Includ-ed, red europea de educación inclusiva

http://www.fundaciononce.es

With the common goal of promoting inclusive education for people with disabilities as an effective right, more than 250 experts on the subject from Spain, Europe and Latin America came together at the International Conference on “Inclusive Education: A Way to Promote Social Cohesion”, which took place in Madrid on 11 and 12 March 2010.

Organised by the Ministry of Education, the ONCE Foundation and CERMI, the Spanish Committee of Representatives of People with Disabilities, the conference stimulated reflection on education as an essential element for social inclusion, and to present good practices in providing for pupils with special learning needs.

The conference was officially opened by Eva Almunia, Secretary of State for Education and Vocational Training at the Ministry of Education, who stressed that “the education system must take into account the conditions required by people who need special support”.

In his address, Alberto Durán, First Executive Vice-president of the ONCE Foundation, pointed out that “a future with equal opportunities is impossible without the full development of inclusive education”.

The lectures given at the Conference placed emphasis on both the advances made and the outstanding challenges, particularly in secondary education, vocational training and higher studies.

The Conference was closed by Education Ministry Ángel Gabilondo, who assured his audience that Spain was fully committed to equality and inclusion in the education system, a commitment that he described as a pact of responsibility towards all citizens.

In Gabilondo’s view, moreover, “universal, quality, equal education is the best solution against unemployment”. In consequence, the Minister went on, “We must reject no talents, because providing unequal access to education represents a loss, an injustice, but also an economic problem for the country”.

Conclusions

Amongst the main conclusions reached at the Conference was the conviction that engaging society and adopting more equal opportunities policies were amongst the crucial requirements for making inclusive education a reality.

“Political will and the determination of all stakeholders are required to promote in-depth, systematic changes, to provide vision, knowledge, expertise and a legal framework to make quality inclusive education a reality, promoting equality and excellence in the ordinary environments in which all teaching goes on in the education system. Society as a whole must be involved and must participate in achieving this change in education”.

Moreover, providing support for coordinated, cross-cutting policies and promoting exchanges of good practices, as the European Inclusive Education and Disability Network does, helps to identify the appropriate strategies to ensure that people with special abilities can gain access to education at all levels and, therefore, to the world of employment.

For further information about the International Conference “Inclusive Education: A Way to Promote Social Cohesion”, see the following documents:

Full Conference conclusions (in spanish) (Size: 44Kb)

Event programme (in spanish) (Size: 44.5Kb)