Inclusive Education
 An increasing number of publications, workshops, policy papers, etc., are in clear support of these ideas. Some organizations and people, however, express reservations as to whether the ordinary classroom can provide optimal quality education for handicapped children.
This debate is historical and has been on-going ever since people began to question the old, segregated institutions, and to struggle for the equality of handicapped children and for their integration into society and into education.
We must take these concerns seriously and dispel them by showing examples of positive experiences, which demonstrate that inclusive education can most certainly address Quality issues in education.
It is our belief that inclusive education provides the best solution for a schools system which can meet the needs of all learners. The Flagship “The Right to Education for Persons with Disabilities: towards Inclusion” has accordingly been designed to serve as a tool to provide strategies for the development of an inclusive education of high quality.
In addition, we believe that inclusive education cannot be developed in isolation from overall school development. Inclusive education cannot be seen as a specific issue, but must be regarded as an approach to the development of the entire school system.
A decisive issue is that of how the individual pupil can be ensured optimal education in accordance with his/her capabilities and needs. In the holistic view of the pupil, opportunities for participation and sharing in the work of the class are a dominant factor in the planning of classroom activities.
Human differences are natural, contribute to the richness of every society and must, of course, be reflected in schools. Schools must ensure opportunities for participation and sharing through a wide range of working methods and individual treatment.
Inclusive education means that the school can provide a good education to all pupils irrespective of their varying abilities. All children will be treated with respect and ensured equal opportunities to learn together.
Inclusive education is an on-going process. Teachers must work actively and deliberately to reach its goals.
Special Needs Education
"Educational intervention and support designed to address special education needs."
''The term ‘special needs education’ has come into use as a replacement for the term ‘special education’. The older term was mainly understood to refer to the education of children with disabilities that takes place in special schools or institutions distinct from, and outside of, the institutions of the regular school and university system. In many countries today a large proportion of disabled children are in fact educated in institutions of the regular system.
Moreover, the concept of ‘children with special educational needs’ extends beyond those who may be included in handicapped categories to cover those who are failing in school for a wide variety of other reasons that are known to be likely to impede a child’s optimal progress. Whether or not this more broadly defined group of children are in need of additional support depends on the extent to which schools need to adapt their curriculum, teaching and organization and/or to provide additional human or material resources so as to stimulate efficient and effective learning for these pupils.''
Quality Indicators: Community, equality and participation:
 Three steps towards real inclusion
Three Cornerstones
The philosophy of education that caters to the needs of all children can be said to rest on three cornerstones:
- handicap seen in relation to demands from the environment
- a holistic view of the pupil
- the principle of non-segregating measures |
