UNESCO Education Inclusion Policy Guidelines

Policy Guidelines
on Inclusion in Education
Published by the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization
7, place de Fontenoy, 75352 Paris 07 SP, France
© UNESCO 2009
All rights reserved
Printed in France
ED-2009/WS/31
Contents
Foreword .............................................................................................................................. 4
Part I Inclusive education: rationale and developments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
I.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
I.1.1 Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
I.1.2 Objectives and rationale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
I.1.3 Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
I.2 Inclusion in education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

I.2.1 What is inclusive education?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
I.2.2 Inclusion and quality are reciprocal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
I.2.3 Inclusion and cost effectiveness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Part II Moving policy forward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
II.1 Developing inclusive education systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
II.2 Challenges for policy-makers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

II.2.1 Attitudinal change as the precursor to effective policy development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
II.2.2 Creating an inclusive curriculum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
II.2.3 Teachers and the learning environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
II.2.4 Supporting the policy cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Annex 1 Education for All (EFA) goals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Annex 2 Millennium Development Goals (MDG) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Annex 3 Conventions, declarations and recommendations related to inclusive education . . . . . . . 29
Bibliography and References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Part I Inclusive education: rationale and developments 3

Foreword
The concept and practice of inclusive education have gained importance in recent years. Internationally, the term is
increasingly understood more broadly as a reform that supports and welcomes diversity amongst all learners.1
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 difficulties 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.
Substantial progress has been made in achieving the Education for All goals as evidenced by the increase in access
and enrolment rates in many countries and regions. Nevertheless, it is evident that new strategies and methods must
be adopted to reach out to the 75 million children2 who are still out of school, the 774 million adults lacking basic
literacy skills and the countless others who are in school but not necessarily receiving quality education.3 From a policy
perspective, inclusive education means taking a holistic approach to education reform and thus changing the way the
educational system tackles exclusion. Without clear, unified national strategies to include all learners, many countries
will not achieve the Education for All (EFA) goals by 2015 and will seriously affect the attainment of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) as well.
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 final 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.
Nicholas Burnett
Assistant Director-General for Education
1
J. Kugelmass. 2004 What is a Culture of Inclusion? School of Education and Human Development Binghamton University, USA.
2
UNESCO. 2008 EFA Global Monitoring Report. ‘Will We make It?’. Paris, UNESCO.
3
Ibid.
4 Policy guidelines on inclusion in education

part I
Inclusive education:
rationale and developments
I.1 Introduction
I.1.1 Context
In today’s increasingly globalized world, with its rising disparities in income distribution, where 60 per cent of the
world’s population live on only 6 per cent of the world’s income, half of the world’s population lives on two dollars
a day and over 1 billion people live on less than one dollar a day, ‘poverty is a threat to peace’.4 Poverty and other
factors contributing to exclusion seriously affect education. While progress is being made towards the Education for All
(EFA) goals and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as demonstrated by the drop in numbers of out-of-school
children and increasing enrolment rates, there is now a stronger focus on those learners who are still out of school or
are hard to reach.5 More attention is also being paid to the many children and young people who attend school but
who are excluded from learning, who may not complete the full cycle of primary education or who do not receive an
education of good quality.
Today, 75 million children of primary school age are not enrolled in school; more than half of these are girls. Seven
out of ten live in sub-Saharan Africa or in South and West Asia. Poverty and marginalization are the major causes of
exclusion in most parts of the world (see Fig. 1). Households in rural or remote communities and children in urban
slums have less access to education than others. Some 37 per cent of out-of-school children live in 35 states defined as
fragile by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development,6 but these do not include all places facing
conflict, post-conflict and post-disaster situations. In each case, children and young people are at enormous risk of
missing out on an education.7
Children with disabilities are still combating blatant educational exclusion – they account for one third of all out-of-
school children. Working children, those belonging to indigenous groups, rural populations and linguistic minorities,
nomadic children and those affected by HIV/AIDS are among other vulnerable groups (see Fig. 2). In all cases, the issue
of gender plays a significant role.
4
Mohammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2006, speech at the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Oslo.
5
See Annex 1 for the EFA goals and Annex 2 for the MDGs.
6
OECD. 2007. No More Failures: Ten Steps to Equity in Education. Paris, OECD.
7
UNESCO. 2008. Every learner counts: 10 questions on inclusive quality education. www.unesco.org/education/inclusive

Figure 1: Primary education net enrolment rates (NER) and out-of-school children, 2005
1. TFYR Macedonia
2. Albania
3. Montenegro
Iceland Sweden
Norway 4. Serbia
Denmark Finland Russian Federation 5. Bosnia/Herzeg.
Netherlands Estonia 6. Croatia
United Kingdom Latvia 7. Slovenia
Lithuania
Ireland Poland 8. Hungary
Belgium Belarus
10 11 Ukraine 9. Austria
Luxembourg France 9 Kazakhstan
8 12
Mongolia 10. Czech Rep.
Switzerland 76 13
Armenia
5 4
3 Georgia 11. Slovakia
14
Andorra Italy 21 Kyrgyzstan 12. Rep. Moldova
Turkey Azerbaijan Japan
United States Portugal Malta Greece Tajikistan 13. Romania
Spain Cyprus Rep. of
Tunisia Iran, Korea 14. Bulgaria
Lebanon Isl. Rep. Pakistan
Morocco Palestinian A. T. Iraq
Israel Nepal
Jordan Kuwait
Algeria
India Lao PDR
Mexico Egypt Saudi U. A.
Belize Mauritania Mali Arabia Emirates Macao (China)
Niger Oman Myanmar
Guatemala Senegal Eritrea Viet Nam
Cape Verde Chad Qatar
Honduras Yemen Bangladesh
El Salvador Bahrain Thailand Philippines
Gambia Nigeria Djibouti
Nicaragua Guinea Cambodia Marshall Is
Venezuela Brunei
Panama Suriname Burkina Faso Ethiopia Maldives Sri Lanka Daruss.
Colombia Côte d‘Ivoire Kenya Malaysia
Ghana Rwanda
Ecuador
Togo Congo Burundi
Benin U. R. Tanzania Seychelles
Indonesia
Equat. Guinea Solomon Is
Primary NER Malawi
Timor-Leste
Peru Brazil S. Tome/Principe
Zambia
Less than 70%
Bolivia Zimbabwe Madagascar Vanuatu
70% – 79% Namibia
Mauritius
80% – 89% Paraguay Australia
Mozambique
South Swaziland
90% or more Africa Botswana
Chile Uruguay
Lesotho
No data Argentina
Bermuda
Bahamas New
Cayman Is Turks/Caicos Is Zealand
Out-of-school children Dominican Rep.
Br. Virgin Is
100,000 to 499,999 Cuba Anguilla
St Kitts/Nevis Samoa
500,000 to 999,999 Fiji
Montserrat
Jamaica Dominica
1 million to 4.9 million Saint Lucia Tonga
Aruba Barbados
St Vincent/Grenad.
5 million or more Grenada Trinidad/Tobago
Source: EFA Global Monitoring Report 2008, Map 2, p. 50.
Furthermore, at least 774 million adults still lack basic literacy skills; more than three-quarters live in only fifteen
countries.8 Meanwhile, in wealthier countries, despite the resources available, many young people leave school with
no useful qualifications, others are sometimes educated in settings detached from mainstream education and some
choose to drop out since what is taught at school is perceived as irrelevant to their lives.
It is of crucial importance that all children and young people have access to education. However, it is equally important
that they are able to take full part in school life and achieve desired outcomes from their education experiences. While
subject-based academic performance is often used as an indicator of learning outcomes, ‘learning achievement’ needs
to be conceived more broadly as the acquisition of the values, attitudes, knowledge and skills required to meet the
challenges of contemporary societies. Adults need to be provided with learning opportunities as well since the ultimate
goal of inclusion in education is concerned with an individual’s effective participation in society and of reaching his/
her full potential.
8
UNESCO. 2007. EFA Global Monitoring Report 2008. Education for All by 2015 – Will we make it? Paris, UNESCO.

