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This blog is about the “Planning for Inclusive Education” programme in West Africa. This program supports 8 countries—Cabo Verde, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal and Sierra Leone—to make sure children and young people with disabilities are included in all education policy.

The first step is around capacity building. Zeinabou Gaye, a participant from Senegal, said: “Inclusion is not just about having a student with a disability in a regular classroom. It requires a comprehensive transformation of the education system: teacher training, adapting infrastructure, gender responsiveness and raising awareness within the community.”

Read the blog.

Theirworld’s published a report, “All Means All: A Call for Disability-Inclusive Early Years Financing”. Children with disabilities are 25% less likely to attend preschool than their peers and 49% more likely never to attend school at all.

Solutions already exist: Early childhood systems and services can be designed with all children in mind rather than governments retrofitting inclusion later at far greater cost. Theirworld’s report sets out recommendations for early years services.

Read the blog and access Theirworld’s report.

The Theirworld report was co-authored by Vibhu Sharma. Listen to EENET’s podcast episode with Vibhu, entitled “Assistive Tech: Starting early changes everything”.

Having achieved universal access to basic education, Cabo Verde is now focused on universalizing access to pre-primary education and improving the inclusion and quality of early learning.

This blog, part of a series from GPE, states the progress made in Cabo Verde in inclusive education. Currently, there is a pilot project in kindergartens in vulnerable areas, focusing on training professionals in education and other areas.

Read the blog.

Stories for Inclusion is a new website developed by the Niketan Foundation and Biblionef Netherlands.

This website promotes diversity, empathy, and inclusion through children’s books, featuring children with disabilities. It is designed with accessibility in mind, featuring a dyslexia-friendly font and adjustable text size. The website offers tools and resources for educators, organizations, and anyone passionate about inclusive education. There is an Inclusive Education module to bring inclusion into classrooms and communities.

Visit the Stories for Inclusion website.

“When we talk about the stigma, isolation and doubt that comes with disability, and the personal and systemic neglect faced by teachers and children with disabilities, can we tap into what it means for a child to read or listen to a story and see themselves reflected; their troubles affirmed?”

The author asks why children’s literature is often given little space in discussions around inclusion and equity. Access to children’s literature is limited in the Global South. In India, for example, there is only 1 book for 11 children in rural areas. The author claims: “If inclusion in education is to move beyond infrastructure and enrolment, then libraries and literature must take their rightful place within these conversations.”

Read the blog.

To celebrate their RISE project, Link Education International have published three stories of young learners from Rwanda, Malawi, and Zambia. As Link Education International say:

“These stories remind us that change is possible. Confident teachers and school leaders with the skills and knowledge to enable children with disabilities to engage in their learning and thrive socially with their peers. More children with disabilities happily attending, staying and thriving in schools which are safe, accessible and welcoming.”

Read the Rwanda story.

Read the Malawi story.

Read the Zambia story.