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Right from the start: build inclusive societies through inclusive early childhood education

GLOBAL EDUCATION MONITORING REPORT TEAM
July 2021

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Early childhood education has the potential to expand opportunities for disadvantaged children, provided that programmes use inclusion as a guiding principle. While the international community has committed to inclusive education, countries vary in their efforts to extend this goal to early childhood. Universal access is the basis of inclusion, and countries must address barriers related to socio-economic status, ethnicity, gender, language, disability and remoteness. Cooperation among multiple actors to identify special needs early and provide integrated services is needed, as are inclusive curricula that support children’s socioemotional development and identity formation. Finally, educators must be given the knowledge, training, and support to implement inclusive practices and work with families from all backgrounds

 

Policy paper 46.

Ensuring the right to quality inclusive education for persons with disabilities: From commitment to action

UNESCO
November 2020

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The international symposium "Ensuring the right to quality inclusive education for persons with disabilities: From commitment to action", co-organized by UNESCO, the Leonard Cheshire, and the Ministry of Education of Portugal brought together a wide range of stakeholders across the globe to discuss progress, successes achieved and challenges to ensure full participation and access to quality learning opportunities for all learners.

The symposium aims were to:

  • review persisting, as well as new challenges, due to the COVID-19 pandemic that are hindering the fulfilment of the right to inclusive education for learners with disabilities.
  • facilitate the exchange of experiences on factors influencing successful inclusive policies and practices for learners with disabilities and strengthen dialogue and cooperation amongst stakeholders at policy and practice levels.
  • explore how the inclusion of learners with disabilities in inclusive settings can be more effectively addressed by governments with regards to the commitments of Article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the CRPD General Comment 4 on article 24, and Sustainable Development 4 SDG 4, to ‘ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

The programme included:

Opening session - Accelerating efforts towards inclusive education for learners with disabilities. (Video recording: English - French - Spanish)

Session 1 - From legislation to inclusive practices: Re-designing policy frameworks, funding and monitoring arrangements across sectors for inclusive education for learners with disabilities. (Video recording: English - French - Spanish)

Session 2 - Revisiting the teaching and learning process to ensure access and participation of learners with disabilities.

Session 3 - Moving towards inclusive and safe learning environments, including by addressing violence and bullying against learners with disabilities.
 

Closing session - Rebuilding a Stronger Global Disability Inclusive Education System post COVID-19. (Video recording: English - French - Spanish)

Inclusion and education: All means all. Global Education Monitoring (GEM) report 2020

GLOBAL EDUCATION MONITORING REPORT TEAM
June 2020

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The 2020 GEM Report assesses progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) on education and its ten targets, as well as other related education targets in the SDG agenda. The Report also addresses inclusion in education, drawing attention to all those excluded from education, because of background or ability. The Report is motivated by the explicit reference to inclusion in the 2015 Incheon Declaration, and the call to ensure an inclusive and equitable quality education in the formulation of SDG 4, the global goal for education. It reminds us that, no matter what argument may be built to the contrary, we have a moral imperative to ensure every child has a right to an appropriate education of high quality.

The Report also explores the challenges holding us back from achieving this vision and demonstrates concrete policy examples from countries managing to tackle them with success. These include differing understandings of the word inclusion, lack of teacher support, absence of data on those excluded from education, inappropriate infrastructure, persistence of parallel systems and special schools, lack of political will and community support, untargeted finance, uncoordinated governance, multiple but inconsistent laws, and policies that are not being followed through.

Profiles Enhancing Education Reviews (PEER)

GLOBAL EDUCATION MONITORING REPORT TEAM
June 2020

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The PEER on-line tool has been designed to support the monitoring of national education laws and policies. It provides systematic, comprehensive information on laws and policies for every country in the world and is meant to support policy dialogue and peer learning.