Figure 2: Examples of groups excluded from/or marginalized within education
Promoting inclusion means stimulating discussion, encouraging positive attitudes and improving educational and
social frameworks to cope with new demands in education structures and governance. It involves improving inputs,
processes and environments to foster learning both at the level of the learner in his/her learning environment and
at the system level to support the entire learning experience. Its achievement rests on governments’ willingness and
capacities to adopt pro-poor policies, addressing issues of equity in public expenditures on education, developing
intersectoral linkages and approaching inclusive education as a constituent element of lifelong learning.
I.1.2 Objectives and rationale

The objectives of these Guidelines are to assist countries in strengthening the focus on inclusion in their strategies and
plans for education, to introduce the broadened concept of inclusive education and to highlight the areas that need
particular attention to promote inclusive education and strengthen policy development.
The Dakar Framework for Action9 clearly paves the way for inclusive education as one of the main strategies to address
the challenges of marginalization and exclusion in response to the fundamental principle of EFA, namely that all
children, youth and adults should have the opportunity to learn.
In both developed and developing regions, there is a common challenge: how to attain high-quality equitable education
for all learners. Exclusion can start very early in life. A holistic lifelong vision of education is therefore imperative,
including acknowledging the importance of early childhood care and education (ECCE) programmes to improve
children’s well-being, prepare them for primary school and give them a better chance of succeeding once they are
in school. If children do not have the opportunity to develop their potential through education, their own and future
families are also at risk of staying poor or of sliding into more chronic poverty. Subsequently, linking inclusion to
broader development goals contributes to the development and reform of education systems, to poverty alleviation
and to the achievement of all Millennium Development Goals.
9
UNESCO. 2000. World Education Forum. The Dakar Framework for Action: Education for All – Meeting our Collective Commitments. Paris,
UNESCO.

I.1.3 Structure
This document is divided into two parts. Part I explains the relevance of inclusive education in today’s context and
describes how inclusion is linked to Education for All. Part II outlines the key elements in the shift towards inclusion
with a particular focus on teaching for inclusion and the role of teachers, other educators, non-teaching support staff,
communities and parents. It also provides some simple tools for policy-makers and education planners for hands-on
analysis of education plans in view of inclusive education.10
I.2 Inclusion in education

I.2.1 What is inclusive education?
The World Declaration on Education for All, adopted in Jomtien, Thailand (1990), sets out an overall vision:
universalizing access to education for all children, youth and adults, and promoting equity. This means being proactive
in identifying the barriers that many encounter in accessing educational opportunities and identifying the resources
needed to overcome those barriers.
Inclusive education is a process of strengthening the capacity of the education system to reach out to all learners and
can thus be understood as a key strategy to achieve EFA. As an overall principle, it should guide all education policies
and practices, starting from the fact that education is a basic human right and the foundation for a more just and equal
society. The major impetus for inclusive education was given at the World Conference on Special Needs Education:
Access and Quality, held in Salamanca, Spain, June 1994. More than 300 participants representing 92 governments and
25 international organizations considered the fundamental policy shifts required to promote the approach of inclusive
education, thereby enabling schools to serve all children, particularly those with special educational needs.
Although the immediate focus of the Salamanca Conference was on special needs education, its conclusion was that:
‘Special needs education – an issue of equal concern to countries of the North and of the South – cannot advance in
isolation. It has to form part of an overall educational strategy and, indeed, of new social and economic policies. It calls
for major reform of the ordinary school’.11
An ‘inclusive’ education system can only be created if ordinary schools become more inclusive – in other words, if they
become better at educating all children in their communities. The Conference proclaimed that: ‘regular schools with [an]
inclusive orientation are the most effective means of combating discriminatory attitudes, creating welcoming communities,
building an inclusive society and achieving education for all; moreover, they provide an effective education to the majority
of children and improve the efficiency and ultimately the cost-effectiveness of the entire education system’ (p. ix).
This vision was reaffirmed by the World Education Forum meeting in Dakar, April 2000, held to review the progress
made since 1990. The Forum declared that Education for All must take account of the needs of the poor and the
disadvantaged, including working children, remote rural dwellers and nomads, ethnic and linguistic minorities, children,
young people and adults affected by conflict, HIV and AIDS, hunger and poor health, and those with disabilities or
special learning needs. It also emphasized the special focus on girls and women.
Inclusion is thus seen as a process of addressing and responding to the diversity of needs of all children, youth and
adults through increasing participation in learning, cultures and communities, and reducing and eliminating exclusion
10
UNESCO. 2008a. For a more specific policy tool addressing the needs of four groups of excluded learners, namely gender with a particular
reference to girls, child labourers, children affected by HIV/AIDS and children with disability, Paris, UNESCO.
11
UNESCO. 1994. The Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special Needs Education. Paris, UNESCO/Ministry of Education,
Spain.

within and from education. It involves changes and modifications in content, approaches, structures and strategies,
with a common vision that covers all children of the appropriate age range and a conviction that it is the responsibility
of the regular system to educate all children.12
There are several justifications for this. First, there is an educational justification: the requirement for inclusive schools to
educate all children together means that they have to develop ways of teaching that respond to individual differences
and that therefore benefit all children. Second, there is a social justification: inclusive schools are able to change attitudes
toward diversity by educating all children together, and form the basis for a just and non-discriminatory society. Thirdly,
there is an economic justification: it is less costly to establish and maintain schools that educate all children together
than to set up a complex system of different types of schools specialising in different groups of children.
Article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, adopted in 2006, which advocates for inclusive
education, and recent legislation to protect indigenous languages,13 both provide further international support for
inclusive education. Annex 3 contains a selection of the most relevant standard-setting instruments (conventions,
declarations and recommendations) that form the basis for the development of inclusive policies and approaches.
They set out the central elements that need to be addressed in order to ensure the right to access to education, the right
to quality education and the right to respect in the learning environment. An overview of the legal frameworks related
to inclusive education appears in Box 1.
Box 1: Legal frameworks in support of inclusion 1948-2007
2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
2006 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of Diversity in Cultural Expressions
1999 Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action

for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour
1990 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers
and Members of their Families.
1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child
1989 Convention concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries
1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
1965 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
1960 Convention against Discrimination in Education
1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
12
UNESCO. 2003b. Overcoming Exclusion through Inclusive Approaches in Education. A challenge and a vision. Paris, UNESCO.
13
UN General Assembly Resolution 61/295. 2007. United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. New York, UN Headquarters.
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/drip.html

