World Report on Disability: Education

Presented by Aleksandra Posarac,
Lead Economist, World Bank

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 Assembles the best available scientific
information on disability today
 Recommends national and international
action to improve the lives of people with
disability
 Supports the implementation of the UN
CRPD, which approaches disability both as
both human rights and development issue.

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 International Classification of Disability
Functioning and Health (ICF, WHO 2001)
adopted as the conceptual framework
 Defines disability as an umbrella term for
impairment, activity limitation and
participation restrictions.
 Disability refers to the negative aspects of
the interaction between individuals with a
health condition and personal and
environmental factors (such as, negative
attitudes, inaccessible transportation and
public buildings and limited social support)

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 Almost everyone will be temporarily or
permanently impaired at some point in life
 Those who survive to old age will experience
increasing difficulties in functioning
 Disability is complex and the interventions to
overcome the disadvantage associated with
disability are multiple and systemic – varying
with the context

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 Higher estimates of prevalence: 15 percent
with some form of disability; 110-190 million
with profound difficulties in functioning
 Growing numbers: aging, chronic health
conditions, road traffic injuries, work related
injuries, natural disasters, wars and civil
conflicts…
 Diverse experience: negative interaction
between an individual with impairment and
her/his environment varies greatly
 Disproportionately affects vulnerable
populations

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1. Understanding disability
2. Disability – a global
picture
3. General healthcare
4. Rehabilitation
5. Assistance and support
6. Enabling environments
7. Education
8. Work and employment
9. The way forward

 Human right
 Central in promoting inclusive and equitable
societies
 Key determinant of personal well-being and
welfare.

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 Exclusion has high social and economic costs.
 Countries cannot achieve Education for All or
the Millennium Development Goal of
universal completion of primary education
 Countries cannot fulfill their responsibilities
under CRPD and CRC

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 For children with disabilities, education is
vital in itself but also instrumental for
participating in employment and other areas
of social activity.
 In some cultures, attending school is part of
becoming a complete person. Social relations
can change the status of people with
disabilities in society and affirm their rights.
 For children without disability, contact with
children with a disability in an inclusive
setting can, over the longer term, increase
familiarity and reduce prejudice.

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 Less likely to start school and have lower rates
of staying and being promoted in school.
 The correlations for both children and adults
between low educational outcomes and having a
disability is often stronger than the correlations
between low educational outcome and other
characteristics – such as gender, rural residence,
and low economic status.
 The gap in primary school attendance rates
ranges from 10% in India to 60% in Indonesia, and
for secondary education, from 15% in Cambodia
to 58% in Indonesia.

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 Enrolment rates also differ among
impairments, with children with intellectual
or sensory impairments fairing the worse.
 Even in countries with high primary school
enrolment rates: such as in Eastern Europe,
many children with disabilities do not attend
school. In 2002 the enrollment rates of
disabled children between the ages of 7 and
15 years were:
 81%/96 in Bulgaria, 58%/97% in the Republic of
Moldova, and 59%/93% in Romania.

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 System-wide problems
 Divided ministerial responsibility
 Lack of legislation, policy, targets, and plans
 Inadequate resources

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 School level problems
 Curriculum and pedagogy
 Inadequate training and support for teachers
 Physical barriers
 Labelling
 Attitudinal barriers
 Violence, bulling and abuse

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 Ensuring the inclusion of children with
disabilities in education requires both
systemic and school level change.
 It is a complex change and it requires vision,
skills, incentives, resources, and an action
plan.
 One of the most important elements in an
inclusive educational system is strong and
continuous leadership at the national and
school levels – something that is cost-neutral.

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The success of inclusive systems of education
depends largely on a country’s commitment
to:
 Adopt appropriate legislation:
 Example: Italy - since the mid-1970s Italy has had
legislation in place to support inclusive education for
all children with disabilities resulting in high inclusion
rates and positive educational outcomes
 Develop adequate policies:
 Clear national policies are essential for the
development of more equitable education systems.
 UNESCO has produced guidelines to assist policy-
makers and managers create policies and practices
supportive of inclusion.