The first set of country profiles cover inclusion and education, the theme of the 2020 GEM Report

Amplifying the voices of women and girls with disabilities in Zimbabwe

UNESCO OFFICE HARARE
LEONARD CHESHIRE DISABILITY (ZIMBABWE)
AFRICA COMMUNITY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTRE
2020

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This qualitative study on the aspirations, needs and concerns of women and girls with disabilities in Zimbabwe seeks to contribute to the growing knowledge on women and girls with disabilities globally, as well as to contribute to the ongoing dialogue on advancing the implementation of the CPRD in Zimbabwe

 

The specific aims were to:

  • Assess the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of women and girls with disabilities
  • Identify the aspirations of women and girls with disabilities from marginalized areas
  • Describe the needs and concerns of women and girls with disabilities for equitable participation in public life
  • Assess how current development interventions are responding to the needs of women and girls with disabilities, specifically SRH and GBV services delivery
  • Hear from women and girls with disabilities on practical recommendations for the advancement of disability rights and improving justice, SRH and GBV service delivery that meets their needs

 

The approach and methodology were designed with a view to gathering first-hand information and verbatim from an estimated 261 women and girls with disabilities, and from other stakeholders interviewed in marginalized areas, namely caregivers, OPDs, NGOs, traditional leaders, community cadres, and government officials. The study design was also guided by a range of participatory approaches that enabled women with diverse disability types to effectively participate in the qualitative study.

Harmful cultural beliefs and practices, stigma and discrimination towards women and girls with disabilities: a toolkit for change

UNESCO OFFICE HARARE
UNITED NATIONS PARTNERSHIP TO PROMOTE THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
2020

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This toolkit serves to highlight the intersection between gender, culture and disability. Following the completion of a study titled Advancing the rights of women and girls with disabilities in Zimbabwe, a review of the interface of culture, gender and disability in Zimbabwe, it was evident that there were cultural and social issues not being adequately addressed in communities. 

This toolkit was formulated based on the study findings, dialogue with key disability stakeholders and principles of the CRPD.

The following is a list of the key articles from the CRPD that form the base of this toolkit:

  • Article 3: General principles (8 in total)
  • Article 6: Women with disabilities
  • Article 8: Awareness raising
  • Article 13: Access to justice
  • Article 23: Respect for home and the family
  • Article 25: Health

This toolkit strives to empower the trainer and the trainee(s) on the virtues encapsulated in the CRPD by localizing the concepts at community level in Zimbabwe.

Global education monitoring report, 2020, Latin America and the Caribbean: inclusion and education: all means all

GLOBAL EDUCATION MONITORING REPORT TEAM
LABORATORY OF EDUCATION RESEARCH AND INNOVATION FOR LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN (SUMMA)
UNESCO OFFICE SANTIAGO AND REGIONAL BUREAU FOR EDUCATION IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN (OREALC/UNESCO)
2020

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This regional report on inclusion and education in Latin America and the Caribbean offers a deep dive into the core challenges and key solutions for greater inclusion, in a region characterized for having the largest and most challenging socio-economic inequalities in the world.

In the framework of this report, 29 in-depth case studies from the region covering 8 dimensions of exclusion were prepared. The Report covers access to education of Venezuelan migrants in Colombia and Haitians in Dominican Republic; remoteness in Suriname and Brazil; disability in Nicaragua; girls in Peru and boys in Jamaica; sexual orientation in Mexico and Chile; and youth incarceration in Uruguay. It also explores how the Covid-19 pandemic has further exposed and deepened the disparities that already existed in education.

Chapter 2 analyses the role of legal tools in supporting the development of inclusive education. Chapter 3 addresses governance and finance. Chapter 4 discusses the politically complicated issue of how curricula and learning materials are adapted to the principles of inclusive education. Chapter 5 looks at ways teachers can support the case for inclusion, considers their needs, and examines how well governments help them prepare to meet the inclusion challenge.  Chapter 6 examines school-level factors. Chapter 7 examines communities’ crucial role in achieving inclusive education. After these chapters addressing the main inclusion challenges, Chapter 8 looks at them all through the lens of COVID-19. 

State of the Education Report for India 2019: Children with disabilities

RAMCHAND, Mythili
et al
July 2019

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The past twenty years in India have seen significant legal and political commitments towards universalization of education and the right to education. This report documents the considerable effort undertaken in the country to protect the right to education of children with disabilities (CWD) and outlines what remains to be done to achieve its full realization. 