I.2.2 Inclusion and quality are reciprocal
In order to realize the right to education as outlined above, the EFA movement is increasingly concerned with linking
inclusive education with quality education. While there is no single universally accepted definition of quality education,
most conceptual frameworks incorporate two important components – the cognitive development of the learner on
the one hand and the role of education in promoting values and attitudes of responsible citizenship and/or creative
and emotional development on the other. In reference to the quality of basic education, the World Declaration on
Education for All (1990) was emphatic about the necessity of providing education for all children, youth and adults
that is responsive to their needs and relevant to their lives, thus paving the way for a concept of quality expressed in
terms of needs-based criteria. The World Declaration further stipulated that these needs consist of both basic learning
tools and basic learning content required by all human beings to be able to survive, develop their full capacities, live
and work in dignity, participate fully in development, improve the quality of their lives, make informed decisions and
continue learning.14
The EFA Global Monitoring Report 2005 stresses that learning should be based on the clear understanding that learners
are individuals with diverse characteristics and backgrounds, and the strategies to improve quality should therefore
draw on learners’ knowledge and strength.15 From this perspective, the report suggests five dimensions to influence
the teaching and learning processes in order to understand monitor and improve the quality of education: (1) learner
characteristics; (2) contexts; (3) enabling inputs; (4) teaching and learning; and (5) outcomes.16 These dimensions are
interrelated and interdependent and need to be addressed in an integrated manner.
Access and quality are linked and are mutually reinforcing. In the short term, quality may suffer when faced with
large numbers of children attending school; however, long-term strategies for improving their learning can succeed
in restoring the balance. Enhancing cognitive development, basic skills, physical health and emotional growth are
normally considered part of the affective domain of a learner. However, these factors are equally important in the
learning process and in reinforcing the quality of a learning experience. Planning, implementing and monitoring the
progress of these interventions, however, present an enormous challenge.
The quality of education is of central concern in virtually all countries, largely because both national and international
assessments of learning outcomes continue to reveal alarmingly weak and uneven levels of achievement in many
countries worldwide. Furthermore, there is a risk that assessments of learning only describe outputs or aspects of learning
that are relatively easy to measure and ignore aspects that are more important but difficult to measure. Numeracy and
literacy skills are often measured, which is not the case for social skills and the societal impact of education. The
focus must be on supporting education and teachers’ education aligned to inclusive approaches to support societal
development, thereby ensuring that each citizen is able to participate effectively in society.
Most assessments fail to measure emotional growth of learners or their development in terms of values and attitudes,
generally agreed-upon indicators of the quality of learning processes and the environment. Even in countries where
there have been significant increases in primary school enrolment, studies show that few children actually complete
their basic education, having achieved minimal competencies in literacy and numeracy. The combination of weak
performance and high drop-out rates is attributed to a wide range of external and internal factors that directly affect the
quality of learning processes. Quality and equity are thus central to ensuring inclusive education.
14
UNESCO. 2008b. Learning Counts: An Overview of Approaches and Indicators for Measuring and Enhancing Quality Learning in EFA-FTI
Countries. Paris, UNESCO.
15
UNESCO. 2004. EFA Global Monitoring Report. The Quality Imperative. Paris, UNESCO, p. 143.
16
Ibid., pp. 35-7.

I.2.3 Inclusion and cost effectiveness
It is difficult to speak about inclusion without considering issues of costs. National budgets are often limited, official
development assistance is lacking and parents often cannot afford the direct and indirect costs of education. Families
often have to prioritize between sending a child to school or having him/her bring in revenues to feed the family.
There is a risk, therefore, that inclusive education is considered too costly for governments, agencies and even parents,
although the amount estimated to reach EFA (US $11 billion) is exceedingly small viewed on a global scale (Box 2).
Box 2: Estimated additional costs to reach EFA
According to estimates by Oxfam, the financial support needed to reach EFA corresponds to:
– four days´ worth of global military spending

– half of what is spent on toys in the United States every year
– less than what Europeans spend on computer games or mineral water per year
– less than 0.1 per cent of the world’s annual gross national product
Source: Oxfam 2000. Achieving Universal Primary Eduction. London, Oxfam.
However, much could be recuperated through developing a more cost-efficient education system. The institutional
context in which public spending takes place requires more attention than it has so far received.17 This includes
optimizing the use of resources in order to achieve a higher cost-benefit relationship between inputs and results. In
OECD countries between 5 per cent and 40 per cent of students drop out, finishing with low skills and high rates of
unemployment.18 Among those who drop out from schools are many pupils with negative learning experiences and a
history of having to repeat years because of poor performance.
The financial resources aimed at the students who repeat19 could be better spent on improving the quality of education
for all, especially if we consider the low impact of repetition on the level of students’ outcomes and its negative effect
on students’ self-esteem. Such investment would include teachers’ training, supply of material, ICTs and the provision
of additional support for students who experience difficulties in the education process.
Furthermore, interventions to promote inclusion do not need to be costly. Several cost-effective measures to promote
inclusive quality education have been developed in countries with scarce resources. These include multi-grade,
multi-age and multi-ability classrooms, initial literacy in mother tongues, training-of-trainer models for professional
development, linking students in pre-service teacher training with schools, peer teaching and converting special schools
into resource centres that provide expertise and support to clusters of regular schools. An example from Jamaica on
early intervention shows the cost effectiveness of inclusive approaches (Box 3).
17
UNESCO. 2003a. Ministerial Roundtable Meeting on Quality Education. Paris, UNESCO.
18
OECD. 2007b. PISA 2006: Science Competencies for Tomorrow's World. Paris, OECD.
19
For example, in Latin America, repetition implies a cost of US $5.6 billion in primary school and US $5.5 billion in secondary school at the
exchange rate of the year 2000 (UNESCO-OREALC, 2007).

Box 3: Early intervention project in Jamaica
Jamaica
An Early Intervention Project for children with disabilities that is home-based was developed in
Jamaica. The project relies on parents to provide services to the children after initial training.
The cost is US $300 per year per child, considerably less than the cost of special education in
Jamaica.
Source: S.Peters. 2004. Inclusive Education: an EFA Strategy for All Children. Washington, DC, World Bank.
A growing body of global research, including results of an analysis of the OECD’s Programme for International
Student Assessment (PISA), has demonstrated that quality does not directly depend on the cost of education. Quality
assessed as learning outcomes relates much more to the quality of teaching than to other factors such as class size or
classroom diversity. In fact, one typical feature for the top performing school systems is that, in different ways, they take
responsibility for educating and supporting all students.
Giving children an early start in education lays the foundations for inclusion since, as cognitive neuroscience has
shown, early childhood is a critical period for the acquisition of cognitive skills. The case for well-designed ECCE
programmes is therefore compelling, especially for the most disadvantaged. This can be reinforced through effective
school health, hygiene and nutrition programmes.
Education is often said to play a key role in determining how one spends one’s adult life – a higher level of education often
translates into higher earnings, better health, and a longer life. The long-term social and financial costs of educational
failure are therefore indisputably high, since those without the skills to participate socially and economically generate
higher costs for health, income support, child welfare and social security systems, where they exist. Figure 3 shows the
production loss of gross domestic product (GDP) by not including persons with disabilities.

Figure 3: Effects on GDP of not including persons with disabilities
To not invest in education as a preparation for an active and productive adult life can be very
costly and profoundly irrational in economic terms.
A study in Canada shows that the production loss – if persons with disabilities are kept outside
of the labour market – amounts to 7.7% of GDP ($55.8 billion).
Large amounts of money can thus be invested in facilitating an education that could lead to
work.
The figure below, which graphically displays the mean regional proportion estimates of the total value of
GDP lost due to disability, shows that 35.8% of the GDP lost globally as a result of disability is estimated
to take place in Europe and Central Asia, followed by North America at 29.1% and East Asia and the
Pacific at 15.6%. The remaining four regions each account for less than 10% of the global total.
REGIONAL PROPORTIONS OF GDP LOST DUE TO DISABILITY
3UB 3AHARAN
!FRICA
3OUTH!SIA
-IDDLE%ASTAND
.ORTH!FRICA %UROPEAND
#ENTRAL!SIA
,ATIN!MERICA
ANDTHE
#ARIBBEAN
%AST!SIAAND
THE0ACIFIC
.ORTH!MERICA
Source: R. Hals and R. C. Ficke. 1991. Digest of Data on Persons with Disabilities, Washington, DC, US Department of Education,
National Institute on Disability.
C. Ficke. 1992. Digest of Data on Persons with Disabilities, Washington: US Department of Education, National Institute on
Disability and Rehabilitation Research.

