TOWARDS LIFELONG EDUCATION FOR ALL — SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION

1968 Establishment of a Fund made up from voluntary contributions 1968-1969 Training courses for specialists, Elsinore, Denmark 1970 Publication of Education for Handicapped Children?, UNESCO 1977 Publication of Terminology: special education, UNESCO-IBE, revised in 1983 1981 International Year of Disabled Persons World Conference, Torremolinos, Spain Sundberg Declaration 1982-1989 Regional project on special education for thirteen East and Southern African countries 1983-1992 United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons	1981 UNESCO AND THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF DISABLED PERSONS by Nils-Ivar Sundberg From its earliest days, UNESCO has worked to improve education for disabled children and young people and in 1966 a comprehensive programme was drawn up to develop co-operation with the United Nations and other UN agencies, such as WHO, ILO, UNICEF, and some forty non-governmental organizations working for handicapped people; carry out worldwide surveys and studies on special education for the deaf, the blind, the mentally and motor handicapped; and provide member countries, at their request, with the services of experts and consultants to help plan activities for the disabled and train their teachers. UNESCO also provides fellowships for the training of personnel in specialized fields, supplies equipment to schools and centres for the handicapped and supports meetings and training seminars. Through special studies and meetings UNESCO draws up guidelines for Member States for the development of education for the handicapped. Since 1968 when its special education programme was launched, the Organization has supported more than 200 projects in some 80 countries around the world, from Algeria to Zaire. UNESCO has also helped organize theatre workshops and seminars for deaf players, published a major work on the standardization of Braille, and established a scheme enabling schools and institutions for the disabled, especially in the developing countries, to buy special equipment and material abroad. Adapted from The UNESCO Courier, January 1981. Breaking through the sound barrier The joy of partecipation and self-fulfilment radiates from the face of this child at a school for the deaf in Trinidad and Tobago. Advances in electronics have made possible the development of devices that can help the deaf to break through the sound barrier that cuts them off from so much of everyday life. But, for every deaf child to whom these modern techniques are available thousands more throughout the world remain outside the mainstream of society, immured in a world of silence.
	UNITED NATIONS DECADE OF DISABLED PERSONS (1983-1992) Within the framework of this Decade, the Organization reinforced its action to promote the right of handicapped persons to education, and make it easier for them to find a place in ordinary structures, while at the same time devising individualized instruction and education technologies that take differences and special needs into account: training of qualified personnel, assisting in the establishment of national institutions, preparating guides and manuals (9) and special equipment. (10) A subregional project, financed by Sweden, covering thirteen Southern and East African countries, encouraged the development of structures – often innovative structures such as centres for rehabilitation in the family environment (11) – for the rehabilitation and education of disabled children. In 1986-1987, in order to raise the awareness of decision-makers and mobilize resources, the Organization launched a major international survey on legislative, financial and administrative measures for the disabled, and case studies on the most appropriate educational approaches. It transpired that poverty and disability often went hand in hand and that the disparity in the resources available to rich countries and poor countries posed a particularly acute problem in the case of the disabled.

CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD Adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 20 November 1989 Article 23 States Parties recognize that a mentally or physically disabled child should enjoy a full and decent life, in conditions which ensure dignity, promote self-reliance and facilitate the child’s active participation in the community. States Parties recognize the right of the disabled child to special care and shall encourage and ensure the extension, subject to available resources, to the eligible child and those responsible for his or her care, of assistance for which application is made and which is appropriate to the child’s condition and to the circumstances of the parents or others caring for the child. Recognizing the special needs of a disabled child, assistance extended in accordance with paragraph 2 of the present article shall be provided free of charge, whenever possible, taking into account the financial resources of the parents or others caring for the child, and shall be designed to ensure that the disabled child has effective access to and receives education, training, health care services, rehabilitation services, preparation for employment and recreation opportunities in a manner conducive to the child’s achieving the fullest possible social integration and individual development, including his or her cultural and spiritual development. States Parties shall promote, in the spirit of international co-operation, the exchange of appropriate information in the field of preventive health care and of medical, psychological and functional treatment of disabled children, including dissemination of and access to information concerning methods of rehabilitation, education and vocational services, with the aim of enabling States Parties to improve their capabilities and skills and to widen their experience in these areas. In this regard, particular account shall be taken of the needs of developing countries.

World Declaration on Education for All Article III - Universalizing Access and Promoting Equity 5. The learning needs of the disabled demand special attention. Steps need to be taken to provide equal access to education to every category of disabled persons as an integral part of the education system. World Conference on Education for All, Jomtien, Thailand, 1990 Federico Mayor (Spain) Director-General of UNESCO since 1987 The first right of any disabled person is not to be disabled, never to have become disabled. We must therefore suggest strategies on prevention, education, rehabilitation and integration into working and community life and submit these, in the form of simple, clear conclusions, for consideration by all the countries of the world. Address on accepting the Presidency of the World Conference on Actions and Strategies for Education, Prevention and Integration, Torremolinos, Malaga, Spain, November 1981 To give full effect to special needs education requires a review of the policy and practice in every subsector within education, from pre-schools to universities, to ensure that the curricula, activities and programmes are, to the maximum extent possible, fully accessible to all. Opening speech, World Conference on Special Needs Education: Access and Quality, Salamanca, Spain, June 1994

STANDARD RULES ON THE EQUALIZATION OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly at its 48th Session on 20 December 1993 (Resolution 48/96) Rule 6. Education States should recognize the principle of equal primary, secondary and tertiary education opportunities for children, youth and adults with disabilities, in integrated settings. They should ensure that the education of persons with disabilities is an integral part of the educational system. 1. General educational authorities are responsible for the education of persons with disabilities in integrated settings. Education for persons with disabilities should form an integral part of national educational planning, curriculum development and school organization.

                               

FOOTNOTES:

(9) Constructive Education for Special Groups. Handicapped and Deviant Children, W.D. Wall, Paris, Harrap/UNESCO, 1979.

(10) New information and Communication Technologies: Their Impact upon Educational Opportunities for Disabled People, UNESCO, 1988. Applications of audiovisual media and data processing can help to offset communication difficulties and facilitate integration, for example, automatic conversion from Braille into printed text and vice-versa.

(11) Owing to the cost of special institutions – only two per cent of disabled children can be admitted to them in the developing countries – it is preferable to cater for these children in ordinary schools or under community programmes.

Caption: Nils Sundberg in charge of UNESCO's programme of Special Education died during the Torremolinos Conference in November 1981.