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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. 

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.

Contemporary debates in international development discourse are concerned with the non‐tokenistic inclusion and participation of marginalized groups in the policy‐making process in developing countries. This is directly relevant to disabled people in Africa, which is the focus of this article. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities delineates the principles of inclusion in society. Furthermore, the African Union (AU) plays a key role in advising its Member States about disability issues, and this advice should be reflected in disability‐inclusive policies. This article analyses nine policy or strategy documents produced by the AU, covering the policy domains of education, health, employment and social protection that are crucial to the inclusion of disabled people in international development. These were analysed according to seven discrete elements (rights, accessibility, inclusivity, implementation plans, budgetary allocations, enforcement mechanisms or disaggregated management information systems) using a rating scale of one to four, with four being the highest level of inclusion. The process (for example, level of consultation), the context (for example, the Sustainable Development Goals) and actors involved in the policy development were reviewed as far as was possible from the documents.

Dev Policy Rev. July 2017
https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.12323

"Being disabled in Britain is a review into disability inequality in Great Britain. It builds on the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s statutory five-yearly report on equality and human rights progress in England, Scotland and Wales, Is Britain Fairer?.

We want this report to be used by UK and devolved governments to make improvements to law and policies, by local government to ensure services meet the needs of disabled people, and by disability groups to strengthen their case for change.

The report includes chapters on six areas of life, including education, work, health, justice and participation in politics, looking at where there has been progress and where there are still serious issues to be tackled. It also looks the experiences of those with different impairments and how these impact on people’s life chances"

The overall goal of the Council of Europe Disability Strategy (2017-2023) is to achieve equality, dignity and equal opportunities for persons with disabilities in specific areas where the Council of Europe can make an input. In order to ensure independence, freedom of choice, full and active participation in all areas of life and society, the strategy highlights work and activities required in five priority areas:

1. Equality and non-discrimination

2. Awareness raising

3. Accessibility

4. Equal recognition before the law

5. Freedom from exploitation, violence and abuse

The strategy also proposes action targeting five cross-cutting themes: participation, co-operation and co-ordination, universal design and reasonable accommodation, gender equality perspective, multiple discrimination and education and training. 

Background: A decade has passed since South Africa signed and ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a human rights treaty that protects the rights and dignity of people with disabilities. However, not much have changed for students with disabilities.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore lecturers’ experiences with, and perspectives on, disability as well as with students with disabilities. It was hoped that this would contribute to the ongoing policy debates about diversity, inclusion and support for students with disabilities at universities.

Methods: In an effort to understand the lives of students with disabilities better, a study which included students with disabilities, lecturers and disability supporting staff was conducted at two South African universities – University of the Free State and University of Venda. The paper takes a snapshot view of four lecturers and their perceptions of the lives of students with disabilities at their respective universities.

Results and Conclusion: Although most disability literature report students with disabilities blaming lecturers for their failure to advance their needs, this paper highlights that the education system needs to be supportive to lecturers for the inclusive agenda to be realised. An argument is made for a more comprehensive approach towards a national disability policy in higher education involving many stakeholders. Without a broader understanding of disability, it will be difficult to engage with the complex ways in which inequalities emerge and are sustained.

The Strategy is the main instrument to support the EU's implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). Progress in all eight areas of the strategy is reported: accessibility, participation, equality, employment, education and training, social protection, health and external action. Initiatives such as the Directive on Web Accessibility, the proposal for a European Accessibility Act, the EU Disability Card project (being piloted in 8 Member States) and provisions in the Erasmus+ programme (allowing better mobility for students with disabilities) are highlighted. 

This report presents progress achieved in the first five years of the Strategy and assesses implementation. Many stakeholders have contributed to this work. The United Nations reviewed how the EU has been implementing its obligations under the UNCRPD3, and issued Concluding Observations with concrete recommendations for follow-up. These contain guidance on priority issues while also highlighting the steps already taken (see Annex 3). The European Parliament and the European Economic and Social Committee subsequently prepared their own reports on the implementation of the UNCRPD, while civil society organisations provided analysis and proposals (see Annex 4). The Commission also launched a public consultation to collect views from a broad range of stakeholders on the current situation of persons with disabilities and the impact of the Strategy so far, gathering more than 1,500 contributions (see Annex 1). This report also looks at the role of the supporting instruments and at the implementation of the UNCRPD within the EU institutions. Finally, it looks ahead at how the Strategy will continue to deliver on its objectives. In addition, the report includes a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of EU legal acts with an impact on disability matters (Annex 5)

SWD(2017) 29 final

"The Washington Group on Disability Statistics has developed questions for household surveys that allow the collection and analysis of internationally comparable data on persons with disabilities. This fact sheet presents attendance rates and completion rates disaggregated by disability status based on data from Demographic and Health Surveys that applied the questions recommended by the Washington Group. The findings of the analysis by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) confirm that persons with disabilities are more likely to be out of school or to leave school before completing primary or secondary education. The fact sheet also summarises plans by the UIS for future data analysis and activities in standard setting to strengthen the evidence base for monitoring of SDG 4 and the design of education policy"

Purpose: Although education, and higher education in particular, is considered a vehicle for empowerment, the enrolment of students with hearing impairment in secondary and higher secondary education is almost negligible in comparison to their hearing peers. This study was conducted in the city of Mumbai, India, with the aim of identifying the educational concerns of students with hearing impairment studying in secondary and higher secondary classes.

Method: The survey method was followed. A questionnaire, developed and validated by the researchers, was the study tool. The participants were 152 of the randomly selected 160 students with hearing impairment studying in secondary classes, and 42 of the randomly selected 45 students with hearing impairment studying in higher secondary classes. Percentage scores as part of descriptive statistics were calculated to arrive at the results.

Results: Various academic, administrative and personal concerns were identified among these students with hearing impairment in special schools.

Conclusions: As the focus of all educational programmes is on creating and promoting barrier-free education, the educational concerns identified in the current study cannot be ignored by schools, families and the community.