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GPE Endorses IDDC Call for Education Disability Inclusion Action

Adapted from International Disability and Development Consortium (IDDC) and UN Secretary General Report summarizing SDG 4 progress in 2017 E/2017/66: The IDDC Call to Action for Education Disability Inclusion aligns and gives form to the UN Sustainable Development Goal 4 for equity for all children in access to education; Target 4.5 specifies 'By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations'. The related indicator for assessing progress adds the need for disability data disaggregation emphasis: 'Parity indices (female/male, rural/urban, bottom/top wealth quintile and others such as disability status, indigenous peoples and conflict-affected, as data become available) for all education indicators on this list that can be disaggregated'.

In the joint statement led by IDDC, the world’s leading NGOs working in disability and education in low and middle income countries, including CBM, Handicap International, Leonard Cheshire Disability, Light for the World, Plan Internaitonal, Sightsavers, together with the Global Campaign for Education (GCE), the International Disability Alliance (IDA) and others, call on governments and donors to significantly step up action to deliver on the promise of the Sustainable Development Goals to ensure quality education for all children, by investing in inclusive education for boys and girls with disabilities. They also commit to making education for children with disabilities in developing countries a top priority, advocating for better donor financing for inclusive education.

The status of fulfilling the targets for equitable and inclusive education described in a Report from the UN Secretary General indicates the extant barriers extant:and LMICs' progress: Achieving inclusive and equitable quality education for all will require increasing efforts, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia and for vulnerable populations, including persons with disabilities, indigenous people, refugee children and poor children in rural areas.

  • In 2014, about 2 in 3 children worldwide participated in pre-primary or primary education in the year prior to official entry age for primary school. However, in the least developed countries, the ratio was only 4 in 10.
  • Despite considerable gains in education enrolment over the past 15 years, worldwide, the adjusted net enrolment rates were 91 per cent for primary education, 84 per cent for lower secondary education and 63 per cent for upper secondary education in 2014. About 263 million children and youth were out of school, including 61 million children of primary school age. Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia account for over 70 per cent of the global out-of-school population in primary and secondary education.
  • Even though more children than ever are going to school, many do not acquire basic skills in reading and mathematics. Recent learning assessment studies show that in 9 of 24 sub-Saharan African countries and 6 of 15 Latin American countries with data, fewer than half of the students at the end of primary education had attained minimum proficiency levels in mathematics. In 6 of 24 sub-Saharan African countries with data, fewer than half of the students who finished their primary schooling had attained minimum proficiency levels in reading.
  • Equity issues constitute a major challenge in education according to a recent assessment. In all countries with data, children from the richest 20 per cent of households achieved greater proficiency in reading at the end of their primary and lower secondary education than children from the poorest 20 per cent of households. In most countries with data, urban children scored higher in reading than rural children.
  • The lack of trained teachers and the poor condition of schools in many parts of the world are jeopardizing prospects for quality education for all. Sub -Saharan Africa has a relatively low percentage of trained teachers in pre -primary, primary and secondary education (44 per cent, 74 per cent and 55 per cent, respectively). Moreover, the majority of schools in the region do not have access to electricity or potable water.
  • On the basis of data from 65 developing countries, the average percentage of schools with access to computers and the Internet for teaching purposes is above 60 per cent in both primary and secondary education. However, the share is less than 40 per cent in more than half of sub-Saharan countries with data.
  • Official development assistance (ODA) for scholarships amounted to $1 billion in 2015, a decrease from $1.2 billion in 2014. Australia, France and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland were the largest contributors.
  • Goal 4 strongly supports the reduction of persistent disparities. Worldwide, in 2013, two thirds of the 757 million adults (aged 15 and over) who were unable to read and write were women. Globally, in 2013, 1 in 10 girls were out of school, compared to 1 in 12 boys. Children from the poorest 20 per cent of households are nearly four times more likely to be out of school than their richest peers. Out-of-school rates are also higher in rural areas and among children from households headed by someone with less than a primary education.

Source: Report of the Secretary-General, "Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals", E/2017/66