Part II
Moving policy forward
The success of creating inclusive education as a key to establishing inclusive societies depends on agreement among
all relevant partners on a common vision supported by a number of specific steps to be taken to put this vision into
practice. The move towards inclusion is a gradual one that should be based on clearly articulated principles that address
system-wide development and multi-sectoral approaches involving all levels of society. The barriers to inclusion can be
reduced through active collaboration between policy-makers, education personnel and other stakeholders, including
the active involvement of members of the local community, such as political and religious leaders, local education
officials and the media.
Some important steps include:
y Carrying out local situation analyses on the scope of the issue, available resources and their utilization in support of
inclusion and inclusive education
y Mobilizing opinion on the right to education for everybody
y Building consensus around the concepts of inclusive and quality education
y Reforming legislation to support inclusive education in line with international conventions, declarations and
recommendations
y Supporting local capacity-building to promote development towards inclusive education
y Developing ways to measure the impact of inclusive and quality education
y Developing school- and community-based mechanisms to identify children not in school and find ways to help
them enter school and remain there
y Helping teachers to understand their role in education and that inclusion of diversity in the classroom is an
opportunity, not a problem
II.1 Developing inclusive education systems

Looking at education through an inclusive lens (Fig, 4) implies a shift from seeing the child as the problem to seeing the
education system as the problem. Initial views emphasized that the source of difficulties in learning comes from within
the learner and ignored the environmental influences on learning. It is now strongly argued that reorganizing ordinary
schools within the community, through school improvement and a focus on quality, ensures that all children can learn
effectively, including those categorized as having special needs. Learning begins before children get to school and,
therefore, ECCE is particularly important as an instrument to build inclusive societies. New evidence linking mental
health, early stimulation of children through activities such as creative play, music and physical activity, and nutrition
to necessary stimulation of the brain, further indicates the importance of a focus on ECCE.

Figure 4: Education through the inclusion lens
The education system

has the full responsibility to ensure
the right to education
It is equipped and ready

to handle diversity through:
Flexible teaching and learning methods

adapted to different needs and learning styles
Reorienting teacher education
Flexible curriculum
responsive to diverse needs and not
overloaded with academic content
Welcoming of diversity
Involvement of parents and the community
Early identification and remediation

of children at risk of failure
Flexible teaching methods

with innovative approaches to teaching aids,
and equipment as well as the use of ICTs
Responsive, child-friendly environments
Professional environment working deliberately

and actively to promote inclusion for all
Part I Inclusive education:

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An inclusive school must offer possibilities and opportunities for a range of working methods and individual treatment
to ensure that no child is excluded from companionship and participation in the school. This implies the development
of rights-based, child-friendly schools. A rights-based education helps children realize their rights. It is not only
academically effective but also inclusive, healthy and protective of all children, gender-responsive, and encourages
the participation of the learners themselves, their families and their communities. Support from the teachers and head
teachers is essential, but support from the communities close to the school is also vital. All must be able and willing to
ensure inclusion in the classroom and in learning for all children regardless of their differences.
Thus, as noted earlier, seeing education through the inclusion lens implies a shift from seeing the child as a problem to
seeing the education system as the problem that can be solved through inclusive approaches.
Inclusive education of good quality is the best means to overcome future learning deficiencies among youth and
adults. In today’s situation, however, special efforts must also be made to ensure appropriate education and training
programmes using different modalities for those youth and adults who have so far been deprived.
When communities can hold teachers, administrators and government officials accountable for the inclusion of all
children through formal institutional mechanisms, community members become more interested in school improvement
and more willing to commit their own resources to the task. This commitment may include forming partnerships
with outside contributors such as the private sector. According to the World Bank,20 programmes that expand the
access of excluded groups to education have led to important shifts in mindsets among community members and
government leaders regarding the contributions that these groups can make to society. In this way, change processes
and empowerment go hand in hand to move towards inclusion for all learners. It often involves developing alternative
and non-formal dimensions of learning within a holistic education system in order to promote inclusion at all levels.
II.2 Challenges for policy-makers

In preparation of the 48th International Conference on Education (ICE) on Inclusive Education: the Way of the Future,
UNESCO’s International Bureau of Education along with UNESCO Headquarters, National Commissions, field offices
and members of the Community of Practice (COP) in Curriculum Development as well as other civil society partners,
organized 13 regional preparatory workshops with 914 participants from 128 countries.21 The purpose of these meetings
was to discuss existing perceptions of inclusive education and to identify best practices for use in its implementation.
The meetings revealed both subtle and more overt differences in the understanding of the concept of inclusive
education among countries and across regions, as well as important common elements, in particular concerning the
need to provide equal access to quality education for all.
The major concerns and concrete areas of action identified in these regional preparatory meetings are presented in Box
4. They are further explored in the detailed descriptions in the remaining part of the document. In addition, a number
of simple checklist boxes have been developed to help policy-makers explore the key questions to be addressed under
each of the core elements. The policy matrix at the end of the document pulls together in a more global sense the areas
that need to be addressed in order to develop inclusive education in a full policy cycle.
20
Peters, S. 2004. Inclusive education: an EFA strategy for all children. Washington, DC: World Bank.
21
Opertti, R. and Belalcázar, C. 2008. Trends in Inclusive Education at Regional and Interregional Levels: Issues and Challenges. Geneva, IBE.

Box 4: Major concerns and concrete areas of action identified
at the IBE preparatory regional meetings
A. Attitudinal changes and policy development
– The term inclusive education needs to be further clarified and adopted by educators,
governmental and non-governmental organizations, policy-makers and social actors.
– The lack of understanding, awareness and support in society about inclusive education
needs to be addressed through advocacy and dialogue at regional and national levels.
– Long-term sustainable policies of economic and social development need to take
inclusive education into account.
– An integral multi-sectoral and collaborative approach is needed to guarantee the right
to education.
– Regional and national dialogues are needed to ensure public understanding, awareness
and support of policies.
B. Ensuring inclusion through early childhood care and education
– Early childhood interventions should be seen as a sustainable way to guarantee the

right to education for all children from the start.
C. Inclusive curricula
– Cohesive transition and articulation of the curriculum between early childhood, primary
and secondary education are key factors in preventing drop-outs from level to level and
ensuring retention.
– Curricular changes are necessary in order to support flexible learning and assessment.
– Opportunities for informal and non-formal education should be developed in the
curriculum.
– A highly academic, heavily overloaded curriculum is counterproductive to inclusive
education.
– Multiple stakeholders should be encouraged to participate in curriculum design.
D. Teachers and teacher education
– Teacher-education programmes, (both pre-service and in-service) should be reoriented

and aligned to inclusive education approaches in order to give teachers the pedagogical
capacities necessary to make diversity work in the classroom and in line with reformed
curricula.
– Training of all education professionals, including members of the community, are
essential to supporting an inclusive school.
– The creation of incentives renewing teachers’ social status and improving their living
conditions are necessary pre-conditions to professionalizing the role of teachers
(e.g. increasing salaries, providing better living quarters, providing home leaves,
increasing respect for their work, etc.)
E. Resources and legislation
– National legislation should be changed and revised to incorporate notions of inclusive

education.
– International conventions should be signed and ratified and reflected in national
legislation.
– Implementation of policy and laws should be promoted and enforced.
– Budgetary allocations for inclusive education should be equitable, transparent,
accountable and efficient.

