– Building an inclusive legislative framework
– Data-supported planning
– Removing economic barriers to school enrolment demand
– Providing flexible arrangements at school
– Promoting a pro-inclusion culture
– Forging partnerships around inclusive education
– Considering the full picture: completion and learning quality
Inclusion can be defined as “a process that helps overcome barriers limiting the presence, participation and achievement of learners” (UNESCO, 2017: 13). Inclusive education is an essential means to eradicate extreme poverty, eliminate disparities later in life, and enable societies as a whole to thrive in shared prosperity and sustainable development (Wodon, 2016). Many barriers prevent access to education for vulnerable children, including children with disabilities, girls, orphans, and many others who may be at the intersection of several sources of vulnerability. Although international commitments have been made towards inclusive education with concrete improvements, not all gaps have been filled. For example, disability reduces the chances of attending primary and secondary schools by 30 percentage points (Mizunoya, Mitra, and Yamasaki, 2016), and the gap between disabled and non-disabled students ever enrolling in school appears to have also grown over time (Male and Wodon, 2018).
Mizunoya, S.; Mitra, S.; Yamasaki, I. 2016. ‘Towards Inclusive Education: The Impact of Disability on School Attendance in Developing Countries’. In: SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2782430.
UNESCO. 2017. A Guide for Ensuring Inclusion and Equity in Education. Paris: UNESCO. Last accessed https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000248254.
Wodon, Q. 2016. ‘What matters most for equity and inclusion in education systems: A framework paper’. In: SABER Working Paper Series – World Bank, (10). Systems approach for better education results. Last accessed http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/621711500379564153/pdf/117569-NWP-Framework-SABER-EAI.pdf.
Promising policy options
Building an inclusive legislative framework
Education is a human right recognized by several legally binding and non-binding international treaties and documents (e.g., the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR); the 1960 UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education (CADE)) (for more information on the Right to Education, please consult the forthcoming IIEP guidelines on Planning to fulfill the Right to Education). Inclusive education is also reaffirmed in the international community agenda, for example, in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 (target 4.5 and means of implementation 4a) and the Education for All (EFA) goal 2: “Ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to and complete, free and compulsory primary education of good quality”.
As the primary duty bearers of the right to education (RTE), countries have the responsibility to translate these international conventions into national legislation (Right to Education Initiative, n.d.) as the first step toward inclusive education. The policy and legislative framework must contain provisions promoting non-discrimination, accessibility, zero-reject, and reasonable accommodations, which are the pillars of an inclusive society (Hunt, 2020).
The RTE must be stated in detailed and explicit terms, inscribed in a “comprehensive and coordinated legislative and policy framework for inclusive education”, and be supported by policies and strategies for implementation (Hunt, 2020: 12; Lansdown, 2014). For the RTE to be effective, vulnerable groups must be aware of and able to exercise their rights (Wodon, 2016).
Lansdown, G. 2014. Legislation and Policies for Inclusive Education: Webinar 3 – Companion Technical Booklet. New York: UNICEF. Last accessed https://www.unicef.org/northmacedonia/media/3961/file/MK_InclusiveEducationLegislation_Report_ENG.pdf.
Right to Education Initiative. n.d. ‘Understanding education as a right’, Right to Education Initiative. Last accessed 11 August 2022: https://www.right-to-education.org/page/understanding-education-right.
Wodon, Q. 2016. ‘What matters most for equity and inclusion in education systems: A framework paper’. In: SABER Working Paper Series – World Bank, (10). Systems approach for better education results. Last accessed http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/621711500379564153/pdf/117569-NWP-Framework-SABER-EAI.pdf.
Data-supported planning
Data are necessary to highlight gaps in education opportunities between groups of students and inform policy design and implementation (UNESCO, 2020). They are key to decisions related to, for example, school grants allocation, provision of student learning supports and staff, and budget for implementation (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia) and Diplomatic Academy, 2019).
Yet, many countries do not have even basic data, even less so on out-of-school children, reasons for non-participation, and environmental factors, which makes it hard to have an idea of the extent of exclusion from education (Hayes et al., 2017; Mizunoya, 2018; UNESCO, 2020). Also, few national plans have inclusion-related indicators. In this regard, Somalia’s efforts are commendable: national plans include enrolment indicators disaggregated by sex, disability, special education needs, and location, which helps track progress towards inclusion and equity (IBE-UNESCO et al., 2018).
