May be helpful:http://www.eenet.org.uk/resources/docs/Inclusive_Education_in_Low_Income_Countries.pdf

I do not think there are any policies of this kind in developing countries! Some countries have them on paper only! For example, in Morocco, we have ministerial circulars or notes which make it compulsory for principlas to accept all the learners, including the ones with disabilities, but many of these principlas are reluctant to such a measure. In a way, they are right because of the lack of adequate infrastructure or qualified human ressources that can make their integration smooth! A policy should take into account how to identify any disability and how to accompany the learners, each one is a case, to integrate the normal classes or at least how to help learners overcome or manage their disabilities!

Anyway, one should distinguish between policies and laws or ratifying international conventions!

I don't think that such inclusive education policies exist in developing countries.

Here in South Africa we have a very impressive document regarding the policies of inclusion (White Paper 6). However the unfortunate reality is that, at school level, most schools do not have the capacity to implement it.

Hi Annabelle,

How are you?

I'm not sure how you are defining developing countries but, in about 2012, I knew a Bangladeshi man at Monash who wrote his PhD thesis on IE in Bangladesh. His name escapes me just now (not very helpful, I know) but he had a few publications at the time and was very keen on continuing to work in that space so I suggest you look into IE in Bangladesh. When I remember his name and not just his face (!) I'll pass it on.

All the best,

Diana

Also, the Centre for Social Equity and Inclusion in New Delhi may be able to help shed light with their experiences of inclusivity in education before India's Right to Education (RTE)legislation was passed in 2009. Amit Kaushik, CEO of Australian Council for Education Research (Delhi), is very knowledgeable about the preliminary period and development of the RTE policy itself.

The Bangladeshi scholar whose work in IE that may be of interest is

Dr Masud Ahmmed

In Sweden we have IE written into the national curriculum for all schools since 2011 and exclusive practices regarding pupils with physical and cognitive disabilities are not accepted. The truth is however, according to a recent report from the organization for Autismspectrum Disorders in Sweden, is that these pupils are much less likely to receive passing grades when they leave secondary school. As many as 50% does not reach up to that level and parents are trying to demand better understanding of the needs of their children from teachers and school leaders. I am currently working on my thesis about IE in Physical Education and Sports and you are welcome to contact me on [email protected] if you have further questions about IE in the Swedish setting.

Yes, it has been the proverbial case of the "spirit" is willing but the "body" is weak. Many African countries introduced universal primary education (UPE) and some universal secondary education (USE), a while ago, thereby meeting an important MDG target. However public resources have been few and far between--class sizes have ballooned and students in the affluent parts of the countries have fled the public education system for the private sector. The U in universal is seen by critics as standing for unequal and exclusive.

Thanks for your responses - it is very helpful to hear responses from different parts of the world, and of course to ponder on the different understandings of both 'inclusive education' and what I include as a 'developing country'. In terms of the second definition, I am using a relatively lazy term to include countries with poor (but 'developing') infrastructure, educational systems, universality of education and rights for children - all too often heavily reliant on aid from 'developed' - industrialised countries that put their terms on aid provided. However in my situation, it is a Pacific (small) Island nation.

Inclusive education, as defined in the Salamanca Statement (1994 - see link below) entails “recognition of the need to work towards “schools for all” - institutions which include everybody, celebrate differences, support learning, and respond to individual needs.”

Key Elements of Inclusive Education

Inclusion

Accessibility

Non-discrimination

Reasonable accommodation

Physical accessibility

Availability

Acceptability

Adaptability

http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0009/000984/098427eo.pdf

But even in saying that, and critiquing the initial statement itself, it is clear that a 'statement' (or a policy) is not enough. So many considerations need to be made in relation to advocacy, stakeholders, traditionalists, funding, support, infrastructures, training/expertise/willingness ...

So I am really interested in finding out from others who have attempted to address (or research) these considerations or others in terms of context, successes and barriers.

Not in developing countries that are still battling with the problem of poverty, unemployment, and inequality.

I have read the responses coming from different countries and I express my frustration about how developing countries do not provide equal opportunities to disabled people. I consider this to be a failure of their education systems as these systems are supposed to accommodate everyone (that is to be inclusive)!

I would like to take the discussion further and ask whether there should be a national policy that is applied in all the schools or whether there should be a national framework and each school should work out its own policy accordingly. Each of these measures has drawbacks. A national policy sounds good in case the infrastructure is adequate everywhere in the country. However, this national policy will fail in case there are places which are underserved which is the case even in developed countries. On the other hand, a national framework can orient each school to work out its policy according to its infrastructure. Again, there will be discrepancies across the country.

I am sure that we hold different views about this and I would like to read your views.

Article Special education in Turkey

Hi there,

Just writing off of the top of my head from my knowledge - in Canada, we have documents regarding this from the Ministry of Learning (provincial governments)- but they are only for public/catholic school and high school and don't extend to post-secondary education. The Education Act is vague about inclusion as well- last time I checked. In Saskatchewan we have the SK Disability Strategy working for inclusion in all areas- but no policy that I know of. There are the Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation document (Federal) regarding indigenizing/decolonizing education to be more inclusive. These are suggestions and not policy at this point. I would love it if any other Canadians want to chime in and bring my attention to any federal inclusion policy (other than Human Rights Commission).