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II.2.1 Attitudinal Change as the Precursor to Effective Policy Development
Inclusion often requires a shift in people’s attitudes and values. Such change takes time and involves significant
reassessment of conceptions and role behaviour. Awareness raising should involve both better understanding of
inclusive education and that societies become more tolerant and understanding. National policies on inclusion, local
support systems and appropriate forms of curriculum and assessment are important to create the necessary context for
the development of inclusion.
Educational institutions should not see themselves as the only experts on education. Expertise need not always be
available in every school, but it is important to secure access to specific competences when needed. This is reflected in
the gradual transition in some countries of special schools into resource centres with outreach services to support the
regular school system and offer guidance to families in their efforts to support their children.
Teachers, other educators, non-teaching support staff, parents, communities, school authorities, curriculum developers,
educational planners, the private sector and training institutes are all among the actors that can serve as valuable
resources in support of inclusion. Some (teachers, parents and communities) are more than just a valuable resource;
they are the key to supporting all aspects of the inclusion process. This must be based on a willingness to accept and
welcome diversity and to take an active role in the lives of students, both in and out of school.
Box 5: Checklist on attitudinal change
Is the concept of inclusive education well known and accepted?
Do parents take an active role in education?
Have awareness programmes been launched to support inclusive education?
Are the local community and the private sector encouraged to support inclusive education?
Is inclusive education seen as an important factor for economic and social development?
Are competencies available at special schools or institutions well used to support inclusion?
II.2.2 Creating an inclusive curriculum

An inclusive curriculum addresses the child’s cognitive, emotional, social and creative development. It is based on
the four pillars of education for the twenty-first century – learning to know, to do, to be and to live together.22 It has an
instrumental role to play in fostering tolerance and promoting human rights, and is a powerful tool for transcending
cultural, religious, gender and other differences. An inclusive curriculum takes gender, cultural identity and language
background into consideration. It involves breaking negative stereotypes not only in textbooks but also, and more
importantly, in teacher’s attitudes and expectations. Multilingual approaches in education, in which language is
recognized as an integral part of a student’s cultural identity, can act as a source of inclusion. Furthermore, mother
tongue instruction in the initial years of school has a positive impact on learning outcomes.
An inclusive approach to curriculum policy has built-in flexibility and can be adjusted to different needs so that
everyone benefits from a commonly accepted basic level of quality education. This ranges from varying the time that
22
Delors, J. et al. 1996. Learning: the Treasure Within. Report to UNESCO of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first
Century. Paris, UNESCO.

students devote to particular subjects, to giving teachers greater freedom to choose their working methods, and to
allowing more time for guided classroom-based work.
According to the EFA Global Monitoring Report 2005, one way to move towards a relevant, balanced set of aims is to
analyse the curriculum in terms of inclusion. An inclusive approach to curriculum policy recognizes that while each
learner has multiple needs – even more so in situations of vulnerability and disadvantage – everyone should benefit
from a commonly accepted basic level of quality education. This underlines the need for a common core curriculum
that is relevant for the learner while being taught according to flexible methods.23
Accessible and flexible curricula, textbooks and learning materials can serve as the key to creating schools for all.
Many curricula expect all pupils to learn the same things, at the same time and by the same means and methods. But
pupils are different and have different abilities and needs. It is important, therefore, that the curriculum be flexible
enough to provide possibilities for adjustment to individual needs and to stimulate teachers to seek solutions that can
be matched with the needs, abilities and learning styles of each and every pupil.24 This is particularly important in the
development and practice of learning activities for youth and adults. Some of the issues to consider in developing
inclusive curricula appear in Box 6.
The concept of inclusive education questions a large part of the traditional school’s way of organizing and arranging
teaching. While schools must have general or common goals for what is appropriate and desirable for pupils to
achieve in school, the demands related to different school subjects must be seen in the context of the individual pupil’s
opportunities and needs.
The social composition of schools and classrooms is changing in many developing countries with more learners
entering schools. Multi-grade, multi-age and multi-ability classrooms are the reality in most places. It is essential that
alternate frameworks for imparting learning in varying contexts be analysed and better understood. Greater attention is
also needed to investigate unique contexts and settings – schools that promote active learning and inclusion, provide
multicultural settings, and function in refugee and emergency situations.
Box 6: Checklist for inclusive curricula
Are principles of non-discrimination, appreciation of diversity and tolerance being fostered

through the curriculum?
Are human rights and children’s rights part of the curriculum?
Does the curriculum address the coexistence of rights with responsibilities?
Is the curriculum inclusive of all children?
Is the content of the curriculum relevant to the needs and future of children and youth?
Are the programmes, learning materials and teaching methods well adapted and relevant
to the lives of youth and adults?
Does the curriculum allow for variation in working methods?
Does the curriculum promote education on health and nutrition?
23
UNESCO. 2004b. EFA Global Monitoring Report 2005. The Quality Imperative. Paris, UNESCO.
24
UIS. 2004c. Investing in the Future: Financing the Expansion of Educational Opportunity in Latin America and the Caribbean, Montreal, Que.,
UIS.

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Does the curriculum incorporate HIV/AIDS prevention education?
Is the curriculum sensitive to gender, cultural identity and language background?
Does the curriculum discuss education for sustainable development?
Does the curriculum reflect visions and goals of wider development in your country?
Is feedback gathered and integrated for regular revision of the curriculum to take new visions
and circumstances into consideration?
II.2.3 Teachers and the learning environment

The way teachers teach is of critical importance in any reform designed to improve inclusion. Teachers must make
sure that each pupil understands the instructions and expected working modalities. Similarly, the teacher him/herself
must understand the pupil’s reaction to what is being taught since teaching only has meaning and relevance if the pupil
acquires its content. Teachers thus need to be educated in alignment with these expectations.
Teachers as well as school leaders must be encouraged to discuss learning and teaching as well as methods and
possibilities for development. They must be given a chance to reflect together on their practice, and to influence the
methods and strategies used in their classes and schools. Teachers must also be familiarized with new curricula and
trained in addressing student performances. A child-centred curriculum is characterized by a move away from rote
learning and towards greater emphasis on hands-on, experience-based, active and cooperative learning.
Introducing inclusion as a guiding principle has implications for teachers’ practices and attitudes – be it towards girls,
slow learners, children with special needs or those from diverse backgrounds (cognitive, ethnic and socio-economic).
Teachers’ positive attitudes towards inclusion depend strongly on their experience with learners who are perceived as
‘challenging’. Teacher education, the availability of support within the classroom, class size and overall workload are all
factors which influence teachers’ attitudes. Negative attitudes of head-teachers, inspectors of education, teachers and
adults (parents and other family members) are major barriers to inclusion. Thus, empowering all of these individuals,
equipping them with new confidence and skills in the process of introducing inclusion as a guiding principle, will have
implications for teachers’ attitudes and performances.
Teachers, other educators and non-teaching support staff need to be trained and ready to assist children, youth
and adults in their development and learning processes on a daily basis. Flexible teaching-learning methodologies
necessitate shifting away from long theoretical, pre-service-based teacher training to continuous in-service development
of teachers. It must be noted that all specific knowledge and competence cannot be given to the same individual.
Several specializations are needed to cooperate with and support ordinary school staff. Moreover, national policies
must address the status of teachers, their welfare and professional development. The severe teacher shortage and lack
of trained teachers, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, and South and West Asia, has highly unfortunate consequences
for the quality of learning.
It is important to focus on creating an optimum learning environment so that all children can learn well and achieve
their potential. This involves learner-centred teaching methods and developing appropriate learning materials. ICTs
and the use of new technology constitute a vital part of modern societies and should be used whenever possible.
Activities that make schools more effective include: school readiness activities that ease the transition from home to
school for grade one pupils, teacher training on child-centred techniques such as asking pupils questions, assigning
the best teachers to the early grades to ensure a solid foundation in literacy and numeracy, providing remediation to

