Education for All or for Some? International Principles and Practice

It is axiomatic that people with intellectual disabilities have the same human and civil rights to education as other citizens and that they must therefore have the same opportunities to attend their local schools and educational facilities. This is a fine vision. But it is far from the reality experienced by the majority of people with intellectual disabilities across the world.No country in the world has reason to be satisfied with the quality of the educational facilities which it provides for people with intellectual disabilities. But enough examples of good practice exist in different countries to make it possible for all of us to reappraise ways in which a higher quality of inclusive education and schooling could be provided for people with intellectual disabilities and the contribution that we can make personally and professionally to that process.In the field of intellectual disabilities, we need to define education in very broad terms as anything which systematically promotes learning and development. Defined in this way, education is a lifelong process which neither begins nor ends with schooling. Similarly, it is carried out by many people who are not teachers. Parents are at the heart of this process from the outset. The years spent at school are clearly of vital importance but they are only one element of the educational process. There is a sense in which all work with people with intellectual disabilities is educational, whatever the setting, in so far as it helps them to learn and to develop knowledge, skills and understanding.