Measuring inclusion needs to start with “clearly stated definitions of inclusion and equity” (UNESCO, 2017: 21), bearing in mind that this may have implications for policy design and international comparisons (Brussino, 2020). For example, what is meant by “special education needs”? It must also rely on robust data collection systems and methods to identify the gaps in inclusion and their causes (UNESCO, 2009). When it comes to children with disabilities (CWD), data collection problems may be encountered because of parents’ under-reporting and the lack of screening procedures (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia) and Diplomatic Academy, 2019). Tools are being developed to facilitate the cross-country comparisons of disability statistics. For example, UNICEF and the Washington Group released questionnaires to assess functional difficulties in children aged 2-17 (Mizunoya, 2018).
Regardless of the minority groups to be reached, the use of household surveys and the involvement of local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and communities in data collection should be encouraged (UNESCO, 2009). For instance, data for language mapping can be collected through censuses. But where one or more non-dominant languages are spoken, local NGOs and communities can help gather information at the school or family level to determine the level of proficiency in each language (Benson, 2016).
Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) are key in monitoring an education system’s inclusiveness, provided that they enable a sufficient level of data disaggregation (Wodon, 2016). EMIS should gather data on children and their characteristics, environmental factors (e.g., school accessibility), and human resources available at the school level (Hunt, 2020). In this respect, consultations and discussions may be necessary, for instance, on the strategy to identify CWD. Although labeling students with disabilities may be needed to allocate additional funding or classroom support, it can also be associated with lower well-being outcomes such as stigmatization (Hayes et al., 2017). Alternatively, children can be assessed in several areas related to their functioning, which would help identify the needs of each child, irrespective of whether they have a disability or not. The results of these assessments could be accompanied by further information on the type of disability (Hunt, 2020). The focus will thus be on the child’s strengths and needs rather than her diagnosis (Hayes et al., 2017).
Removing economic barriers to school enrolment demand
School enrolment is often hindered by barriers related to the direct and opportunity costs of schooling (World Bank, 2005). A wide variety of programs have been implemented to increase enrolment by removing economic barriers on the demand side of education provision. A widely implemented one is the abolition of school fees to guarantee universal access to education. Others include conditional cash transfers, which have proven efficient in improving enrolment (see, for example, Filmer and Schady, 2009). Social protection programs and cash transfers conditional on attendance and the use of health services have consistently been beneficial to enrolment, dropout, and completion in Latin America (UNESCO, 2020). School meals are another powerful intervention that can be implemented relatively easily by governments, with positive effects on school enrolment and retention, particularly among girls and in food-insecure areas (Bedasso, 2022; Crawfurd, Hares, and Sandefur, 2022) (please consult Direct cost of schooling for more information on similar interventions). More targeted economic incentives can be implemented (e.g., cash transfers conditional on delayed girls’ marriage), but given the differences in vulnerable groups’ characteristics, it is not easy to pinpoint the ones that would apply to all (Wodon, 2016).
Overall, when looking at the full range of policies that have been implemented, many have mixed results or have not been evaluated at scale. Some had also shown very promising outcomes in their experimental phase but failed when scaled-up because they were very sensitive to small alterations in their implementation, ministries did not have the capacities for such an exercise, or political economy factors came into play (Crawfurd, Hares, and Sandefur, 2022). However, lessons learned from these experiences point to the importance of:
- Carefully considering the cost-effectiveness of the interventions considered (Hunt, 2020);
- an appropriate targeting (IBE-UNESCO, CONFINTED, and BIE, 2008);
- a holistic approach to inclusion (i.e., avoid standalone strategies) (see Promising policy options for school fee abolition for an example) (UNESCO, 2010)
- consultations with vulnerable groups to identify and remove barriers (Lansdown, 2014).
Brussino, O. 2020. ‘Mapping policy approaches and practices for the inclusion of students with special education needs’. In: OECD Education Working Papers, (227). https://dx.doi.org/10.1787/600fbad5-en.
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia); Diplomatic Academy. 2019. Disability-Inclusive Education – Practitioner Level. Education Learning and Development Module. Last accessed https://www.dfat.gov.au/sites/default/files/practitioner-disability-inclusive-education.pdf.
