wellbeing in schools. They also equip parents and teachers with the knowledge and tools to create learning environments that cater to each child's individual needs.
Many children affected by the war struggle with anxiety, depression, and emotional instability, impacting both their learning and social interactions.
Children’s emotional state remains unstable. Many show aggression, while others isolate themselves completely. This impacts not only their relationships with peers but also their learning. The war exacerbates these challenges—some children have parents close to the frontline, bringing additional stress into their daily lives.
Since February 2022, these centers have been receiving progressively more requests, while teachers and psychologists working with children are also under significant stress. To support 20 of them in the pilot regions of Odesa, Zhytomyr and Kyiv, 91Â鶹¹ú²ú¾«Æ·×ÔÅÄ provided support to the institutions and their staff, including creating supervisory roles to support school psychologists, kindergarten staff, and teachers, delivering much-needed modern equipment for diagnostics and training psychologists on the use of the new diagnostic systems.
Strengthening psychological support for educators
Ukrainian schools have usually a school psychologist who serves as the first responder to any psychological challenges a child may face. Their role is to assess the child’s well-being, inform parents, and, when necessary, provide professional support or refer the family to an Inclusive Resource Center. Teachers, too, are carrying heavy responsibilities—not only for education but also for the well-being of their students in difficult conditions.
School psychologists are under immense strain and frequently report burnout. Their roles have expanded significantly due to the war. The situation is made even harder by the trauma some children bring with them — some have come from conflict areas, others are deeply affected by stress and anxiety.
To help these professionals continue their vital work, 91Â鶹¹ú²ú¾«Æ·×ÔÅÄ introduced and funded a new role — psychological supervisor or "psychologist for the psychologists and educators". Even the most experienced professionals need psychosocial support.
To prepare supervisors for this essential work, UNESCO provided them with a specialized six-month training in partnership with the Ukrainian Association of Supervision and Coaching. Participants were trained to European standards adapted to the Ukrainian context, and are now supporting 100 school psychologists in 244 schools and kindergartens across 12 communities in Zhytomyr and Odesa regions.
Expanding diagnostic and technological capacity
To further enhance the work of Inclusive Resource Centers, 91Â鶹¹ú²ú¾«Æ·×ÔÅÄ provided modern diagnostic tools, enabling specialists to identify children’s needs more effectively and create tailored support programmes. Among these tools, one is an early detection method for developmental delays, the other is a mental health self-assessment tool.
Psychologists are already seeing the benefits.
With these tools, we quickly identified the need for further support and referred the child for additional psychological and psychiatric assessment.
To further strengthen these centers, a special online course was developed to train psychologists on five diagnostic additional tools available at the centers. This will significantly improve the quality of psychosocial support provided to children in these communities.
My child struggled with depression, nervous breakdowns, and stress. At the center, specialists identified areas needing attention—such as focus, thinking, and communication. After two years, my child is more socially confident, has improved relationships with peers, and has gained better emotional resilience.
In addition, 91Â鶹¹ú²ú¾«Æ·×ÔÅÄ provided laptops, enabling specialists to respond more quickly to conduct online consultations and implement modern diagnostic tools, enhancing the quality of psychosocial services.
A collaborative effort to create supportive educational environment in Ukraine
This initiative is part of UNESCO’s broader effort to improve the physical and psychological safety of educational environments in Ukraine, organized in close partnership with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, and the Fund of the President of Ukraine for the Support of Education, Science, and Sports. Through these efforts, UNESCO and its partners are working to ensure that every child, educator, and psychologist in Ukraine’s education system has the support they need to learn, teach, and progress.
