2.1 What is inclusive education?
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Watch a very short video that summarises an explanation of inclusive education.
Inclusive education is:
- a constantly evolving process of change and improvement within schools, other education settings and the wider education system to make education more welcoming, learner-centred, and beneficial for a wide range of people;
- about changing education attitudes, policies and practices so that they can respond to a diverse range of learners – male and female; with and without disabilities; from different ethnic, language, religious or financial backgrounds; of different ages; and facing different health, migration, refugee or other vulnerability challenges;
- about changing the education system so that it is flexible enough to accommodate any learner;
- about equality; every learner has the right to a quality, inclusive education;
- a process of increasing the presence, participation and achievement of all learners in all educational settings: nurseries, pre-schools, primary schools, secondary schools and tertiary institutions.
Why is inclusive education important?
Inclusive education has been shown to be “more cost effective, and academically and socially more effective than segregated schooling”. In addition, inclusive teaching strategies, effective peer-to-peer support and adjustments and adaptations to the learning environment “can reach 80-90 per cent of children with disabilities”. [Atlas Alliance (2019) ‘Together for Inclusion – Theory of Change’]
Watch the next video – some of the Zambian buddies explain their understanding of inclusive education.
You can read a transcript of what they say.
Further reading
For more information and further reading on what inclusive education is, see EENET’s website.