Hayes, A.M.; Bulat, J.; Macon, W.; Tichá, R.; Abery, B.H. 2017. Disabilities Inclusive Education Systems and Policies Guide for Low- and Middle-Income Countries. Research Triangle Park, NC: RTI Press. https://doi.org/10.3768/rtipress.2017.op.0043.1707.
Hunt, P.F. 2020. Background paper prepared for the 2020 Global Education Monitoring Report ‘Inclusion and education’. Inclusive Education: Children with Disabilities. Background paper prepared for the 2020 Global Education Monitoring Report ‘Inclusion and education’. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000373662/PDF/373662eng.pdf.multi.
IBE-UNESCO; Oxford Policy Management; REAL; FHI360. 2018. ‘Handbook on Measuring equity in education’. IBE-UNESCO. Last accessed http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/handbook-measuring-equity-education-2018-en.pdf.
Mizunoya, S. 2018. ‘Progress in measuring global school enrollment gaps for children with disabilities’, UNICEF Connect – Evidence for Action. Last accessed 9 September 2022: https://blogs.unicef.org/evidence-for-action/progress-in-measuring-global-school-enrollment-gaps-for-children-with-disabilities/.
UNESCO. 2009. ‘Policy guidelines on inclusion in education’. UNESCO. Last accessed 8 April 2021: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000177849.
UNESCO. 2017. A Guide for Ensuring Inclusion and Equity in Education. Paris: UNESCO. Last accessed https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000248254.
UNESCO. 2020. Inclusion and Education: All Means All. Global Education Monitoring Report. Paris: UNESCO. Last accessed https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000373718?posInSet=5&queryId=e9ba7d33-6a56-4dd8-9b68-83692551fe1c.
Wodon, Q. 2016. ‘What matters most for equity and inclusion in education systems: A framework paper’. In: SABER Working Paper Series – World Bank, (10). Systems approach for better education results. Last accessed http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/621711500379564153/pdf/117569-NWP-Framework-SABER-EAI.pdf.
Providing flexible arrangements at school
According to the Abidjan Principles, States must provide reasonable accommodations to cater to individuals’ different capabilities (The Abidjan Principles, 2019). For schools, this implies some flexibility to make the necessary arrangements to meet many different needs. Standardization and non-adaptability, on the other hand, can lead to direct discrimination through school admission offer or indirect discrimination through, for example, the lack of accessible infrastructure for CWD (Varghese, 2022).
Necessary arrangements in school include the removal of physical barriers to education and the provision of adequate school amenities, for example, single-sex sanitation or ramps (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia) and Diplomatic Academy, 2019; Varghese, 2022) (see School infrastructure for more information).
Additionally, teacher training, with preferably hands-on experience during pre-service training, should provide teachers with the necessary skills to accommodate students’ diverse needs. In Mongolia, specialized teacher training to welcome CWD helped improve the latter’s enrolment in preschools and primary schools (Wodon, 2016). Some OECD countries, like Denmark, have mandatory courses on special education needs (Brussino, 2020). Teaching strategies should be flexible enough to allow any adjustment necessary and individualized teaching (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia) and Diplomatic Academy, 2019). In this respect, tools such as Individualized education plans (IEPs), which gather student information and teacher strategies to meet the specific needs reported, can be used (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia) and Diplomatic Academy, 2019). Human resources such as specialized support staff and teaching assistants are also key to further supporting students with special education needs (Brussino, 2020). School leadership plays an important role in encouraging the sharing of inclusive and innovative teaching practices (Brussino, 2020).
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia); Diplomatic Academy. 2019. Disability-Inclusive Education – Practitioner Level. Education Learning and Development Module. Last accessed https://www.dfat.gov.au/sites/default/files/practitioner-disability-inclusive-education.pdf.
The Abidjan Principles. 2019. ‘The Abidjan Principles on the human rights obligations of States to provide public education and to regulate private involvement in education’, The principles. Last accessed 8 April 2021: https://www.abidjanprinciples.org/en/principles/overview.
Varghese, V.R. 2022. ‘Impact of the right to education on school enrolment of children with disabilities: Evidence from India’. In: WIDER Working Paper, (2022/91). Last accessed https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Publications/Working-paper/PDF/wp2022-91-impact-of-the-right-to-education-on-school-enrolment.pdf.
Wodon, Q. 2016. ‘What matters most for equity and inclusion in education systems: A framework paper’. In: SABER Working Paper Series – World Bank, (10). Systems approach for better education results. Last accessed http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/621711500379564153/pdf/117569-NWP-Framework-SABER-EAI.pdf.
