What do coherent financing mechanisms for systems for inclusive education look like? Which critical levers impact upon the effectiveness of funding policy mechanisms to reduce disparities in education? These are among the key questions in the Financing Policies for Inclusive Education Systems (FPIES) partnership project, running from 2016 to 2018.

FPIES is based on direct co-operation between the Ministries of Education in Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Slovenia, the Universitat Ramon Llull (Barcelona) and the Agency. In the next phase of the project, each of the six partner ministries will host a Country Study Visit. These visits will give key national stakeholders and FPIES project partners the opportunity to examine different educational funding approaches.

Peer-learning approach

During the Country Study Visits, information will be gathered using a ‘peer-learning’ approach, which is a new and innovative way of working for the Agency. This methodology has proved to be effective in supporting policy-makers to objectively review their country policy and practice. The approach is geared towards facilitating self-review and experience exchange that will support longer-term policy development and implementation. The findings collected and analysed from across the six visits will lead to the development of a policy guidance framework. This will present ‘state-of-the-art’ information for policy-makers dealing with the financing of inclusive education.

Ahead of each visit, the host country will produce a detailed report about the funding mechanisms in its inclusive education system. A further report will be produced after each visit, presenting the visit discussions and analysing key issues in the country’s system of financing inclusive education.

The first Country Study Visit will take place in Norway from 23 to 25 November.

Further information

FPIES is funded by the European Commission’s Erasmus+ Key Action 3 ‘Forward-Looking Cooperation Projects’ framework. More information is available on the project web area and on the European Commission’s dedicated project area.

Written by Gabriella Gombar