Includ-ed, red europea de educación inclusiva

On 21 February 2014, Annett Räbel represented the European Network of Inclusive Education & Disability at the International Conference "Article 24, UNCRPD is this a Brown v Board of Education moment?", organised by NUI Galway’s Centre for Disability and Law Policy in association with Leuven Institute for Human Rights and Critical Studies (LIHRICS).

The aim of the conference, organised on the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the seminal case of Brown v. Board of Education (1954), was to discuss the Concept of the Right to Inclusive Education for Children with Disabilities, what is meant by inclusive education and what can lawyers do to ensure that the right to inclusive education becomes a reality for all. The conference looked at the particular legal tools that could be used to further the right to education for people with disabilities, and raised the question, “Is it time for the decision taken at the case of Brown v. Board of Education, be applied to children with disabilities?” 

The conference brought together academics and practitioners from the fields of law and education as well as parents who, because of their circumstances had to become advocates and litigants on behalf of their children.

The objective of incluD-ed’s participation was to consolidate the relation established via e-mail with the Association for Higher Education Access & Disability (AHEAD) in order to invite them personally to join the network as associated member (AHEAD Director Ann Heelen chaired the conference), to present the network, specifically our policy actions, as means of supporting legislative actions towards a more inclusive Europe and to encourage European experts in the field and organisations present at the conference the possibility to become part of its virtual community.

incluD-ed achieved its objectives in participating at the Conference. Ann Heelan, Chair of the conference and Director of the Association for Higher Education Access & Disability (AHEAD) confirmed the interest of AHEAD to join incluD-ed as an associated member and showed herself very interested in research activities Fundación Once in carrying out in the field of Higher Education Institutes (HEI) (research on the accessibility of European HEI and participation of students with disabilities in European exchange programmes such as Erasmus). Mrs. Heelan also underlined that more work needs to be done to increase the numbers of students with all kinds of disabilities in all areas of Higher Education.

incluD-ed also spoke to Luk Zelderloo, Support Service Manager of EASPD. He outlined EASPD’s longstanding and regular political engagement and underlined that the EC wants to do the right things in regards to inclusive education, but that they know few or nothing about the topic. He encouraged the network to continue its work at European level and to “feed” the EC with the right understanding and the right information on inclusive education.

Dr. Gauthier de Beco from KU Leuven who researches on the UNCRPD proposed incluD-ed to start a research project related to legislation on article 24 in the future.

incluD-ed created also a new promising relationship with Richard Rieser, Director of the organisation of World of Inclusion, who represented the United Kingdom Disabled People’s Council in all meetings on Article 24 at the UNCRPD Conference of State Parties 3 in September 2010. Mr. Rieser has a lot of good practices and resources to with the incluD-ed virtual community.

incluD-ed equally spoke with Lycette Nelson, Litigation Director at the Mental Disability Advocacy Center (MDAC), based in Hungary. MDAC tries to find and initiate legal cases in Central and Eastern Europe that have the potential to change norms, create standards and point out the reform needs in some EU MS in regards to inclusive education and the UN CRPD. In CZ they currently have two cases before the constitutional court.

The network presented its work on the gathering of best practices as well as its views on the lines of policy incidence at the conference to the different speakers and participants.

incluD-ed confirmed its thematic priorities as central for the inclusive education discussion. According to the evidence and experience that was shared as well as the new challenges that were identified, incluD-ed confirms that its working lines are well defined and are placed at the forefront of the inclusive education discussion.

The conference was aimed at organisations and institutions working on Article 24 of the UN CRPD and the UN CRPD in general in order to advance inclusive education in Europe. Around 50 participants were present.

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The programme gave voice to Professor Arlene Kanter from Syracuse University who outlined the background and history behind the negotiations and the drafting of Article 24 of the. Paula Flynn from Trinity College Dublin talked about ‘Inclusive Education’ and what it means, while Dr. Gauthier de Beco from KU Leuven discussed the content of Article 24 and what obligations it imposes on State parties. Mr. Luk Zerderloo from the European Association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD) then presented an ‘Overview of Inclusive Education in Europe’.

In a session on teaching, primary school Principal, Mr. Cóilín O’Coigligh presented a case study on the challenges to inclusion that exist in the Irish context today. This followed an intervention by Mr. Richard Rieser from the World of Inclusion who has recently completed a review for UNICEF on preparing teachers for children with disabilities from an inclusive perspective. 

The conference then addressed the issue of litigating the right to education, Mr. James McNabb a parent of a child with a disability will discuss his story of litigating against the Department of Education to ensure that his son accessed an appropriate education. This is followed by Lycette Nelson, the Litigation Director from Mental Disability Advocacy Centre (MDAC) who will discuss ‘Strategic Litigation and the Right to Education.’ This is followed by a Q&A session.

Finally Professor Gerry Whyte from Trinity College Dublin who has written the seminal work on the topic of “Social Inclusion and the Legal System: Public Interest Law in Ireland” will act as Rapporteur for the conference.