The report is based on extensive research of national and international literature and attempts to provide comprehensive information on the current status of education of CWDs, evidence of achievements and continuing concerns. It extensively draws upon a series of thematic research studies between 2017 and 2018. 

The report has taken a participatory approach with contributions, in the form of case studies, from specialists and those working directly in the field. 

Seeing the invisible: Sexuality-related knowledge, attitudes and behavior of children and youth with disabilities in China

SHANGHAI INSITITUTE OF PLANNED PARENTHOOD RESEARCH (SIPPR)
UNESCO
HUMANITY & INCLUSION (HI)
2019

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Young people with disabilities have the same right to Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) as their peers without disabilities, but their needs and rights are often overlooked. This study examines the SRH status of young people with disabilities in China. In particular, the study explored the sexuality-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of young people with disabilities as well as their access to sexuality-related information, education and services. The findings of the study are intended to provide evidence to support decision-making by government agencies, educators, development workers and other relevant stakeholders regarding developing and implementing disability-inclusive SRH and sexuality education policies and programmes for young people in China.

The study, using quantitative and qualitative methods, was conducted in 2015 among unmarried young persons aged 12 to 24 living with visual, hearing, physical and intellectual disabilities, in both urban and rural areas. The analysis was based on data collected through 707 completed valid questionnaires, 20 group interviews and 35 individual interviews with young people with disabilities, and individual interviews with 60 parents and teachers, along with one case study.

Delivering together for inclusive development: digital access to Information and knowledge for persons with disabilities

DARVISHY, Alireza
EROCAL, Deniz
MANNING, Juliet
2019

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This report focuses on digital inclusion as it relates to four of the 17 Goals for the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda:

  • SDG 9 - Innovation, Industry, and Infrastructure
  • SDG 16 - Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
  • SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals
  • SDG 4 - Quality Education

For each of the goals, a number of major challenges and key recommendations are defined. Finally, general recommendations are given for improving global digital inclusion overall.
 

Right to education handbook

RIGHT TO EDUCATION INITIATIVE (RTE)
UNESCO
January 2019

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This handbook was developed to guide action on ensuring full compliance with the right to education. The aim of this handbook is to facilitate the realisation and universal enjoyment of the right to education. Its objective is not to present the right to education as an abstract, conceptual, or purely legal concept, but rather to be action-oriented. Where possible, practical guidance is given on how to implement and monitor the right to education along with recommendations to overcome persistent barriers. 

 

The section on special protection of the right of education of marginalised groups contains content concerning people with disabilities. Access to education is also covered.

Scoping Progress in Education

GLOBAL EDUCATION MONITORING TEAM
2019

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Scoping Progress in Education (SCOPE) brings together administrative data, household surveys, learning assessments and education finance from various data producers, notably the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, to explore the progress made towards SDG 4, the global education goal.

It complements the printed edition of the Global Education Monitoring Report, enabling users to interact with the data to understand the achievements and challenges of countries and regions as they aim to reach the targets. Shareable and downloadable, users can create images and data files to explore further, print, or use online or in presentations

4th global report on adult learning and education: leave no one behind: participation, equity and inclusion

UNESCO INSTITUTE FOR LIFELONG LEARNING
2019

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This report explores participation in adult learning and education from the perspective of equity and inclusion. The first part tracks progress in adult learning and education against the Belém Framework for Action, adopted in 2009, on the basis of the GRALE (Global Report on Adult Learning and Education) survey; the second offers a detailed thematic analysis of participation, drawing on the survey findings, but also a wide range of other relevant sources. The findings of GRALE 4 are based on survey responses supplied by 159 countries.

GEM report summary on disabilities and education

UNESCO
2018

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In support of the run-up to the 2020 GEM Report on inclusion and education, this paper contains summarised content related to disabilities and education in previous Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Reports since 2010. Reports cited from 2010 and 2015 monitored countries in the Global South. The GEM Report started monitoring countries in the Global North from the 2016 Report onwards only.

 

Topics covered include: compliance monitoring; the role of civil society organisations; lack of data; marginalisation; data on primary school attendance; intersection with other disadvantages; different education related challenges; and ten education policies to counteract marginalisation.

