Legal Frameworks to Promote Inclusive Education for Children with Disabilities

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Children with disabilities throughout the world are often marginalized and excluded from mainstream society. In many countries, children with disabilities are sent away to institutions where they receive no education and are isolated from society for their entire lives. In other countries, children with disabilities are forced to attend separate schools instead of general schools in the community with their peers. The vast barriers that children with disabilities face in accessing education in most societies has led to a low employment rate for persons with
disabilities and a disproportionally high rate of poverty. In 2011, the World Report on Disability indicated that some progress has been made in recent decades, but still predominantly found that “children and youth with disabilities are less likely to start school or attend school than other children. They also have lower transition rates to higher levels of education.” The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) addresses these issues and specifically outlines the right to education for persons with disabilities. In this presentation I will discuss the right to education in international law generally and then review the CRPD’s inclusive education provision. Thereafter, I will address the benefits of inclusive education. I will conclude by providing recommendations to States Parties to facilitate the transition to an inclusive education system.