1. Inclusive education as a global development policy

• In Event: Highlighted session: Inclusion and diversity in educational practices, policies, and systems

Proposal

Sustainable Development Goal 4 - Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning – is one of the 17 goals of the process known as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Transforming our World. The authors will discuss the concept of inclusive education as a human-rights based framework for education, a right in itself, and the vehicle by which all other rights can be fulfilled, and will provide a brief summary of the benefits of inclusive education, and how Goal 4 can help end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all.

Inclusive Education was first described in the Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special Needs Education, in 1994, and endorsed by 92 governments and 25 organizations that committed themselves to its implementation. Since then, discourse related to inclusive education has gained momentum and has progressed from a moral imperative to global policy, but many children remain out of school, with as many as one third of all children out of school thought to be children with disabilities.

Inclusive education, while widely discussed since 1994, has been a difficult concept to define in policy, and implement. However, the UNCRPD Article 24 General Comment n.4 – The Right to (Inclusive) Education, approved and disseminated one year ago (2 September 2016) provides an interpretation of the provisions and obligations of Article 24 of the CRPD, clarifying its contents and intention. The UNCRPD Article 24 General Comment n.4 – The Right to (Inclusive) Education is the de facto global development policy on inclusive education. The chapter will provide a short summary of its contents as well as some examples of how governments are utilizing the UNCRPD Article 24 General Comment n.4 – The Right to (Inclusive) Education to address education for all children (and not just for children with disabilities).

The author will close the chapter with a brief analysis of some of the most common barriers to implementation of the policy, particularly those that are most visible in low income countries and urgently need attention, such as: Delivery of education, stigma and discrimination, limited data and research, teacher education, reasonable accommodation and individualized support obligations, quality of education and (re)allocation of resources.

Author

• Paula Frederica Hunt, DED Lda