On 29 October, Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise and her advisers met with Maarja Krais-Leosk, CEO of the Estonian Chamber of Disabled People, to discuss the Chamber’s petition concerning the right to education for children with special needs.

Together they reaffirmed the understanding that every child in Estonia is valuable, and as a state we must do everything to ensure that children can fully realize their potential, and that bureaucratic obstacles, societal attitudes, and lack of resources do not force children with special needs into home schooling or exclude them from the education system altogether. Maarja Krais-Leosk shared good practices and positive examples of how special needs education has been successfully organized in some places. It was jointly agreed that such commendable examples can serve as a model to improve the accessibility and quality of education elsewhere as well. At the end of the meeting, the parties agreed on the next steps and committed to continue working within their mandates to promote and spread this exemplary message.