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 Adopt national plans
 Creating/amending a NPA and establishing
infrastructure and capacity to implement the
plan key to including children with
disabilities in education.
 The implications of Article 24 of the CRPD are
that institutional responsibility for the
education of children with disabilities should
remain within the Ministry of Education, with
coordination, as appropriate, with other
relevant ministries.
 National plans for Education For All should
reflect international commitments to the
right of disabled children to be educated.
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and
 Provide adequate funding for implementation
 There are basically three ways to finance special
needs education, whether in specialized
institutions or mainstream schools:
 Through the national budget,
 Through financing the particular needs of
institutions – for materials, teaching aids,
training, and operational support,
 Through financing individuals to meet their
needs.

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 Whichever funding model is used, it should:
 Be easy to understand.
 Be flexible and predictable.
 Provide sufficient funds.
 Be cost-based and allow for cost control.
 Connect special education to general
education.
 Be neutral in identification and placement.

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 Recognizing and addressing individual
differences
 Education systems need to move away from more
traditional pedagogies and adopt more learner-
centered approaches which recognize that each
individual has an ability to learn and a specific
way of learning.
 Providing additional supports
 To ensure the success of inclusive education
policies some children with disabilities will
require access to additional support services.

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 Building teacher capacity
 The appropriate training of mainstream teachers is
crucial if they are to be confident and competent in
teaching children with diverse educational needs.
 Removing physical barriers
 Overcoming negative attitudes
 The physical presence of children with disabilities in
schools does not automatically ensure their
participation. For participation to be meaningful and
produce good learning outcomes, the ethos of the
school – valuing diversity and providing a safe and
supportive environment – is critical.

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 Communities
 Parents
 Disabled people organizations
 Children with disabilities

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 Children with disabilities are less likely than children
without disabilities to start school and have lower
rates of staying and being promoted in school.
 While children with disabilities have historically been
educated in separate special schools, inclusive
mainstream schools in both urban and rural areas
provide a cost-effective way forward.
 A range of barriers within education policies, systems
and services limit disabled children’s mainstream
educational opportunities.
 A broad range of stakeholders – policy-makers, school
administrators, teachers, families, and children with
and without disabilities – can contribute to improving
educational opportunities and outcomes for children
with disabilities.
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 Formulateclear policies and improve data
and information
 Develop a clear national policy on the inclusion
of children with disabilities in education
 Identify, through surveys, the level and nature
of need, so that the correct supports and
accommodations can be introduced.
 Establish monitoring and evaluation systems.
 Share knowledge about how to achieve
educational inclusion among policy-makers,
educators, and families.

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 Adopt strategies to promote inclusion
 Focus on educating children as close to the
mainstream as possible.
 Do not build a new special schoolif no special
schools exist.
 Ensure an inclusive educational infrastructure.
 Make teachers aware of their responsibilities
towards all children and build and improve their
skills for teaching children with disabilities.

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 Support teachers and schools to move away from
a one-size-fits-all model towards flexible
approaches that can cope with diverse needs of
learners.
 Provide technical guidance to teachers.
 Clarify and reconsider policieson the assessment,
classification, and placement of students.
 Promote deaf children’s right to education by
recognizing linguistic rights.

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 Providespecialist services, where
necessary
 Increase investment in school infrastructure and
personnel.
 Make available speech and language therapy,
occupational therapy, and.
 In the absence of specialist providers, use
existing community-based rehabilitation services
to support children in educational settings.
 Consider introducing teaching assistants to
provide special support.

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 Support participation
 Involve parents and family members.
 Involve the broader community in activities related
to the education of children with disabilities.
 Develop links between educational services and
community-based rehabilitation – and other
rehabilitation services, where they exist.
 Encourage adults with disabilities and disabled
people’s organizationsto become more involved in
promoting access to education for children with
disabilities.
 Consult and involve children in decisions about their
education.

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 Braille
 DIASY (audio files)
 Easy Read version
 Accessible PDF

www.who.int/disabilities/world_report

 AlanaOfficer - officera@who.int
 Tom Shakespeare - shakespearet@who.int

 Aleksandra Posarac - aposarac@worldbank.org

World Report on Disability: Education

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