Inclusion
In recent times, the governments and the development organizations have focused much attention on uplifting the marginalized and vulnerable communities all around the world. At the forefront of these efforts are the initiatives taken for the betterment of people with disabilities whereby creating an inclusive environment for all.
Similarly, in Pakistan, Idara-e-Taleem-o-Agahi (ITA), with a vision to promote education as a comprehensive process for human and social transformation, has recently launched a first-of-its-kind DFID funded project, titled as “Inclusive Assessments through Partnerships -ASER Tools Adaptation for the Deaf and Visually Impaired – Mapping SDG 4 for inclusion and equity”, to cover the research gaps and cater to the lack of credible data sources regarding the learning assessment of the children with disabilities and disability prevalence in Pakistan. For this purpose, ASER Tools shall be translated/adapted into a disability friendly format and will be used to assess the learning outcomes of children with disabilities. In addition to this, ASER Disability Questionnaire from its household survey will be expanded to include the Washington Group on Disability Statistics full set of questions on child functioning to estimate the disability prevalence. Further, the project also involves the capacity building of all stakeholders through workshops and seminars along with the organization of high-level policy dialogues for informed policy making in line with the SDG 4.
The pilot study for this project which is spread over 4 districts of Pakistan, will be taken on with the collaboration of the following partner organizations: Family Educational Services Foundation (FESF), SightSavers International, REAL Centre University of Cambridge and IDEAS Pakistan.
The inaugural meeting of the project was organized by ITA on August 7th 2018 in Lahore and was attended by the representatives from the Special Education department Punjab, FESF, SightSavers International, and DFID.
- ASER Pakistan Disability booklet – ASER Pakistan. Findings on Disability/Health Functioning. (2016)
- Digital Inclusion Initiative by UNESCO and Pearson – UNESCO
- Convention on the Rights for persons with Disabilities – United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
- Sustainable Development Goals – United Nations Department of Economic and Social
- Sustainable Development Goals, Urdu Version – Prepared by Social and Economic Development Associates (SEDA)
- Global Disability Summit 2018 Report – Govt. of United Kingdom, Govt. of Kenya, International Disability Alliance
- Global Disability Summit 2018 Charter for Change – Govt. of United Kingdom, Govt. of Kenya, International Disability Alliance [Urdu] [English]
- Global Disability Summit 2018 Commitments – Govt. of United Kingdom, Govt. of Kenya, International Disability Alliance
- Education and Disability from 49 countries – UNESCO
- Toolkit for Disability Indicators – United Nations, International Disability Alliance, and International Disability and Development Consortium
- Washington Group on Disability Statistics (WG) Questions Set – United Nations Statistical Commission
- General Accessibility Guidelines – Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium
- Accessibility Manual – Council of Chief State School Affairs
- Bridging Barriers making Education Inclusive for Children with Disabilities
- Disability in Punjab and Sindh Provinces: using the Child Functioning Module
- Recommendations – Policy Dialogue For Children With Disabilities In Pakistan (March 2019)
- School enrollment and learning outcomes for children with disabilities: findings from a household survey in Pakistan – (Singal, N., Sabates, R., Aslam, M, & Saeed, S. (2018). School enrollment and learning outcomes for children with disabilities: findings from a household survey in Pakistan. International Journal of Inclusive Education. doi:10.1080/13603116.2018.1531944.)
- Policies for Special Persons in Pakistan – Analysis of policy Implementation (Ahmed, M., Khan, A. & Nasem, F. (2011). Policies for Special Persons in Pakistan – Analysis of Policy Implementation. Berkeley Journal of Social Sciences, 1(2))
- Readiness of urban primary schools for Inclusive Education in Pakistan (Pasha, S. (2012). Readiness of Urban Primary Schools for inclusive Education in Pakistan. Journal of Research and Reflections In Education, 6(2): 113-128.)
- Voices of out of school children with disabilities in Pakistan (Manzoor, A., Hameed, A. & Nabeel, T. (2016). Voices of out of school children with disabilities in Pakistan. Journal of Research in Special Education needs)
- Education of Children with Disabilities in India and Pakistan: Critical Analysis of Development in the last 15 years (Singal, N. (2016). Education of Children with Disabilities in India and Pakistan: Critical analysis of development in the last 15 years. PROSPECTS, 46(1): 171-183.)
- Fostering Inclusive Education in Pakistan: Access and Quality through Primary Education through Community School Networks – Working Paper number 6 – The Brookings Institute.
- The British Council, Moving from the margins, Mainstreaming persons with disabilities in Pakistan – A research report produced for the British Council.
- Inclusive Education in Punjab: Challenges and Way Forward – (Thakur, I. & Abbas, F. (2017). Inclusive Education in Punjab: Challenges and Way Forward. Journal of Inclusive Education, 1: 15-26.)
- Identifying disability in household surveys: Evidence on education access and learning for children with disabilities in Pakistan – – Policy brief – REAL Centre UK and IDEAS Pakistan
- The SALAMANCA Statement, 1994 – UNESCO, and the Ministry of Education and Science, Spain
- Incheon Declaration and the Framework for Action – UNESCO
