Reaching the marginalized: EFA global monitoring report, 2010; 2010

0120CHAPTER 3Education for All Global Monitoring Report‘We welcomechildren withdisabilities nowbecausewe know thatthey have thesame rightto educationas the others.’Teacher,NicaraguaGovernments across the world have recognizedthat inclusive education for people with disabilitiesis a human rights imperative. The Conventionon the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, whichcame into force in 2008, has strengthened theentitlements and rights of those with disabilities.It requires governments to ensure that peoplewith disabilities have access to ‘an inclusive,quality and free primary education and secondaryeducation on an equal basis with others in thecommunities in which they live’ (United Nations,2008. Article 24, para. 2b). As of September 2009,seventy countries had ratified the convention.Putting the principles of inclusive education intopractice requires action at many levels, startingwith information. Most developing countrieshave poor data on the number of children withdisabilities or the incidence of specific impairments.Government estimates are often inconsistent,reflecting not only problems in monitoring andrecording but also, in many cases, the invisibilityof people with disabilities and the indifference ofpolitical leaders (USAID, 2005). Some countriesare working actively to strengthen the monitoringof disability. One example comes from the UnitedRepublic of Tanzania, where a 2008 survey provideda detailed profile of the prevalence, distributionand pattern of impairments across the country.It found marked regional disparities and a higherincidence of disability in rural areas (UnitedRepublic of Tanzania Government, 2009).Approaches to reaching people with disabilitiesvary. Many governments, parents and groupsrepresenting them continue to view special schoolsas the most viable option (Lang and Murangira,2009). One survey in Uganda found that disabilitygroups and parents favoured this approachpartly out of concern about overcrowding andpoor resourcing in standard schools (Lang andMurangira, 2009). In some cases, children withsevere impairments do need education inspecialized institutions. However, special schoolscan reinforce social exclusion, denying childrenwith disabilities the opportunity to interact withtheir peers who do not have disabilities, reinforcingstereotypes and segmentation in the process.Integrating children with disabilities into thestandard education system is a preferred policyoption because it can break down the segregationthat reinforces stereotypes. But integration is nota panacea. Children with severe disabilities mayrequire highly specialized support. Moreover,integrating children with disabilities into poorlyresourced, overcrowded schools with restrictedaccess to toilets and other facilities is not aprescription for inclusive education, especially whenteachers are not equipped to meet their needs.Placing deaf children in schools where none of theteachers can communicate in sign language will dolittle to alleviate their disadvantages. And very fewschools in the poorest countries, or even in middleincomecountries, have access to Braille textbooksor teachers able to teach Braille. It is thereforecritical that moves towards integration are part ofa broader strategy encompassing teacher training,school financing and other measures.Several countries are developing educationsystems that are more responsive to the needsof children with disabilities. The Lao People’sDemocratic Republic has a network of 539 schools– three for each district in every municipality andprovince – that teach children with disabilitiesalongside their peers and provide specializedsupport. The schools give children with specialneeds opportunities to learn in an inclusiveenvironment, partly through investment inspecialized teacher training. The experienceaccumulated through the programme is informingwider school reforms (Grimes, 2009). In SouthAfrica, the focus has shifted from special schoolsto inclusive education in mainstream schools.Authorities have to identify the level of supportrequired by individual learners with disabilities(South Africa Department of Education, 2005;Stofile, 2008). Research in Eastern Cape, oneof the poorest provinces, found that inclusiveeducation produced significant gains, ranging fromimproved physical access to support for specializedteaching practices and increased admission oflearners with disabilities (Stofile, 2008).Non-government organizations have played animportant part and in many poor countries arethe primary source of education for childrenwith disabilities. Through active engagementwith children with disabilities, their parents andeducation authorities, such groups are producingresults that demonstrate what is possible. In2003, a Bangladeshi non-government organization,BRAC, established a pre-school and primaryeducation programme aimed at increasingparticipation by children with mild special needs.Training teachers, providing equipment, adaptingthe curriculum and improving physical access,it had reached about 25,000 children by 2006(Ryan et al., 2007).202