pupils at risk of failure, improvement of classroom management and using language that is adapted to a child’s level of
understanding, including initial literacy in the mother tongue (see Box 7).
Schools should provide children with the knowledge and skills necessary to remain healthy and to protect themselves
from the risk of exploitation. Activities that promote this include: ensuring life skills, education based on hygiene,
alternative forms of discipline, and investment in sanitation facilities in schools and communities.
Box 7: Checklist on teachers and the learning environment
Are there enough trained teachers deployed appropriately throughout the country?
Is the teaching inclusive of all children, protective, gender responsive and encouraging
of the participation of the learners themselves?
Is the professional development and motivation of teachers enhanced by providing incentives and
ongoing professional development?
Is multilingualism embraced, particularly the recognition of the importance of mother-tongue

instruction in the first years of school?
Are the learning environments safe and healthy?
Are teaching methods interactive?
Are teaching methods adapted to different age groups

(children, youth and adults)?
Are teachers encouraged to work in teams?
Is the work project-oriented?
Is teaching predominantly theoretical?
Do materials cater to the needs of all learners with learning difficulties (visually impaired,
hearing impaired, etc.)?
Are teachers encouraged to cooperate with parents and civil society?
II.2.4 Supporting the policy cycle

Inclusive education systems and societies can only be realized if governments are aware of the nature of the problem
and are committed to solving it. This must be reflected in the willingness to undertake in-depth analysis of the size
and character of the out-of-school populations and ensure their integration into quality school and other kinds of
education and training programmes. Such analysis would frequently require improved data systems and data collection
methods.
Government commitment would also express itself in appropriate legal frameworks established in accordance with
relevant international conventions and recommendations ensuring that inclusive education is appropriately understood
and interpreted as a rights issue. Its priority in national policy, planning and implementation should be reflected in the
comparative allocation in national budgets and in requests for development assistance from international partners and

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the private sector. Appropriate monitoring and evaluation mechanisms need to be put in place to evaluate the impact
of inclusive education policies as regards the learner, the education system and wider societal development.
Assessment approaches that promote a development towards inclusion need to be elaborated. The European Agency
for Development in Special needs education has as one example developed outline indicators stressing that:
y all pupils should be entitled to be involved in all assessment procedures as long as they are relevant and adapted to
accommodate their needs
y initial identification of pupils’ needs should not be the only mechanism for resource allocation
y legal definitions and subsequent assessment procedures based on medical/deficit approaches lead to labelling and
categorisation that often reinforces segregation and separate approaches to provision
y curriculum, program reform should be centred upon learning needs and not be content lead/driven.25
Figure 5 presents some of the many issues that need to be addressed to appropriately position inclusive education in
the policy cycle.
The numbers of suggested actions are many and please note that it might be necessary to identify a few activities that
you think lies within your competency and possibility to deal with during the coming planning period.
Your selection must be based on the actual needs of your country, its infrastructure and what you estimate should be
the most strategic activity within the closest period of planning.
The suggested actions presents a holistic approach to bring about change in the entire education system and it takes a
lot of cooperation among many actors to make this happen. A coordinated action plan would be the ultimate solution
but it is however also important to emphasize that there is no need to wait for such a plan. Every initiative and action
that stimulates more inclusive education systems is valuable and may constitute an important turning point in support
of its further development.
25
Watkins, A. (Editor). 2007. Assessment in Inclusive Settings: Key Issues for Policy and Practice. Odense, Denmark: European Agency for
Development in Special Needs Education.

Figure 5: Concerns on and actions for inclusive education
Policy concerns Policy questions Gaps to be resolved Suggested actions
Needs analysis and Enrolment of out-of-school children, 1. Lack of statistics and A1. Promote innovative
diagnosis of needs youth and adults information on children programmes and support
must proceed the 1. What is known about the present who are out of school the community in its
formulation of situation? 2. Who are the children capacity to identify out-
policies and plans 2. Are many children out of school? not in school and why of-school children, youth
3. Has youth been provided with are they not enrolled? and adults in order to
appropriate education and training 3. Encouraging youth get them into school and
programmes? to take part in edu- other education or train-
4. Can all adults in need of education be cation and training ing programmes
reached? programmes that are A2. Involve communities
relevant to them in services that reach
4. Reaching adults with out to adults in need of
relevant education and education
training programmes A3. Engage schools and com-
munities in:
– mapping households
and identifying out-of
-school children
– enrolment campaigns
and community mobi-
lization in partnership
with local leaders
A4. Provide support for
mechanisms at local levels
that aim at reaching out
to children, youth and
adults currently deprived
of education
Systems and Data system collection 1. Data systems are B1. Build appropriate data
methods of 1. Does your country have appropri- deficient systems at the national
collecting education- ate data systems for the collection, 2. Data collection is weak level
related data are maintenance and monitoring of and sporadic and B2. Encourage use of house-
necessary to inform information? cannot be verified hold surveys
policy and practice 2. Are education policies in your country 3. Planning is difficult B3. Strengthen the capacity
built firmly on a system of information without relevant data of local NGOs to collect
gathering involving participatory proc- 4. Lack of ‘population data
esses with children, youth and adults mapping’ B4. Involve local communities
across the community? in data collection
Policies and plans Inclusive education as a rights issue 1. Lack of endorsement C1. Ensure that national
must be pro-poor 1. Do policies in your country promote and implementation of legislation is in line with
and stress the rights inclusion as a human rights issue and rights instruments international conventions
basis for inclusion use human rights as a justification for 2. Children and youth in C2. Ensure that policies
inclusive policies? rural or hard-to-reach reflect rights-based and
areas are still out of pro-poor approaches,
school and target disadvantaged
3. Many adults have no children
access to educational C3. Support programmes for
programmes youth and adults
Policies have rather Definitions of inclusive education 1. Lack of legislation on D1. Conduct awareness cam-
unclear definitions. 1. Are your country’s policies based on a inclusive education paigns via media, posters,
Inclusive education comprehensive definition of inclusive 2. Lack of policies related conferences and training
is seen primarily in education? to inclusive education D2. Involve communities and
terms of disability 2. Do policies address the differences in 3. Lack of a precise local leaders
and ‘special needs’ concepts of ‘special needs’ education concept
and inclusive education?

