Education International Research
Persons with disabilities are denied the right to education; we have a long way to go to provide inclusive education for all Data on persons with disabilities’ participation in education remain limited. However, a 2018 UIS analysis118 of 49 countries revealed that persons with disabilities are nearly always worse off than persons without disabilities: on average, the former are less likely to ever attend school, more likely to be out of school, less likely to complete primary or secondary education, more likely to complete fewer years of schooling, and less likely to possess basic literacy skills. Only 35% of 49 unions that responded to a 2018 EI survey on inclusive education119 indicated that children and youth with disabilities “mostly attend” primary school. Nineteen per cent (19%) of 47 respondents said that children and youth are kept at home specifically because of their gender. Eight of ten unions stated that girls are kept at home more often than boys, confirming other studies that have shown girls with disabilities to be disproportionately marginalised.120 Teacher training on inclusivity remains insufficient. Only 13.5% of 24 respondents confirmed that higher education teachers received training on inclusivity, while 72.5% of 40 unions said that training on inclusive education offered across all levels of education was not sufficient (see Figure 6 below).
Value
Percent
Count
Yes
10.0%
4
No
72.5%
29
In some cases
0.0%
0
I don’t know
17.5%
7 Total
40
Figure 7: Is teacher training on inclusivity sufficient? Source: EI. 2018. Are we there yet? Education Unions assess the bumpy road to inclusive education. p. 19. Retrieved from: https://issuu.com/educationinternational/docs/2018_eiresearch_disability_arewethe
GRO.EI-IE
Unions said that the accessibility resources and facilities available to children and young people were insufficient, especially in higher education, and they emphasised that the inclusiveness of learning environments varied considerably from school to school in primary and secondary education. This variation was due to geography, individual school budget management, and how funding for individual students was allocated by ministries to schools. Class sizes were said to be a key barrier to inclusion, as well as a lack of support staff. Forty-nine per cent (49%) of respondent unions said they had a specific policy on inclusive education, whilst others mainstreamed inclusivity across other policy areas. Some unions are engaged in campaigns for inclusive education. For example, the Japan Teachers’ Union has successfully changed the School Education Law to ensure that the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is respected and that children are able to attend special education institutions or mainstream schools.
0302 NOITA CUDE
118 119 120
51
UIS. 2018. Education and Disability: Analysis of Data from 49 countries. Information paper no 49. Retrieved from: http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/ documents/ip49-education-disability-2018-en.pdf Education International. 2018. Are we there yet? Education Unions assess the bumpy road to inclusive education. Retrieved from: https://issuu.com/ educationinternational/docs/2018_eiresearch_disability_arewethe United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative. (2017). Still left behind: Pathways to inclusive education for girls with disabilities. London, England: Leonard Cheshire Disability. Retrieved from www.ungei.org/Still_Left_Behind_Full_Report.PDF