Inclusive Education

Inclusive Education Sun Lei Education Programme Coordinator UNESCO in Viet Nam 18 October 2011 Danang, Viet Nam

A brief history • “Regular schools with an inclusive orientation are the most effective means of combating discriminatory attitudes, creating welcoming communities, building an inclusive society and achieving education for all…” Salamanca World Conference on Special Needs Education, 1994 “Education systems must be inclusive, actively seeking out children who are not enrolled, and responding flexibly to the circumstances and needs of all learners...” Dakar World Education Forum, 2000

SALAMANCA FRAMEWORK • Upholds the right of every child to education • Accepts that it is the responsibility of the national education system to provide quality education to all children • Works to meet the diverse needs of every child • Welcomes diversity in the school and the classroom • Proactively seeks out-of-school children • Willingly accepts them

Education for all 1990 Jomtien World Conference on ‘Education For All’ Goal of the Framework for Action to Meet Basic Learning Needs: Universal primary Education No focus on children with disabilities 2000 Dakar Framework for Action on ‘Education For All’ 6 goals and targets set for achievement by 2015 National EFA Plans by 2002 There was a call for ‘inclusive approaches’ to address the needs of ‘the poor and the most disadvantaged’

MDGs Two Goals address early childhood education and primary education No reference to persons with disabilities in the MDG framework The Goals will not be met unless children with disabilities are included in schools in national education systems

CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES Article 24: Education places a legal obligation on government to ensure that all persons with disabilities have access to inclusive education within national education systems at all levels. It also requires that appropriate teacher education is undertaken to ensure that all students with disabilities have access to necessary accommodations, appropriate learning methods, communication modes and formats

Government obligations linked to the right to education: • Availability: education must be available • the right to free and compulsory education to all school-age children up to minimum age of employment • the right to the establishment of schools • respect parental freedom to choose education for their children • Accessibility: education must be accessible • progressively expanded access to post-compulsory education as circumstances permit • elimination of exclusion from education based on internationally prohibited grounds of discrimination • eliminate gender and racial discrimination in education • Acceptability • to set minimum standards for the learning materials, methods of instruction, school discipline, health and safety, and professional requirements for teachers • to improve the quality of education by ensuring that the entire education system conforms to all human rights standards

What is Inclusive Education? • A strategy to implement a rights-based approach to education. • Based on human rights principles of equality and non-discrimination. • Acknowledges and respects that all people are different and diverse. • A process of addressing the diverse needs of all learners by reducing barriers to and within the learning environment. • Targets all children with a specific focus on those who are vulnerable to marginalisation and exclusion.

Inclusive education : global, regional and national agendas moving towards the mindset and holistic transformation of the education systems (from vision to practices) • Inclusive curricula as a powerful tool for inclusion moving towards addressing the needs of all learners from a life-long perspective

Why Inclusive Education • 60+ Million out of school children; 20-30M with disabilities (Countless others excluded within education systems) Global Situation from the 2006 Global Monitoring Report: • 771 Million illiterate adults • 47/163 countries have achieved UPE, 20 additional ones are on track to reaching UPE by 2015 • 44 are making progress but unlikely to achieve goal of UPE • 23 countries are off track • Strained education systems from high fertility rates, HIV/AIDS, and armed conflict. • Total aid to basic education is only 2.6% of Official Development Assistance.

Those excluded from education are often simply not seen. • If seen, they are often not counted. • If counted, they are often not served • If served, they are often served badly. • Inclusive education means making visible the invisible and ensuring that all learners fulfill their right to an education of good quality.

In brief: APPROACH: • Inclusive education is a process of addressing and responding to the diverse needs of all learners by increasing participation in learning and reducing exclusion within and from education. OBJECTIVE: • To support education for all, with special emphasis on removing barriers to participation and learning for girls and women, disadvantaged groups, children with disabilities and out-of-school children GOAL: • A school where all children are participating and treated equally

Who • “The key challenge is to ensure that the broad vision of Education for All as an inclusive concept is reflected in national government and funding agency policies. Education for All ... must take account of the need of the poor and the most disadvantaged, including working children, remote rural dwellers and nomads, and ethnic and linguistic minorities, children, young people and adults affected by conflict, HIV/AIDS, hunger and poor health; and those with special learning needs...” • The Dakar Framework for Action - Education for All: Meeting Our Collective Commitments, Expanded Commentary, para. 19. • Categories of children that are often excluded from education vary between and within countries, but unfortunately little comparative data is available in EFA assessments and education statistics.

Implication on the education system • Policy development • Have a clear definition in policy statements and links to the national EFA process • Curriculum development • Make learning meaningful, relevant and content linked to the learner’s life situation • Teacher training • Create teaching and learning friendly environments and methods

Education information and management systems: Improve data collection, database analysis and monitoring capacity • Local capacity building: Build effective support mechanisms and mobilize local resources • Community involvement: Create space for community participation and ownership

International Conference on Education: 25-28 November 2008 “ Inclusive Education: the way of the future, making education inclusive • Approaches, scope and content • Public policies • Systems, links and transitions • Learners and teachers

UNESCO in Asia and Pacific • Toolkit for Creating Inclusive, Learning-Friendly Environments (ILFE) • Mother-Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MLE) • Asia Multilingual Education Working Group • International Conference on Language, Education and MDGs • Regional MLE Mapping Exercise • MLE Framework Analysis • Gender Equality in Education • Advocacy and policy dialogue • Training • Research • Networking and partnership (e.g. UNGEI) • Institutional analysis and capacity-building

Promoting Inclusive Education in Lao PDR • Development of the IE Policy • Localization of the ILFE toolkit • Training by Master Trainers on IE using the ILFE toolkit for selected teacher educators • Training on IE using the ILFE toolkit in primary and secondary schools in the poor provinces

Human-Rights-Based- Approach to Education: Training of senior officials of the Ministry of Education in Thailand, 9-12 March 2011

UNESCO work in IE in Vietnam Equity and quality, focusing on the disadvantaged groups • Policy and planning • Teachers • Curriculum • Research, case studies on IE to showcase innovative practices, identify learning barriers, to provide evidences for policy making, planning and implementation • Scale up the use of IFLE • Advocacy • Networking and partnership: introducing global and regional good practices into VN and outside

THANK YOU

Inclusive Education