Challenge
They often face many barriers to attending, participating in, and ultimately benefiting from school.
Children with disabilities are less likely to persist in school than children without disabilities. Approximately 85% of primary school-age children with disabilities who are out of school have never attended school. When children with disabilities attend school, their education is hindered by inaccessible learning environments and lack of learning supports. The learning gap between children with disabilities and children without disabilities is widening, and children with disabilities are the least likely to complete primary school.
Inclusive Education Initiative (IEI)
IEI works at both global and country levels to help stakeholders and governments mobilize resources and develop programs that ensure inclusive education.
At the global level, the IEI works to coordinate inclusive education planning and develop public goods that countries can use to improve access to and quality of education for children with disabilities. At the country level, the IEI ensures that development partners coordinate their efforts, provides funding and technical assistance for the development and implementation of inclusive education programmes for children with disabilities, and supports disaggregated data collection on disability.
The IEI recognises the intersectionality between disability and other disadvantages such as poverty and is committed to addressing the challenge of the exclusion of children with disabilities from government-run education systems.
The World Bank Trust Fund is supported by NORAD, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation and the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID). IEI also receives support from multilateral and bilateral organizations, governments and civil society organisations working to provide an inclusive education for every child.
Through this collaborative effort, IEI aims to empower governments and education partners to provide inclusive education to all children, regardless of location or challenges.