1. Education and Disability SE Asia Media Training on EFA Hanoi Wednesday 18 April 2007

2. Global prevalence of disability Global disability statistics are not easy to obtain, but most of the UN agencies use the rough calculation developed by Rehabilitation International (RI) in the 1970s that 10% of the world's population, currently around 600,000,000, are born with or acquire a disability within their lifetimes. (Disability Awareness in Action, 2001).

3. Global prevalence of disability  Over 2/3s of them live in developing countries with high density of their population in Sub-Saharan Africa and in South and South-East Asia.  There is wide variation in the estimated disability rates reported by the developed and developing countries.  The variation depends, to a large extent, on the definitions of disability used, which either expand or limit the disability groups covered in the survey (Asia and the Pacific into the Twenty First Century, 2002).

4. Children and disability:  It is estimated that there are 150 million children with disabilities worldwide and that fewer than 2 per cent are enrolled in school. (UNESCO, 2006)  The proportion of disabled children in developing countries is generally higher than in developed countries  It is estimated that 6 to 10% of children in India are born disabled and that, because of low life expectancy, possibly a third of the disabled population are children. (World Bank, 1999)

5. Disability in the future:  With half the world's population under 15 years old, the number of adolescents and youth with disabilities can be expected to rise markedly over the next decade.  This rise will not simply reflect an increasing birth rate.  Adolescents and youth are at increased risk for acquiring a disability due to work-related injuries and risk taking behaviour (including motor vehicle accidents, experimentation with drugs and unprotected sex).  Furthermore, many chronic disabling illnesses and mental health conditions first appear only during the second decade of life. (Nora Grace, 1999)

6. What is ‘disability’?   There are a number of definitions in use to describe disability   Most of them reflect an understanding that disability is an individual pathology - a condition grounded in the physiological, biological and intellectual impairment of an individual.  medical definitions  These can be described as medical definitions

7. The World Health Organization (WHO) (1996):  International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps ‘Impairment’:  Refers to organ level functions or structures, ‘Disability’:  Refers to person-level limitations in physical and psycho-cognitive activities, ‘Handicap’:  Refers to social abilities or relation between the individual and the society.’

8. The medical definition of disability:  The medical definition has given rise to the idea that people are individual objects to be “treated”, “changed” or “improved” and made more “normal”.  The medical definition views the disabled person as needing to “fit in” rather than thinking about how society itself should change   This medical definition does not adequately explain the interaction between societal conditions or expectations and unique circumstances of an individual. (Rieser and Mason, 1992)

9. The social definition of disability:   Disability is a highly varied and complex condition with a range of implications for social identity and behavior.   Disability largely depends upon the context and is a consequence of discrimination, prejudice and exclusion.   Emphasizes the shortcomings in the environment and in many organized activities in society, for example on information, communication and education, which prevent persons with disabilities from participating on equal terms.

10. The social model of disability:  Whilst disabled people may have medical conditions which hamper them and which may or may not require medical treatment, human knowledge, technology and collective resources are already such that their physical or mental impairments need not prevent them from being able to live perfectly good lives.  It is society’s unwillingness to employ these means to altering itself that causes their disabilities. (Rieser and Mason 1992)

11. The Human Rights definition of disability:  There is a growing realization to elaborate a definition of disability, which is in conformity with human rights values and principles  In the heart of human rights mission lies the respect for variation in human cultures and the recognition that people are different on several considerations such as gender, race and disability.  Nevertheless, concerning their rights and dignity all people are same but it does not imply that all people should be treated in the same or similar way.

12. Why is it important to understand these different perspectives on disability?  Different perspectives on disability impact on how society, systems, schools and individuals respond to the needs of children living with disabilities  Different perspectives impact on the experiences of children living with disabilities in their homes, schools and communities.

13. Comparing the medical and social models of disability in education: Medical model:  Child is faulty  Diagnosis and labelling  Impairment is focus of attention  Segregation and alternative services  Re-entry if normal enough or permanent exclusion  Society remains unchanged Social model:  Child is valued  Strengths and needs identified  Barriers identified and solutions developed  Resources made available  Diversity welcomed; child is welcomed  Society evolves

14. Why is it important to understand these different perspectives on disability?  Many international responses to the challenges of education for children living with disabilities are based on social and human rights perspectives of disability  Working from social and human rights perspectives on disability means we can develop approaches that respect and promote the rights of children living with disabilities to participation in education, employment and lives of dignity

15. Implications of disability in schools   According to estimates more than 90 % of children with disabilities in developing countries do not attend school.   Schools often do not give quality education that responds to the diverse needs of their students with disabilities. (UNESCO, 2005)

