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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.

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. 

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.”

Education 2030 Incheon Declaration And Framework for action towards inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all

WORLD EDUCATION FORUM 2015
2015

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UNESCO together with UNICEF, the World Bank, UNFPA, UNDP, UN Women and UNHCR organized the World Education Forum 2015 in Incheon, Republic of Korea, from 19 – 22 May 2015, hosted by the Republic of Korea. Over 1,600 participants from 160 countries, including over 120 Ministers, heads and members of delegations, heads of agencies and officials of multilateral and bilateral organizations, and representatives of civil society, the teaching profession, youth and the private sector, adopted the Incheon Declaration for Education 2030, which sets out a new vision for education for the next fifteen years.

Towards 2030: a new vision for education

Our vision is to transform lives through education, recognizing the important role of education as a main driver of development and in achieving the other proposed SDGs. We commit with a sense of urgency to a single, renewed education agenda that is holistic, ambitious and aspirational, leaving no one behind. This new vision is fully captured by the proposed SDG 4 “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” and its corresponding targets. It is transformative and universal, attends to the ‘unfinished business’ of the EFA agenda and the education-related MDGs, and addresses global and national education challenges. It is inspired by a humanistic vision of education and development based on human rights and dignity; social justice; inclusion; protection; cultural, linguistic and ethnic diversity; and shared responsibility and accountability. We reaffirm that education is a public good, a fundamental human right and a basis for guaranteeing the realization of other rights. It is essential for peace, tolerance, human fulfilment and sustainable development. We recognize education as key to achieving full employment and poverty eradication. We will focus our efforts on access, equity and inclusion, quality and learning outcomes, within a lifelong learning approach.

 

Action and commitments required to implement the agenda are presented.

Accessible ICTs and personalized learning for students with disabilities : a dialogue among educators, industry, government and civil society

UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION (UNESCO)
2011

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"The use of technology in education plays a particularly vital role by enabling flexible curriculum development and assisting students with disabilities to participate as equals in the learning experience. The recommendations contained in this report target teachers, policy makers and administrators. The main recommendations centre on a number of core themes that include maximising the use of the myriad of accessibility features in mainstream ICTs such as personal computers, tablet PCs, mobile phones etc. already in use in classrooms; empowering students to learn their own preferences and settings when using technology for learning and removing attitudinal barriers to the use of technology for inclusive education, in particular those of teachers who may struggle with modern ICTs"
Collaborative Expert Meeting Report
UNESCO Headquarters, Paris
17 -18 November 2011

Policy Guidelines on Inclusion in Education

UNESCO
2009

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Inclusive education is a process that involves the transformation of schools and other centres of learning to cater for all children – including boys and girls, students from ethnic and linguistic minorities, rural populations, those affected by HIV and AIDS, and those with disabilities and diffi culties in learning and to provide learning opportunities for all youth and adults as well. Its aim is to eliminate exclusion that is a consequence of negative attitudes and a lack of response to diversity in race, economic status, social class, ethnicity, language, religion, gender, sexual orientation and ability. Education takes place in many contexts, both formal and non-formal, and within families and the wider community. Consequently, inclusive education is not a marginal issue but is central to the achievement of high quality education for all learners and the development of more inclusive societies. Inclusive education is essential to achieve social equity and is a constituent element of lifelong learning.

These guidelines were discussed in a side event at the International Conference on Education in Geneva, Nov 2008 and recommendations from that meeting have been built into this fi nal version. We hope that they will serve as a resource for policymakers, teachers and learners, community leaders and members of civil society in their efforts to promote more effective strategies for reaching the EFA goals.

