Guidance Note
A DFID practice paper
Education for children
with disabilities improving access
and quality
This Guidance Note provides information on how to
improve educational access and quality for children
with disabilities. It gives an overview of the global context,
provides best practice case studies and clearly signposts
practical tools and resources. It is in three sections:
•
Background information: a synthesis of information
relating to educating children with disabilities which
and other institutions
•
Action required: examples of action that can be taken
to move systems towards greater inclusion
•
References: a bibliography with links to online
resources and a glossary of key terms.
SECTION ONE:
BACKGROUND
INFORMATION
1. Why is DFID focusing on
disability?
DFID has national and international responsibilties to
focus on disability and ensure that it is not only left to
specialists.
•
•
The MDGs cannot be achieved without addressing
disability
400 million people with disabilities live in poverty in
developing countries
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•
•
•
economy
Disability is a human rights issue
Disability equality is a UK HMG commitment
The UK Government lobbied hard for the new UN
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
disability within the education sector, summarises the main
ideas and provides signposts to relevant practical tools and
further reading.
With many developing countries now making strong
progress to the MDG of universal primary education
(UPE), increasingly of those who remain left out of school
a susbstantial proportion will be children with some
disability. They will also be amongst the poorest children.
Disability includes long-term physical, mental, intellectual
or sensory impairments. According to the United Nations
around 10 per cent of the world's population lives with a disability.
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