Education for all means access for all

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‘Education for All’ means Access for allTara W. Ross, PhD

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Education for All

650 million people worldwide have a disability by 2025, it will be 900 million people worldwide with a disability.

Educating those with disabilities is critical to the progress of developing nations. Currently 98% of those with

disabilities in developing nations do not have access to education

Education for those with disabilities is investment in poverty reduction

UNESCO developed Education for All (EFA) in 1990 to establish goals for universal education for children by 2015.

+Education for All

Education for All policy signed by 155 nations and 150 donors/NGOs.

According to World Declaration on Education for All:5. The learning needs of the disabled demand special attention. Steps need to be taken to provide equal access to education to every category of disabled persons as an integral part of the education system. (UNESCO, 1990, para 29)

United Nations subsequently developed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2001, with the second goal to achieve universal primary education by 2015.

+Fast Track Initiative

To boost goal achievement of EFA and MDGs, the Fast Track Initiative (FTI) was created by UNESCO in 2002 Designed to aid countries that were not on track to

achieve goals EFA-FTI partners countries in need with specific

donors to help them develop capacity

+Fast Track Initiative

Disability activists

concerned that policy language in EFA-FTI

is not descriptive enough to

ensure education

for children with

disabilities

Countries seeking

support from EFA-FTI must

submit educational

plan

Plan must address

HIV/AIDS, gender

equality, and “other key issues”

(EFA-FTI, n.d., para.

5)

No further mention of educational

opportunities for children

with disabilities

beyond vague

description.

+Vague EFA-FTI Policy on Educating Children with Disabilities Gains toward 2015 goals cannot be made unless greater

specificity is included in policy. Schools need to identify how they will meet the needs of

children with disabilities rather than how children of disabilities will meet the needs of the school

Current policy has not resulted in inclusive education as a global fundamental achievement. (Peters, 2007)

(

+A Policy Shift

A needed policy shift to make the EFA-FTI language more descriptive will help develop inclusive education.

Caution against too many goals made against urgent needs globally, as this sets up policy for failure.

Hughes and Hooper (2000) recommended that the focus be on inclusive education, as that can serve as the impetus to prepare schools to reach out to children with disabilities.

+EFA-FTI and Inclusive Education

Graham (2010) noted the practicality of inclusive education.

Attaining Education for All is

impossible without including

children with disabilities.

Creating a two-track system that separates children with disabilities is

not financially tenable.

Education for all is better for all children. It is pedagogically

sound.

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+EFA-FTI and Inclusive Education

Developing a Strategy for Inclusive Education Ministries of Education set up

special needs unit (SNE) Teacher training to make educators

effective practitioners Learning materials that are

inclusive of all learners Access to buildings for those with

disabilities Data gathered and analyzed on

those with special needs Capacity building required at all

levels (with aid from donors) Involvement of parents and

community in disability awareness

(Graham, 2010)

+EFA-FTI Policy Recommendations

EFA-FTI endorsement policy should be changed to require countries to provide specific, measurable, and

time-sensitive goals for developing

inclusive education.

EFA-FTI donors should monitor and

evaluate for inclusive education

as part of their assessment of

educational progress in the

country they are aiding.

+EFA-FTI Policy Recommendations Institutions and Educational Ministries receiving aid from donors

must then demonstrate compliance Compliance should align with their society’s goals and practices Compliance should meet the policy requirements of EFA and

MDGs

(Peters, 2007)


EFA-FTI policy should change to require greater compliance

Policy should

Be an effective framework for inclusive education

Not be lenient with countries making exceptions

Challenge all national educational policies that attempt to exclude those with disabilities.


A new, effective policy on Inclusive Education should be disseminated to all signatory nations of World Declaration of Education for all and the Millennium Development Goals

According to Hughes and Hooper (2000), publishing such a policy can serve as an opportunity to educate those involved with its purpose.

Outcomes

Inclusion

Policy

Goals

+References

Education for All – Fast Track Initiative. (n.d.). A global partnership to achieve education for all. Retrieved from http://www.educationfasttrack.org/media/library/FTI_Brochure.pdf

Education for All – Fast Track Initiative. (n.d.) Fact sheet. What is the endorsement process? Retrieved from http://www.educationfasttrack.org/media/library/factsheet_endorsement.pdf

Graham, N. (2010). Why does Education for All have to be inclusive education? Education for All Fast Track Initiative (EFA FTI) and children with disabilities. Retrieved from http://shrdocs.com/presentations/3985/index.html

Hughes, L.W. and Hooper, D. W. (2000). Public relations for school leaders. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Peters, S. (2007). Education for all? Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 18(2), 98-108. UNESCO. (1990). World declaration on education for all. Retrieved from

http://www.unesco.org/education/efa/ed_for_all/background/jomtien_declaration.shtml UNESCO. (2000). World education forum final report: Part II. Improving the quality and

equity of education for all. UNESCO. (2009, April-June). Inclusion of children with disabilities: The early childhood

imperative. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001831/183156e.pdf United Nations. (n.d.). Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education. Retrieved from

http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/education.shtml United Nations. (2001). United Nations millennium declaration. Retrieved from

http://www.un.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e.htm