Educator development and support

UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION (UNESCO)
March 2008

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Limited attention has been given to helping educators to deal with the new challenges posed by the epidemic. Even less attention has been given to protecting educators from HIV infection and to providing care, treatment and support for educators infected with or affected by HIV and AIDS. There are also very few programmes addressing the needs of other education sector personnel, such as planners, managers and support staff. This booklet looks at educator development and support; educator conduct; and prevention, care, treatment and support of infected and affected eduators

School-centred HIV and AIDS care and support in Southern Africa : technical consulation report

BOLER, Tania
JOHNSSON, Emily
February 2008

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This report maps out the various activities in school-based HIV treatment, care and support that are being undertaken in Southern Africa, as a response to the changing needs of teachers, students and local communities. It highlights successful factors and common challenges and suggests five broad principles that help provide a comprehensive response to treatment, care and support,and reinforce prevention messages

Teachers living with HIV

UNAIDS Inter-Agency Task Team (IATT) for Education
2008

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This briefing note considers teachers living with HIV and their role in HIV education and in countering stigma and discrimination, as well as the need for governments to introduce measures to support them and thus mitigate the impact of HIV on the education system

Supporting HIV-positive teachers in East and Southern Africa

MALLOURIS, Chrstoforos
BOLER, Tania
September 2007

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This report provides an overview of the impact of HIV on teachers and the specific issues HIV-positive teachers face. It also summarises support mechanisms for teachers with HIV and presents key conclusions and recommendations from the consultation regarding how the education sector can support HIV-positive teachers. The report is the result of a consultation involving a range of different stakeholders including representatives of Ministries of Education, teachers' unions and HIV-positive teachers' networks from six countries in East and Southern Africa

Changing teaching practices : using curriculum differentiation to respond to students’ diversity

PERNER, Darlene
2005

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This guide was developed to facilitate and support inclusive education. It presents strategies and learning activities to facilitate curriculum differentiation, and offers suggestions, strategies, and learning activities to teachers to use in classrooms. This guide is useful to anyone interested in using curriculum differentiation to respond to students’ diversity

Special needs in the classroom : a teacher education guide

AINSCOW, Mel
2004

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An updated version of UNESCO's training pack developed in the early 1990s for teachers learning about inclusion. It has been used in over 50 countries and has been adapted to different countries' contexts. This guide is a source of ideas for educators wishing to improve teachers’ skills in dealing with pupil diversity in mainstream schools. It offers advice on teacher education methods, including accounts of initiatives already undertaken in various parts of the world. The book emphasises the importance of teacher development, both pre-service and in-service, and demonstrates how pupil diversity in mainstream schools can be a positive influence on the life of the school

Deafness : a guide for parents, teachers and community workers

UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION (UNESCO)
2000

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This guide provides basic information on the identification of deafness, importance of sign language and the need of education for deaf children. The guide accompanies the video 'Deafness'. This material is most appropriate for the African context

Planning for education in the context of HIV/AIDS

KELLY, Michael J
2000

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Examines (briefly) the role of education in HIV prevention, and (in detail) the growing, potentially devastating impact of HIV on education systems. The latter is analysed with respect to the demand and supply of education (growing number of orphans, declining number of teachers, and associated issues); the impact of HIV on the content, process, organisation, and role of education, and on the planning and management of education. Concludes that education must be radically re-examined in the light of the HIV pandemic, and its role in the prevention of the disease

Review of the present situation in special needs education

HEGARTY, Seamus
1995

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An overall comparison between the two situations - 1986 and 1993 - reported here and in the previous report allow for some guarded optimism. Most countries provided some information on policies but varied greatly in the amount of detail offered. Special educational provision is more firmly located within regular education, at school and the administrative levels, than before and has greater legislative underpinning. Within the policy statements, themselves, the most common strands related to : developing the individual's potential, integration and necessary steps for implementation. Regarding legislation, most countries did include special needs provision in the same regulatory framework as general education; the most common reason given for excluding particular children was severity of disability. Much remains to be done and there is no room for complacency. Many countries face fiscal and personnel constraints, and maintaining let alone increasing existing investment in special educational provision will not be easy. A word of caution : even where resources are not the central issue, the pressures created by the general school reforms taking place in many countries may reduce the priority given to speical educational provision. However, progress has been made, despite the many difficulties.

Distance learning solutions (COVID-19 educational disruption and response)

UNESCO

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A list of educational applications, platforms and resources aiming to help parents, teachers, schools and school administrators facilitate student learning and provide social care and interaction during periods of school closure. Most of the solutions curated are free and many cater to multiple languages. While these solutions do not carry UNESCO’s explicit endorsement, they tend to have a wide reach, a strong user-base and evidence of impact. They are categorized based on distance learning needs, but most of them offer functionalities across multiple categories.

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