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UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education endorses inclusion and recognizes work of Inclusion International
[Last updated Thursday, March 29, 2007]
London, March 28,2007 Inclusion International celebrated the release of the 2007 report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education this week in Geneva. The Special Rapporteur this year focussed on the right to inclusive education of students with a disability. In his report, the Special Rapporteur, Vernor Munoz of Costa Rica emphasized the huge numbers of children with a disability who are now excluded from school and their right to an inclusive education. The Special Rapporteur recognized the need to transform school systems that currently segregate children in order to meet the needs of all students.
The release of the report is timely since March 30 is when the new United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with a Disability will be open for signature at a special session in New York. Article 24 of the convention specifically obligates States Parties to “recognize the right of persons with disabilities to education” and specifies that “ With a view to realizing this right without discrimination and on the basis of equal opportunity, States Parties shall ensure an inclusive education system at all levels and life long learning”.
Both the UN Convention and the Special Rapporteur explicitly guarantee the right to inclusion. This means that under the new Convention, parents, and students with a disability could choose another option if it exists, but there is no obligation for the state to provide non-inclusive options. The Special Rapporteur makes several recommendations on how States can move towards more inclusive education.
Council member Mia Farah of Lebanon, who had to fight to be included in a regular class, said, “Our lack of education as children with a disability has been our biggest handicap in life. It is the extra burden we are all forced to carry.
In his report the Special Rapporteur expressed special thanks to Inclusion International for their contributions to this report.
For the full text of the report, go to:
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/chr/docs/61chr/E.CN.4.2005.50.pdf
For further information contact:
Diane Richler, President
dianer@inclusion-international.org
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