Promoting a pro-inclusion culture
Stigmatization and discrimination are among the most significant barriers to marginalized children’s enrolment (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia) and Diplomatic Academy, 2019; Hunt, 2020; UNESCO, 2010). Fear, ignorance, and shame are often the reasons for the isolation of CWD; even when enrolled, their potential is often undervalued (UNESCO, 2010) (please consult the Socio-cultural barriers to schooling policy page for more information).
Therefore, schools must develop an “inclusive ethos” (Hunt, 2020), whereby they strive to create a supportive environment for all children and protect them from bullying and violence. Key to this is a school leadership that demonstrates values and commitment to inclusive education (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia) and Diplomatic Academy, 2019). School values can also be reinforced by creating a code of conduct for teachers and anti-bullying strategies that establish clear consequences in case of violation (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia) and Diplomatic Academy, 2019; Hunt, 2020). Schools should monitor their progress towards inclusion internally, through self-assessment (e.g., using the Index of Inclusion), or externally, through inclusion-related inspection standards (Hunt, 2020; UNESCO, 2020). For more information, visit policy pages on School climate and School violence.
Maybe more importantly, school personnel should embody inclusion by reflecting students’ diversity and serving as role models (Brussino, 2020). In the Jharkhand state, India, a more ethnically diverse representation among teachers was associated with an increase in the enrolment of children from different ethnic groups (UNESCO, 2020). Similarly, in rural Mozambique, the gender composition of the teaching staff was found to have a greater influence on families’ decision to enroll their children than teacher training (World Bank, 2005).
Finally, governments, civil society organizations – notably local NGOs, and communities have a major role to play in raising awareness and fighting against discrimination (Brussino, 2020; Humanity & Inclusion, n.d.).
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia); Diplomatic Academy. 2019. Disability-Inclusive Education – Practitioner Level. Education Learning and Development Module. Last accessed https://www.dfat.gov.au/sites/default/files/practitioner-disability-inclusive-education.pdf.
Humanity & Inclusion. n.d. ‘Identifying disabled children for school enrolment’, HI – Humanity & Inclusion. Last accessed 9 September 2022: https://www.hi-canada.org/en/news/identifying-disabled-children-for-school-enrolment.
Hunt, P.F. 2020. Background paper prepared for the 2020 Global Education Monitoring Report ‘Inclusion and education’. Inclusive Education: Children with Disabilities. Background paper prepared for the 2020 Global Education Monitoring Report ‘Inclusion and education’. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000373662/PDF/373662eng.pdf.multi.
UNESCO (ed.). 2010. Reaching the Marginalized. Education for All. EFA global monitoring report, 2010. Paris; Oxford: UNESCO; Oxford University Press. Last accessed https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000186606.
UNESCO. 2020. Inclusion and Education: All Means All. Global Education Monitoring Report. Paris: UNESCO. Last accessed https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000373718?posInSet=5&queryId=e9ba7d33-6a56-4dd8-9b68-83692551fe1c.
World Bank. 2005. Mozambique Poverty and Social Impact Analysis: Primary School Enrollment and Retention – the Impact of School Fees. Washington, D.C. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/185561468775510405/pdf/294230MZ.pdf.
Forging partnerships around inclusive education
Inclusive education does not operate in a vacuum but should be a lever for change for a more inclusive society (Lansdown, 2014). This is why forging broad, vertical, and horizontal partnerships and ensuring coordination to support inclusive education appear fundamental (UNESCO, 2017).
Lack of guidance can be a significant barrier to vulnerable children’s school enrolment (Doyle, Mc Guckin, and Shevlin, 2017). Structures like school-based referral networks or resource centers are needed to guide and advise students, families, and schools (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia) and Diplomatic Academy, 2019). Some ministries of education may also host dedicated agencies. The Inter-federal Center for Equal Opportunities of Belgium (UNIA) is an example of an independent public institution that assists students and their families, organizes awareness campaigns, and conducts research on inclusive education, among other missions (Brussino, 2020). At the same time, the involvement of multiple stakeholders supporting children and families may lead to complications if not coordinated. In some European countries, the diversity of these actors has led to overly complex school enrolment procedures for CWD (Ministère de l’Education Nationale et de la Jeunesse, 2018). At the government level, interventions to promote inclusion may be the responsibility of different agencies and ministries, which, therefore, also need to be coordinated as part of a government-wide policy for inclusion (Wodon, 2016).
