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In recent years, Latin American countries have implemented various policies and programs to strengthen the educational inclusion of people with disabilities. The report “Towards barrier-free education: Advances and challenges in inclusive education evidenced by the SIRIED 2024 results” provides an updated diagnosis of the educational situation of the population with disabilities in Latin America.

The report shows discontinuous and vulnerable educational trajectories, a condition that worsens as students’ progress through school. This situation is reflected in over-age enrollment and dropout rates.

Read the other findings and download the report. 

This blog draws on comparative research exploring how headteachers in rural public basic schools across Ghana and the Philippines conceptualise and enact leadership to promote equity and inclusion.

Their candid accounts reveal what effective school leadership looks like when policy frameworks meet realities of poverty, infrastructure deficit, and social marginalization, based on a focus group discussion among headteachers in the Gomoa Central District of Ghana and Davao City in the Philippines.

Read the blog.

In India, educational success has been defined largely through curriculum coverage, examination performance, procedural compliance and the efficient administration of a large and complex education system. Teachers have been socialised into structures that reward completion, standardisation and measurable outcomes.

A reform, called the New Education Policy 2020, now asks the same system to additionally nurture creativity, agency, critical thinking, collaboration, social-emotional development and holistic learning. While these ambitions are widely welcomed, they often sit alongside older structures that continue to shape incentives, accountability mechanisms, teacher preparation and daily classroom realities.

Teachers frequently navigate the tension between their beliefs about what matters for young people and the systems that ultimately reward them for their work. Policies may encourage student-centred learning, while assessment systems continue to prioritise narrow measures of academic performance. Professional development may advocate for innovative pedagogies, while offering limited opportunities for sustained reflection, experimentation and practice. Schools may be encouraged to cultivate creativity and agency while continuing to operate in cultures shaped by compliance, standardisation and procedural expectations.

Read the blog.

In Ghana, learners with visual impairment are paired with sighted peers. These peers, often called readers, assist their classmates with visual impairment by describing visual materials, explaining classroom demonstrations, reading notes aloud and helping with other learning activities.

However, as the author of this blog notes, the “readers” are learners themselves not teaching assistants, they might not understand what is being taught and have their own learning needs.

“Inclusion should not be simply understood as access to classrooms, but as access to equitable opportunities for meaningful participation. Teachers require practical preparation and support to make STEM content accessible, particularly when teaching concepts heavily involve visual representations. This includes developing skills in verbal description, adapting learning materials and designing lessons that minimise visual barriers.”

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Research with persons with disabilities can expose unconscious assumptions we often do not know we carry. While conducting PhD research in Ghana, the author had an experience that challenged deeply-embedded assumptions they were not aware they held. This blog shares that experience.

“This encounter serves as a reminder that inclusion is not always about grand intentions and patronising rhetoric, but paying attention to the small, often unnoticed details in everyday interactions with differently abled people. Inclusive research demands more than methodological adaptation – it requires critical awareness and ongoing reflection on the assumptions embedded in our everyday practices.”

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How can simple, low-cost materials transform learning? On Indonesia’s Morotai Island, one teacher is helping children build literacy and numeracy skills through creative, hands-on activities. Umian is a Grade 2 teacher who participated in a literacy and numeracy club mentor training. Umian uses simple objects such as bottle caps, stones, marble and straws, allowing children to practice by touching and counting objects. Through these simple activities, Umian has noticed clear changes in her students. They are more active in class, more confident trying new things and more enthusiastic about learning.

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Namayingo in Uganda experiences poverty levels higher than the national average, historically low learning outcomes, and severe socio-economic challenges. These conditions contributed to children leaving school to take on income-generating activities, making sustained community engagement essential.

The introduction of “Participatory Budget Clubs” helped children to return to school. These clubs are made up of citizens trained to monitor school attendance, conditions and education service delivery, track education spending and raise issues directly with authorities.

Schools began sharing lists of pupils who had dropped out, and community leaders committed to following up with parents and guardians. Local leaders, parents, and PBC members worked together to identify why children were leaving school and how to bring them back. Attendance has since risen and educational outcomes have improved too.

Read the blog. 

A quiet transformation is taking place in classrooms worldwide, where climate change is no longer confined to textbooks but brought to life through everyday learning. From Brazil to Cambodia, Indonesia and Rwanda, teachers are leading this shift, turning sustainability into a lived, everyday experience rather than a standalone topic.

UNESCO is supporting teachers to redesign lessons so that climate concepts connect to students’ realities. In Indonesia, rather than opening a textbook, a teacher holds up a poster of local fish species and asks the children which ones they recognize. Hands go up immediately. What follows is a structured lesson built entirely on lived knowledge – which species get caught, change of seasons and why it matters. The blog gives many more examples of how teachers have changed their lessons.

Read the blog.