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TEACHING TEACHERS FOR DIVERSITY: EFA WEEK 2006
[Last updated Monday, April 24, 2006]
April, 2006 – Inclusion International (II) is a federation of 200 family-based organizations advocating for the human rights of people with intellectual disabilities worldwide. Education for All (EFA) week is being celebrated worldwide on 24 to 30 April. UNESCO and the Global Campaign for Education are mobilizing global action and support around the theme “Every child needs a teacher”. II joins in the EFA Week call for teacher training. “ If we are to reach all of the world’s children and meet our EFA goals, world leaders must ensure that teachers are trained to provide quality education to a diversity of learners.” said Diane Richler, President, Inclusion International.
We know from experience that, “uniform models of reform that ignore the multiple disadvantages faced by many learners will fail. Educational approaches for those who live with HIV/AIDS, emergency, disability and child labour should be given support.” (UNESCO Monitoring report on EFA 2004) Children with disabilities form the largest group of readily identifiable children who have been and continue to be persistently excluded from education. The World Bank estimates that of the 115 million children worldwide who are not in school, 30-40 per cent are children with disabilities (World Bank. The Education for All: Including Children with Disabilities. Education Notes. August, 2003).
The 2004 UNICEF report on the State of the World’s Children stated that there were 140 million children out-of-school, the majority being girls and children with disabilities. UNESCO report on progress toward achieving the second Millennium Development Goal of Universal Primary Education stated that 98 per cent of children with disabilities in developing countries do not attend school. (UNESCO. UNDG: Director General assesses status of Universal Primary Education. Flash Info no 247. 2003)
Teachers need skills, training and resources in education systems that take responsibility for all children. This week as we call on the world to invest in teachers and teacher training we must be sure that quality teachers means teachers who can meet the needs of all children in community including those who are currently our of school.
Numerous international commitments promoting the education of children with disabilities already exist and now have the opportunity to benefit from investment and monitoring mechanisms established through the Education for All initiative. Examples include:
• The G8’s Education Task Force Report (2002), which was endorsed by G8 Heads of States and says, “Education must be inclusive; children with special needs should not be excluded from the formal system. Currently in developing countries, fewer than 2 percent of children with disabilities participate in the formal education system”.
• The Salamanca Statement (1994) that commits participating governments to “hereby reaffirm our commitment to Education for All, recognizing the necessity and urgency of providing education for children, youth and adults with special educational needs within the regular education system…”
Inclusion International recognizes that these commitments and the many examples of good practice in inclusion that exist in all parts of the world will not result in significant progress towards the inclusion of children with disabilities in school unless teachers are trained to meet the needs of a diversity of children. Read about Inclusive Education
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For More Information visit http://portal.unesco.org/education/ Or Contact: Connie Laurin-Bowie
Inclusion International
416-661-9611
Email: conniel@inclusion-international.org
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