A third of the 72 million children out of school in the world are disabled and only ten percent of disabled children in Africa attend school. Yet the Education for All Fast Track Initiative (FTI) is not yet responsive enough to the challenge of getting disabled children into school.

Research from World Vision UK shows that getting disabled children into education is critical to achieving the goal of universal primary education (UPE) by 2015. Access to good quality basic education is a fundamental human right and so is inclusive education for disabled children. Also, since there is a strong link between disability and poverty, it is important to educate disabled children in order to reduce poverty.

The FTI is the global partnership for increasing progress towards universal primary education. How have FTI partner countries tried to provide good quality education for disabled children and how much have they been supported by the FTI Partnership to do this?

There are three different approaches to providing education for disabled children:

• segregated or special needs: providing separate, parallel education systems for disabled children
• integration: integrating disabled children into the existing education system
• inclusion: changing education systems to accommodate the diverse needs of students.

Some countries in the FTI Partnership have already made education plans that address the inclusion of disabled children. Most focus on making regular schools more inclusive by improving teacher training and providing additional learning materials and support. A few countries are also setting targets for enrolment and giving incentives to encourage schools to become more inclusive. Some countries link disability with other initiatives to reach excluded children. However, a number of countries have not yet made any provision for disabled children.

Overall, the study found that the main gaps in education for disabled children at national levels include:  

• a lack of information on the total number of disabled children, the proportion enrolled in school, the proportion out of school and the range of provision
• insufficient planning to respond to the diversity of learning needs and to increase enrolment places for disabled children
• a lack of financial projections of costs and funding mechanisms and incentives to encourage inclusion
• limited attempts to form partnerships with parents, communities and non-governmental organisations
• a lack of coordination between different ministry sectors and services.

The report concluded that the FTI Partnership cannot take the credit for current developments in disability strategies. However, the Partnership can help turn concern about disability into effective education policies. The report recommends that the FTI Partnership:  

• promotes discussion of policy and good practice within the Partnership and with partner countries and donors  
• promotes inclusive education, advocating the importance of the participation of disabled children to the achievement of UPE
• supports national and international studies on the number of disabled children enrolled in schools and out of school
• supports studies to monitor the progress of disabled children
• advocates and contributes to the additional funding required for inclusion.

Source(s):
‘Education’s Missing Millions’, World Vision, UK, by Philippa Lei, 2007 (PDF) Full document.

Funded by: UK Department for International Development (DFID)

id21 Research Highlight: 24 March 2008

Further Information:
Philippa Lei
World Vision
Opal Drive
Fox Milne
Milton Keynes, MK15 0ZR
United Kingdom

Tel: +44 1908 841000
Fax: +44 1908 841001
Contact the contributor: philippa.lei@worldvision.org.uk

World Vision, Milton Keynes, UK

Other related links:
'Inclusive education in India: a lot of talk but not enough action?'

'Including disabled children in regular schools: the Ugandan experience'

'The evolution of special education in Kenya'