You could take a look at Rwanda - education has been a big part of their development programme, and my impression is that it has been pretty inclusive. You will also find that the Government in Rwanda are very helpful and forthcoming with information.

Dear Annabelle and Diana ,

There is no Inclusive Education Policy that exist in India so far. The Right to Education Act , popularly known as RTE,2009 emphasizes on free and compulsory education to all children( no child left behind policy). It is indeed a milestone in Indian education system. There is no policy framework on inclusive education in India to my knowledge . However , please go through the following Indian Acts , which may be helpful to your research : Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016; Rehabilitation on Council of India Act,1992, Mental Health Act,1987; Persons with Disabilities Act,1995, Furthermore , you can browse the Ministry of Human Resource website for the policies that you are looking for http://mhrd.gov.in/ . You can download the RTE,2009.

Hope the above information is useful for you

Dear Annabelle

There is no Inclusive Education Policy that exist in India so far. The Right to Education Act , popularly known as RTE,2009 emphasizes on free and compulsory education to all children( no child left behind policy). It is indeed a milestone in Indian education system. There is no policy framework on inclusive education in India to my knowledge . However , please go through the following Indian Acts , which may be helpful to your research : Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016; Rehabilitation on Council of India Act,1992, Mental Health Act,1987; Persons with Disabilities Act,1995, Furthermore , you can browse the Ministry of Human Resource website for the policies that you are looking for http://mhrd.gov.in/ . You can download the RTE,2009.

Hope the above information is useful for you

Dear All

I would like to add two more issues. The first is that if the governments do not try to remedy the educational issues related to disabled people, the latter become dependent on their families or on charity. Thus, their societies do not benefit from the jobs they can do despite their disabilities. This slows down the growth of the economy and frustrates enormously the disabled. Let me remind you that they are too many in each society (almost 7% of the population or a disabled in one out of four households in Morocco, 2014). The second is that schools contain some disabilities whose early identification and intervension services in due course can decrease their effect. However, because of the lack of infrastructure and human resources, the repercussions are inevitable. The disabled people's parents need coaching too as they may make matters worse because of their ignorance or their attempts to hode their children's disabilities.

Abdelmajid, thank you, yes I absolutely agree. Inclusive education also needs to consider families and communities and education plus opportunities for networking and bringing people together to learn from each others' experiences is crucial. Policy is but one part of a solution that can potentially be used to support many other important interventions and possibilities but cannot, on its own, create change - as described in other posts here. I would like to have this policy to back up my own efforts which includes advocating and educating communities about interventions and ways to make education accessible to all.

Educating and demonstrating strategies for schools and teachers (both practising and pre-service) to be inclusive doesn't necessarily require 'expert intervention' but creativity, skills (and practice) at adapting curriculum, confidence and a desire to be inclusive, plus support from school leaders and community members. For this to be supported and endorsed through government policy is just a start.

I am in the process of collecting research evidence and articles to help, that I will add to my most recent project.

Ethiopia also has one. It is known as A Master Plan for Special Needs Education/Inclusive Education in Ethiopia 2016-2025. But, as you may imagine, the challenges of translating this policy into actual practice are immense.

Brazil has a special and inclusive education policy and recommends that all students with disabilities be received at the regular school. Multifunctional resource rooms and support teachers are offered to accompany students. The effectiveness of these policies varies by city or state. But preventing the enrollment of students with disabilities in public school is a crime.

In Indonesia we have Peraturan Menteri Pendidikan Nasional No. 70 tahun 2009 tentang Pendidikan Inklusif bagi Peserta Didik yang Memiliki Kelainan dan Memiliki Potensi Kecerdasan dan/atau Bakat Istimewa. But I argue that the inclusive notion is still norrowly limited to the "presence" of students with disability in mainstream classroom. I do not have the English copy of the regulation but you can view the Bahasa Indonesia edition here http://kelembagaan.ristekdikti.go.id/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Permen-No.-70-2009-tentang-pendidiian-inklusif-memiliki-kelainan-kecerdasan.pdf

Edit (August 2019): I recently published a research regarding this issue and have uploaded the full-text in RG. For those interesting how inclusive education understood by some teachers in my region, you can read the article on my profile.

Hi,

In Portugal we have just changed the legislation about Inclusive Education and changed the Inclusive Education policies. If it is of your interest I can send you some documents about thw discussion and the implementation process of this change.

Ana

Many African countries declared universal primary education (UPE) policies in the past two decades--Uganda, Zambia, Kenya etc--in line with the millennium development goals (MDGs) and some are planning to introduce universal secondary education (USE) programs. However, there are tight resource constraints and implementation is halting.

Yes, today in Kenya we have an inclusive education policy that is in place and implemented from Early Child education to tertiary institutions