Inclusive Education for Sustainable Development

This sub-theme is co-convened by:

Susy Ndaruhutse, Education and Development Trust

Amy Parker, Relief International

Globally, 263 million children and young people between the ages of 6 and 17 are currently out of school. It is estimated that 15 million girls of primary school age will never enrol in primary school, compared to approximately 10 million boys. The problem goes beyond access. For those children who are in school, many are not learning. In low- and middle-income countries, only half of primary-school aged children and little more than a quarter of secondary-school aged children are learning basic primary- and secondary-level skills. These inequalities persist into adulthood. The most recent UIS data show that two thirds of the 758 million illiterate adults are women. These inequalities are mirrored in other marginalised groups – for example, children with disabilities in most low- and middle income countries are ten times less likely to attend school than non-disabled peers and are more likely to drop out than any other group of children.

The increasing inequalities in education outcomes and cycles of marginalisation are mutually reinforcing. This theme will take a systemic look at equity in teaching and learning and how to disrupt such cycles of exclusion and marginalisation, whether by poverty, location, gender, linguistic/ethnic minority, disability, conflict or the intersection and overlapping of several of these aspects. We welcome papers that develop and discuss a conceptual or theoretical framework, as well as more applied ones that reflect on the evidence base and implications for policymakers. We expect papers to address questions such as:

• Why is inclusive education important for sustainable development?
• What are the main barriers to equitable teaching and learning and how can they be overcome?
• Which education systems have been most successful in providing inclusive education and what can other countries learn from them?
• What are the most effective ways of providing more equitable teaching and learning and what can we learn from those that have not worked?
• How can targeted interventions for specific marginalised groups be systematised and integrated into national policy, plans and strategies so that they become mainstream and sustainable?
• What role can the non-formal sector and alternative delivery models play in providing sustainable solutions that have formal recognition and equivalency?
• How can the voices of marginalised learners (and parents) be effectively included in policy discussions and decisions about approaches to teaching and learning?
• What strategies developed with/for marginalised learners also offer promising means of engaging mainstream learners?
• What examples are there of costing inclusion? Are there examples of effective low-cost solutions to inclusion?
• What place do innovation and technology have in providing alternative approaches to learning, especially for refugees and internally displaced persons?

Read the interview with Amy Parker on this sub-theme