In many ways, communities and civil society organizations have a critical role in promoting and implementing inclusive education. For instance, community members can help identify out-of-school children, encourage them to attend, and refer them to suitable structures (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia) and Diplomatic Academy, 2019). Through these actions, community volunteers in Timbuktu have helped enroll more than a hundred CWD with the support of an NGO (Humanity & Inclusion, n.d.) (more information on the role of communities in improving equity and inclusion can be found in School community relationship). Additionally, many organizations around the world defend vulnerable groups’ rights, raise awareness, and advocate for their inclusion (UNESCO, 2020).
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia); Diplomatic Academy. 2019. Disability-Inclusive Education – Practitioner Level. Education Learning and Development Module. Last accessed https://www.dfat.gov.au/sites/default/files/practitioner-disability-inclusive-education.pdf.
Doyle, A.; Mc Guckin, C.; Shevlin, M. 2017. ‘“Close the door on your way out”: parent perspectives on supported transition planning for young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in Ireland’. In: Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 17(4), 274–281. https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-3802.12385.
Humanity & Inclusion. n.d. ‘Identifying disabled children for school enrolment’, HI – Humanity & Inclusion. Last accessed 9 September 2022: https://www.hi-canada.org/en/news/identifying-disabled-children-for-school-enrolment.
Lansdown, G. 2014. Legislation and Policies for Inclusive Education: Webinar 3 – Companion Technical Booklet. New York: UNICEF. Last accessed https://www.unicef.org/northmacedonia/media/3961/file/MK_InclusiveEducationLegislation_Report_ENG.pdf.
Ministère de l’Education Nationale et de la Jeunesse. 2018. ‘International perspectives on inclusive education’, Ministère de l’Education Nationale et de la Jeunesse. Last accessed 9 September 2022: https://www.education.gouv.fr/international-perspectives-inclusive-education-9734.
UNESCO. 2017. A Guide for Ensuring Inclusion and Equity in Education. Paris: UNESCO. Last accessed https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000248254.
UNESCO. 2020. Inclusion and Education: All Means All. Global Education Monitoring Report. Paris: UNESCO. Last accessed https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000373718?posInSet=5&queryId=e9ba7d33-6a56-4dd8-9b68-83692551fe1c.
Wodon, Q. 2016. ‘What matters most for equity and inclusion in education systems: A framework paper’. In: SABER Working Paper Series – World Bank, (10). Systems approach for better education results. Last accessed http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/621711500379564153/pdf/117569-NWP-Framework-SABER-EAI.pdf.
Considering the full picture: completion and learning quality
Inclusive education does not end with broadening access. Governments need to pay as much attention to learning quality and completion. For example, where the abolition of school fees has broadened access to education, learning quality has sometimes suffered due to a lack of concomitant efforts on this aspect (UNESCO, 2010). In addition, some children may be disadvantaged in their learning due to characteristics such as socioeconomic background or latent ability (Filmer and Schady, 2009). A study in Cambodia found that scholarships to poor children have had large positive effects on enrolment and attendance rates, but these did not learn much after 18 months (Filmer and Schady, 2009).
That is, any policy aiming at increasing enrolment must not be implemented as a standalone strategy but considering the full picture, i.e., that the conditions are in place for enrolled children to stay and learn at school. Various complementary supply-side interventions may be necessary, such as building schools closer to the communities, bilingual education and mother-tongue instruction, and tutoring for low-performing students, to name a few (Filmer and Schady, 2009; Wodon, 2016; World Bank, 2005).
UNESCO (ed.). 2010. Reaching the Marginalized. Education for All. EFA global monitoring report, 2010. Paris; Oxford: UNESCO; Oxford University Press. Last accessed https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000186606.
Wodon, Q. 2016. ‘What matters most for equity and inclusion in education systems: A framework paper’. In: SABER Working Paper Series – World Bank, (10). Systems approach for better education results. Last accessed http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/621711500379564153/pdf/117569-NWP-Framework-SABER-EAI.pdf.
World Bank. 2005. Mozambique Poverty and Social Impact Analysis: Primary School Enrollment and Retention – the Impact of School Fees. Washington, D.C. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/185561468775510405/pdf/294230MZ.pdf.