Including students with disabilities in education for all: Lessons from Ethiopia

• Main Authors: BRITTANNY, Franck, JOSHI, Devin K.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2017
• Subjects: Africa; disabilities; Education for All; Ethiopia; Inclusive education; Special Needs Education; Sustainable Development Goals; universal basic education; Special Education and Teaching
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2070; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/3327/viewcontent/IJIE_Including_Students_with_Disabilities_EFA_2017__av.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

This article addresses the inclusion of students with disabilities into the Education for All and Sustainable Development Goals agenda through a case study of Ethiopia, a country aiming to promote inclusive education amidst rapidly rising school enrolments. The article begins with a review of debates concerning inclusive education in the Global South and the strategy taken by Ethiopia. It then examines how inclusive education is currently being implemented drawing on recent fieldwork at rural and urban schools in Tigray province. Through interviews, participant observation, and focus groups, we found that teachers and school administrators are generally in favour of mainstreaming children with disabilities into ‘normal’ schools. However, insufficient training of teachers and itinerant teachers along with shortages of teaching materials and resources present major challenges to addressing special education needs.