China Save the Children: Education for all, especial for Children with disabilities
Save the Children urged more attention and efforts should be given to inclusive education in China on December 3, which marked the International Day of People with Disability.
Children with disabilities in China still face enormous exclusion and discrimination in receiving basic education. Only 72% of children with disabilities receive or complete nine years of basic education as required by law. The gap between children with disabilities and their ordinary counterparts is huge given the latter’s attendance rate is nearly 100%.
While China has invested significantly in special education schools, inclusive education for children with disabilities in mainstream schooling remains extremely underdeveloped.
Many parents lack the resources, knowledge and community support to adequately care for their children with disabilities and ensure their access to a quality and inclusive educational environment.
Most teachers in regular schools are not equipped with the knowledge or skills to tailor support for children with disabilities in classrooms.
Thanks to IKEA Foundation’s support in the past three years, Save the Children has launched the project of Education for All.
The project piloted an inclusive education training program for teachers, education providers and local officials in Yunnan, Xinjiang and Sichuan. Save the Children also established recourse centers in schools to provide the recourse and technical support for children and teachers on inclusive education implementation.
Jolanda Van Ginkel, 29，a Sustainability Specialist in IKEA Netherland, participated in an IWitness trip to Yunnan and visited two primary schools that engaged in Save the Children’s inclusive education program.
“It’s beautiful to see disabled children play, study, interact with other children, and teachers pay attention to students with special needs, this is a well-designed program,” she said.
Nationally, Save the Children has worked with educational experts to build up leaders and centers of expertise in inclusive education by developing new courses for normal universities.
Many positive changes have been achieved in the way teachers understand and support children with disabilities in their classrooms in pilot locations. Inspired by this success, local government partners have increased their funding to inclusive education initiatives.
By the end of June 2015, there were 159,957 children in total including over 2,000 children with disabilities benefitted from the project.
Despite this remarkable progress, gaps still remain. Join us to create a more inclusive learning environment for children with disabilities and special needs.
For more information, please contact:
Dan He
Communications and Campaign Senior Officer
Save the Children
T: 8610-65004408-515