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Allocating Resource allocation 1. Budgets are frag- E1. Ensure effective plan-
funding to inclusive 1. Do policies in your country encourage mented and do not ning and budgeting in
education is a budgeting that targets inclusive edu- allocate resources the education sector and
challenge cation, rather than sidelining inclusive efficiently with other sectors of
education in a separate budget? 2. Rigid regulations society
prevent resources E2. Decentralize the use of
from being attributed funds within the educa-
effectively where they tion system
are needed E3. Ensure that ECCE-related
3. ECCE is not considered funding from differ-
a priority and thus ent ministerial budgets
insufficient resources (social, health education,
are allocated etc.) is coordinated
E4. Ensure that budget allo-
cations support currently
excluded groups
E5. Allow flexible use of
funds to support activities
for inclusive schools, edu-
cation and /or training
programmes
Inclusive education Holistic approach 1. Separate and segre- F1. Ensure cross-sectoral
is mainly presented 1. Do policies in your country view inclu- gated provisions for planning for education
as a set of separate sive education as a way to change the different learners; F2. Develop long-term
interventions for entire education system so that each costly parallel systems policies for economic and
different groups of learner is included in better quality 2. Provisions for certain social development to
learners education? groups are not with the achieve and sustain inclu-
2. Do policies present a vision of a Ministry of Education sive education objectives
system unifying formal, non-for- F3. Strengthen ECCE provi-
mal, mainstream and segregated sions, linking them to
provision? inclusive approaches
3. Do other sectors contribute to educa- F4. Involve the private sector
tion (cooperation between sectors in supporting education
such as ministries and also with the
private sector)?
An holistic Communication between different 1. There are problems G1. Initiate meetings among
education system levels of education and misunderstandings staff to discuss and
requires an 1. Is there a systematic information between staff at differ- define roles and areas of
information flow exchange between different levels of ent levels of the educa- cooperation
among professionals education as well as between schools tion system (from early G2. Provide information on
at different levels as and parents? childhood onwards) activities and experiences
well as between the 2. Have efforts been made to promote 2. There is lack of gained at lower levels
school and families exchange of experiences among information flow from G3. Encourage sharing
professionals? the various levels of experiences through staff
education exchange
3. Changes in pedagogi-
cal approaches and
teaching methods from
one level to the next
may be confusing to
learners

Access to school Access 1. Children often have to H1. Governments must

buildings and 1. Do children have easy access to walk long distances to ensure transport to
curriculum school, particularly those living in get to school and from schools when
remote areas and rural communities? 2. Many schools have no needed
2. Do youth and adults have access to ramps and/or sanitary H2. Encourage schools to
education or training programmes? facilities build their own ramps
3. No policies indicate that school build- 3. There are no uniform and improve sanitary
ings must be accessible to everybody standards and direc- conditions
tives for building H3. Provide incentives for the
schools that are construction of accessible
accessible schools and elicit support
from the private sector
Improving quality Quality education 1. Lack of retention, high I1. Adopt methods to assess
in education 1. Are your country’s policies based on drop out and high learning outcomes
is not given as a strong understanding that improve- repetition rates I2. Improve teaching
much attention ments in access need to be matched 2. Inadequate learning methods
as increasing with improvements in quality if enrol- outcomes I3. Take account of cog-
enrolment rates and ment growth is to be maintained and nition and cognitive
access drop-out rates reduced? development
I4. Ensure effective use of
resources
Curriculum reform Flexible curriculum development 1. The curriculum is con- J1. Provide support when
needs to be more 1. Do policies in your country encourage centrating on academic needed and make
prominent and curriculum reforms built on stake- skills and only assessing curricula open and
involve relevant holder input? these skills flexible, allowing for
stakeholders in the 2. Do policies support local flexibility in 2. Methods used are different learning styles
development of new curriculum development? inflexible and only and content that makes
and revised curricula allow for one teaching the curriculum relevant to
style learners and society
3. No contacts and coop- J2. Involve the local commu-
eration with the com- nity in teaching in local
munity are foreseen in languages
the curriculum J3. Include issues on early
4. The curriculum is childhood programmes in
prescriptive and non- the curriculum to secure
flexible easy transition
J4. Ensure that curricula do
not focus only on aca-
demic skills
J5. Encourage new methods
and ways of learning
J6. Initiate discussions in
schools about teaching
and learning processes

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Teacher education Teacher education 1. Lack of incentives and K1. Improve pre- and in-
is often discussed 1. Do policies in your country advocate professional develop- service training, mentor-
in detail but not radical reform of pre- and in-service ment of teachers ship, teambuilding
addressed in teacher education in order to prepare 2. Insufficient learning K2. Provide teacher educa-
the context of teachers for inclusive approaches in resources such as tion for teachers at early
promoting diversity. education? textbooks and learning grades and early literacy
2. Do they encourage a view of inclusive materials K3. Promote the use of new
education as a natural way of working 3. Lack of materials that and alternative methods
for every teacher? support the needs of for teaching
3. Do they ask the question ‘who trains particular groups of K4. Encourage methods for
trainers?’ and tackle the sensitive learners such as in planning education based
issue of well-established train- Braille, sign language, on individual educational
ing institutes teaching out-of-date easy reading materials) needs
approaches? 4. Lack of mother tongue K5. Encourage teachers
4. Do policies acknowledge the different instruction to organize their work
pedagogical needs and methods used 5. Lack of gender- in teams and to apply
with children, youth and adults? sensitivity and gender- problem oriented teach-
responsiveness ing methods as well as
6. Teachers do not paying respect to diversi-
welcome diversity but ties and different learning
see it is a problem styles among their pupils
7. Teaching staff is not K6. Set up work with groups
yet familiar with the of mixed abilities to
use of ICT facilitate peer tutoring
among pupils
K7. Encourage the use of
new technology and ICT
Capacity Capacity development 1. There is no structured L1. Initiate the elaboration

development 1. Are there clear ideas expressed about planning for capacity of capacity development
is important at the importance of continuous capacity building of educational plans for educational
all levels of the development activities for all staff to staff as well as support staff both at national,
education system ensure a continuous development of staff in schools regional and local levels
the quality of teaching? 2. No specific require- L2. Develop a set of criteria
2. Is there specific training for school ments have been for the requirements of
managers (head teachers, directors)? established for capacity capacities needed for
development of head school managers, inspec-
teachers and inspectors tors and teachers
of schools
Monitoring and Monitoring and evaluation 1. Lack of policies or M1. Develop systems for
evaluation are 1. Have clear expectations been set for weak expectations monitoring and evalu-
necessary to improve the monitoring of schools and non- on monitoring and ation that relate to all
planning and formal education activities and for evaluation levels (national, regional,
implementation evaluation of their results? 2. No monitoring or local and private)
2. Does this apply to both regional and evaluation systems are M2. Improve monitoring and
central authorities? put in place evaluation of perform-
3. Do private schools form part of the ance at schools and in
monitoring and evaluation process? non-formal education
programmes
M3. Train and involve school
heads and inspec-
tors in assessment and
evaluation
M4. Early identification of
children at the risk of
dropping out followed
by analysis of the factors
and conditions that
constitutes this situa-
tion should be part of all
evaluations

annex 1
Education for All (EFA) goals
1. Expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most
vulnerable and disadvantaged children;
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;
3. Ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to
appropriate learning and life-skills programmes;
4. Achieving a 50 per cent improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and
equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults;
5. Eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005, and achieving gender
equality in education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring girls’ full and equal access to and achievement
in basic education of good quality;
6. Improving all aspects of the quality of education, and ensuring excellence of all so that recognized
and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential
life skills.
Part I Inclusive education: rationale and developments

Annexes 27
annex 2
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger – reduce by half the population living on less than a dollar
a day and who suffer from hunger
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women – eliminate gender disparity in primary and
secondary education
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability – reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable
access to safe drinking water
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development – more aid, more debt relief, access to essential
drugs and good governance

annex 3
Conventions, declarations
and recommendations related
to inclusive education
Main features relevant

Conventions
to inclusive quality education
Convention against Discrimination Right of access to education and to quality of

in Education (1960) education.
International Covenant on Economic, Right of everyone to access all levels of education,

Social and Cultural Rights (1966) including technical and vocational education.
Elimination of discrimination to race, colour,

International Covenant on Civil sex, language, religion, political or other opinion,
and Political Rights (1966) national or social origin, property, birth or other
status.
Adoption of measures, particularly in the fields

International Convention on the Elimination of teaching, education, culture and information,
of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965) to combat prejudices that lead to racial
discrimination.
Elimination of discrimination against women in

the field of education.
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms Elimination of stereotyped concept of the roles of
of Discrimination against Women (1979) men and women by encouraging co-education,
the revision of textbooks, school programmes and
the adaptation of teaching methods.
Right to education that is responsive to culture and

needs of indigenous peoples.
Convention concerning Indigenous and
Elimination of prejudices ensuring that textbooks
Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries
and other educational materials provide a fair,
(1989)
accurate and informative portrayal of the societies
and cultures of these peoples.

