United Nations UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education International Human Rights Instruments and Resources Reports of UN Special Rapporteurs United Nations 19 February 2007 Report A/HRC/4/29

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This report is submitted in accordance with Human Rights Council decision 1/102 and
considers one of the issues of special concern to the Special Rapporteur on the right to education: the right of persons with disabilities to inclusive education. The right to inclusive education implies that it is possible for all children and young people, regardless of their situations or differences, to learn together. The paradigm of inclusive education is a response to the limitations of traditional education, which has been described as patriarchal, utilitarian and segregational, as well as to the shortcomings of special education and policies to integrate
learners with special needs into mainstream educational systems.

The concept of inclusive education is contained implicitly in article 13, paragraph 1, of
the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and articles 23 and 29 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and expressly, inter alia, in the Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special Needs Education adopted in 1994 by the World Conference on Special Needs Education: Access and Quality and the recently adopted Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which establishes the obligation of States to ensure an inclusive education system.

The report recommends a series of legislative, policy and financial measures that need to
be adopted in order to give effect to this right. It also identifies some of the obstacles that
prevent the fulfilment of the right to inclusive education, as indicated in the responses submitted by various States and non-governmental organizations to a questionnaire, sent out by the Special Rapporteur, the purpose of which was to assess the degree to which international standards are being implemented in this area. Among other obstacles, it cites the discrepancy that exists between the normative framework and the resources available for realizing the right to inclusive education, as well as the lack of genuine political will to achieve this goal.

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