16. Implications of disability in society   Persons with disabilities are at high risk of becoming illiterate which often leads to restricted possibilities to education, employment and income.   Disability is both the cause and consequence of poverty. Disabled people account for as many as one in five of the world’s poorest.   Disability is a major cause of social exclusion. It may lead to marginalization in family, school and community. (UNESCO, 2005)

17. International responses: UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)   The right to education specified in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) is universal and extends to people with disabilities as well. Article 28:  Demands primary education should be compulsory and available free to all Article 23:  Covers the rights of disabled children and includes their right to education that is responsive to their individuality and promotes their fullest possible social integration and individual development Article 29:  Emphasises the development of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms

18. The right to education is also covered in several other significant, international declarations, including:   World Declaration for Education for All (1990)   Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disability (1993)   UNESCO Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action (1994)   Dakar Framework for Action (2000).

19. Education for All by 2000 UN conference in Jomtien, Thailand (1990) UN conference in Jomtien, Thailand (1990)  Ministers from 155 governments and representatives committed themselves to the principle of universal access to primary education

20. Education for All by 2015 Dakar Framework for Action (2000)  The World Education Forum adopted a Framework for Action engaging governments to the attainment of six specific goals related to EFA.  These 6 goals include improving and expanding comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children, and access to complete, free and compulsory primary education of good quality for all, children in difficult circumstances.  The Dakar Framework for Action also calls upon each country to prepare a comprehensive National EFA Plan. However, many countries’ National EFA Plans do not include strategies to support learners with disabilities.

21. Education for All:   If children with disabilities are given the opportunity, they can live meaningful lives. They can contribute to the social and economic well-being and development of their families and communities.   Education and life-long learning opportunities can fill in the gaps in economic and social development that effectively marginalize individuals with disabilities.   It is a universal goal to achieve Education for All children (EFA) by the year 2015.This goal will only be achieved when all nations recognize that the universal right to education extends to individual with disabilities. (UNESCO, 2005)

22. International responses; Inclusive education   Central to these declarations, rules and resolutions is the concept of inclusive education.   They underpin and elaborate a system that has the capacity to create appropriate opportunities of teaching and learning for a diverse population of students within the mainstream system of education.

23. UNESCO Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action (1994)  This statement is framed by a rights-based perspective on education  The statement place educational reform firmly within a broader social agenda that included health, social welfare, vocational training and employment.  It emphasises that mechanisms for developing inclusive education should be decentralised and participatory, encouraging the participation of parents, communities and organisations of people with disabilities  All policies, both local and national, should ensure that children with disabilities can attend their local schools

24. Inclusive Education :  Involves the provision of a framework within which all children – whatever their ability, gender, language, ethnic or cultural origin – can be valued equally, treated with respect and provided with real learning opportunities  Presents a challenge to education systems and schools to reform and restructure themselves

25. What is Inclusive Education?  Inclusive education refers to all learners who, for different reasons, find themselves at risk of marginalisation and exclusion  Inclusive education is about values: it assumes that diverse groups of pupils are of equal worth and have a right to be included  Inclusive education does not focus on perceived individual deficits, but on the barriers to learning that individuals and groups of pupils may encounter

26. What is Inclusive Education?  Inclusive education is about changing the system so it is better for all: this includes teachers, students and everyone in the education system  Inclusive education is about participation and learning from each other  Inclusive education is not a fixed state but an evolving one  Inclusive education means all children, also children experiencing barriers to learning, development and participation, including children with disabilities, have the right for quality education in a school that is close to their home and a class that suits their age

27. Key principles of Inclusive Education  Rights  Participation  Process  Values  Diversity  Equality  Change

28. What needs to change in the education system?  Inclusive education involves a process of reform and restructuring of the system as a whole, with the aim of ensuring that all pupils can have access to the whole range of educational and social opportunities on offer.  This includes the curriculum on offer, the assessment, recording and reporting of pupil’s achievements, and pedagogy and classroom practice, sport and leisure and recreational opportunities (Mittler, 2000)  Inclusive education involves key principles of valuing diversity, entitlement, dignity, individual needs, planning, collective responsibility, professional development and equal opportunities. (Darlington, 2003)

29. What needs to change in schools?  In a school moving towards inclusion, quality education should be provided in a child and learning friendly environment, where diversity is experienced, embraced and recognised as enrichment for all involved.  Curricula, and teaching approaches and methods should be characterised by emphasising social aspects of learning, dialogue, sensitivity to children’s needs and interests, sharing - rather than competing and creative and flexible teachers and classroom management. (Miriam Donath Skjørten, 2006)

30. Education for All The goal of "education for all" can only be achieved when all nations recognize the universal right to education, and when all nations act upon their obligation to establish or reform public education systems that are accessible to, and meet the needs of, individuals with disabilities.