Learning

This series is intended for Education Officers in USAID partner countries and implementing partners who are designing and managing new activities, evaluations, and/or research efforts.

At the 2022 Global Disability Summit (GDS), USAID announced new commitments to disability inclusive education, cementing its role as a leader and joining global partners to advocate for education for every learner.

Classroom teachers, principals, and specialists are embracing an understanding that they do not need to wait for diagnosis or identification of a child’s disability to teach responsively. And, they are putting that understanding to work.

Deaf children represent a majority of all children with disabilities in Kenya. These children are not only an underserved group of students, but also a distinct language minority that uses Kenyan Sign Language as their native language.

Various models have been employed over time to address disability inclusion in education programming, with social and rights-based models preferred.

We discuss these challenges and offer ways to overcome them in order to achieve the goal of universally obtained inclusion.

As many as 93 million to 150 million primary and lower secondary-school age children with disabilities in developing countries are out of school; they are less likely to enroll and complete a full cycle of basic education.

When developing and implementing disability inclusive education programs, it is incumbent upon practitioners to understand the nuances of disability, as well as the resources required for quality and equitable education for learners with disabilities.