Annexes 29
Main features relevant
Conventions
to inclusive quality education
Right to free and compulsory primary schooling

without any type of discrimination.
Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)
Emphasis on child well-being and development,
and measures to support child care.
International Convention on the Protection

Facilitation of teaching of mother tongue and
of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and
culture for the children of migrant workers.
Members of their Families (1990)
International Convention concerning the

Access to free basic education and to vocational
Prohibition and Immediate Action for the
training for all children removed from the worst
Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child
forms of child labour.
Labour (1999)
Equal dignity of and respect for all cultures,

Convention on the Protection and Promotion
including the cultures of persons belonging to
of Diversity in Cultural Expressions (2005)
linguistic minorities.
No exclusion from free and compulsory primary

education, or from secondary education, on the
Convention on the Rights of Persons with
basis of disability.
Disabilities (2006)
Assurance of an inclusive education system at all
levels and in lifelong learning.
Main features relevant to

Recommendations
inclusive quality education
Elimination of discrimination in Education, and

Recommendation Against Discrimination
also the adoption of measures aimed at promoting
in Education (1960)
equality of opportunity and treatment in this field.
Recommendation concerning the Status Responsibility of states for proper education for all
of Teachers (1966) (EFA).
Recommendation concerning Education for

Need for understanding and respect for all peoples,
International Understanding, Cooperation
their cultures, civilizations, values and ways of
and Peace and Education relating to Human
life.
Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (1974)
Norms and standards for wider access and inclusive

Recommendation on the Development approaches to education.
of Adult Education (1976) Provision of continuing education and learning
opportunities for youth and adults.
Recommendation on the Recognition Right of wider access to educational resources

of Studies and Qualifications in Higher world wide through greater mobility for students,
Education (1993) researchers, teachers and specialists.

Recommendations
Recommendation concerning the Status of Equitable treatment of women and minorities and
Higher-Education Teaching Personnel (1997) elimination of sexual and racial harassment.
Technical and vocational education programmes

Revised Recommendation concerning should be designed as comprehensive and
Technical and Vocational Education (2001) inclusive systems to accommodate the needs of all
learners, particularly girls and women.

Declarations
Everyone has the right to education. Education

Universal Declaration of Human Rights shall be free, at least in the elementary and
(1948) fundamental stages. Elementary education shall
be compulsory.
Every person – child, youth and adult – shall be

World Declaration on Education for All
able to benefit from educational opportunities
(1990)
designed to meet their basic learning needs.
Eliminate disparities of access to basic education

arising from gender, age, income, family, cultural,
The Delhi Declaration (1993)
ethnic and linguistic differences, and geographic
remoteness.
Respect for the educational rights of persons

belonging to ethnic, religious and linguistic
Declaration and Integrated Framework
minorities, as well as indigenous people, and
of Action on Education for Peace, Human
this must also have implications in curricula
Rights and democracy (1995)
and methods as well as in the way education is
organized.
The State as essential vehicle for ensuring the

The Hamburg Declaration on Adult Learning right to education for all, particularly for the most
(1997) vulnerable groups of society, such as minorities
and indigenous people.
Effecting changes in legislation to extend basic

education and to include education for all in policy
Recife Declaration of the E-9 countries (2000) statements.
Ensuring access and equity for population located
in remote areas.
Reinforce action-oriented programmes to meeting

Beijing Declaration of the E-9 countries the learning needs of disadvantaged groups such as
(2001) children with special needs, migrants, minorities
and the urban/rural poor.

Annexes 31
Declarations
Encourageing linguistic diversity – while respecting

the mother tongue – at all levels of education;
Incorporating, where appropriate, traditional
Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity
pedagogies into the education process with a
(2005)
view to preserving and making full use of culturally
appropriate methods of communication and
transmission of knowledge.
Recognizes the right of indigenous families and

communities to retain shared responsibility for the
upbringing, training, education and well-being of
their children, consistent with the rights of the child;
United Nations Declaration on the Rights
indigenous peoples have the right to establish and
of Indigenous Peoples (2007)
control their education systems and institutions
providing education in their own languages, in a
manner appropriate to their cultural methods of
teaching and learning.

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Policy Guidelines

Part I Inclusive education: rationale and developments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

I.2 Inclusion in education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Part II Moving policy forward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

II.1 Developing inclusive education systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

II.2 Challenges for policy-makers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Annex 1 Education for All (EFA) goals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Bibliography and References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Part I Inclusive education: rationale and developments 3

4 Policy guidelines on inclusion in education

Part I Inclusive education: rationale and developments 5

Source: EFA Global Monitoring Report 2008, Map 2, p. 50.

6 Policy guidelines on inclusion in education

I.1.2 Objectives and rationale

Part I Inclusive education: rationale and developments 7

I.2 Inclusion in education

8 Policy guidelines on inclusion in education

Box 1: Legal frameworks in support of inclusion 1948-2007

2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

2006 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of Diversity in Cultural Expressions

1999 Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action

1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child

1989 Convention concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries

1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

1965 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

1960 Convention against Discrimination in Education

1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Part I Inclusive education: rationale and developments 9

10 Policy guidelines on inclusion in education

Box 2: Estimated additional costs to reach EFA

– four days´ worth of global military spending

Part I Inclusive education: rationale and developments 11

12 Policy guidelines on inclusion in education

REGIONAL PROPORTIONS OF GDP LOST DUE TO DISABILITY

Part I Inclusive education: rationale and developments 13

Some important steps include:

II.1 Developing inclusive education systems

14 Policy guidelines on inclusion in education

The education system

It is equipped and ready

Flexible teaching and learning methods

Reorienting teacher education

Involvement of parents and the community

Early identification and remediation

Flexible teaching methods

Responsive, child-friendly environments

Professional environment working deliberately

Part I Inclusive education:

II.2 Challenges for policy-makers

16 Policy guidelines on inclusion in education

A. Attitudinal changes and policy development

B. Ensuring inclusion through early childhood care and education

– Early childhood interventions should be seen as a sustainable way to guarantee the

D. Teachers and teacher education

– Teacher-education programmes, (both pre-service and in-service) should be reoriented

E. Resources and legislation

– National legislation should be changed and revised to incorporate notions of inclusive

Part I Inclusive education:

Box 5: Checklist on attitudinal change

Is the concept of inclusive education well known and accepted?

Do parents take an active role in education?

Have awareness programmes been launched to support inclusive education?

II.2.2 Creating an inclusive curriculum