Global education monitoring report, 2019: migration, displacement and education: building bridges, not walls

UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION (UNESCO)
et al
2018

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“The 2019 GEM Report continues its assessment of progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) on education and its ten targets, as well as other related education targets in the SDG agenda.


Its main focus is on the theme of migration and displacement. It presents evidence on the implications of different types of migration and displacement for education systems but also the impact that reforming education curricula and approaches to pedagogy and teacher preparation can have on addressing the challenges and opportunities posed by migration and displacement. It gives voice to experiences in host and home communities.


With the help of case studies, it illustrates approaches which work and could be scaled up. In this way, it aims to be a tool for practitioners. It will make the case for investing in education of good quality in rural areas suffering from depopulation and in slum areas suffering from large population inflows; in countries with high rates of emigration and those with high rates of immigration; in short-term refugee emergencies and in protracted crises. Its analysis, conclusions and recommendations advance the aims of SDG 4 and its call to leave no one behind.”

Inclusive education and accountability mechanisms. Paper commissioned for the 2017/8 Global Education Monitoring Report, Accountability in education: Meeting our commitments

ABU ALGHAIB, Ola
TROMP, Roseanne
October 2017

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"The adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and in particular Articles 24, 31 and 33, which requires countries to develop an inclusive education system for all children as well obliging them to implement and monitor the process, presents both a challenge and an opportunity to the countries of the world. This report discusses the advances that have been made in terms of the implementation of inclusive education system for people with disabilities, as well as the challenges that are still ahead. The UNCRPD requires ratifying countries to submit Country Reports on the implementation of the Convention to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The present report is unique in that it is based on a thorough analysis of these Country Reports. In addition, it is based on a thorough review of literature about inclusive education for people with disabilities"

 

A guide for ensuring equity and inclusion in education

UNESCO
July 2017

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This guide is intended to support countries in embedding inclusion and equity in educational policy. It supports Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 on education calls for inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all by 2030. The guide is intended for use primarily by key government education policy-makers working with key stakeholders. The guide provides an assessment framework that can serve to: review how well equity and inclusion currently figure in existing policies; decide which actions are needed to improve policies and their implementation towards equitable and inclusive education systems; and monitor progress. The guide includes evidence that informs the assessment framework, examples of initiatives that are contributing to more inclusive and equitable education systems in different parts of the world, and recommendations for further reading. 

Ensuring the right to equitable and inclusive quality education : Results of the ninth consultation of member states on the implementation of the UNESCO convention and recommendation against discrimination in education

UNESCO
July 2017

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The specific purpose of this report is to present the measures taken by Members States who have submitted monitoring country reports. It aims to summarize the information provided by Members States in response to the reporting guidelines, highlighting the results of the Consultation and the measures taken with a view to achieving the right to education in the context of the Sustainable Development Agenda and, in particular, SDG4.  There were 67 reports from Member States: 13 from Western European and North American States; 18 from East European States; 13 from Latin American and Caribbean States; 10 from Asian and Pacific States; 8 from African States; and 5 from Arab States. A section is presented on students with special needs.

School Violence and Bullying: Global Status Report

UNESCO
January 2017

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"A 2012 report by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children1 notes that ‘more than one billion children around the world attend school. Many of these children enjoy their right to be taught in a safe and stimulating environment. For many others, however, schooling does not guarantee such opportunity. These girls and boys are exposed to bullying, sexual and gender-based violence, corporal punishment and other forms of violence… Many are also exposed to schoolyard fighting, gang violence, assault with weapons, and sexual and gender-based violence by their own peers. New manifestations of violence are also affecting children’s lives, notably the phenomenon of cyberbullying via mobile phones, computers, websites and social networking sites. The symposium is one of a series of international meetings UNESCO has organised to address school violence and bullying and it is intended to promote evidence-based action by educators, policy makers, professionals and practitioners in the education, health and other sectors. Consequently, this report aims to provide education sector stakeholders with a framework for planning and implementing effective programmes to prevent and respond to school violence and bullying as part of wider efforts to address violence against children." 

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