For Policy Makers: Supporting Education

In this section, policy makers will find practical advice for implementing and administering the education and community-based rehabilitation programs that support inclusion of people with disabilities.

Below is a list of topics you'll find in this section. Click on a title to jump to a specific topic.

Identifying & Assessing Students 

Finding Children who are Blind
Community Eye Health Journal
Implementing the key informant method for identifying children with blindness or visual impairment; includes suggestions for training and communication materials. Available as a PDF as well.

Screening and Assessments
Sense International (India)
Advice for identifying children who are deafblind, and techniques for assessment in rural areas.  PDF version (not accessible to screen readers).

Inclusive Education 

The International Council for the Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI) is a non-government organization which has been working with the United nations since 1952 to improve conditions of vision health worldwide.  Their website contains numerous articles and resources organization by global region.  We present just a few of them here:

Challenges and Barriers to Inclusive Education in Egypt
A pilot demonstration project that assesses the community-based services in Cairo and how well they integrate individuals with visual impairments.

Comparative Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Various Models of Education of Children with Visual Impairment
Education of students with visual impairment in three types of programs in India: residential schools, semi-integrated, and integrated education.

Facing the Challenges of Inclusive Education
The status of students with visual impairments in inclusive education in Latin America; includes suggestions for increasing enrollment and improving the quality of education.

The Implementation and Challenges to Inclusive Education Policy and Practice in South Africa
The challenges of inclusive education in South Africa.

Implementing and Monitoring Inclusive Education in Vietnam
The chief obstacles to inclusive education in Vietnam; strategies to address these challenges.

Inclusion – A Myth or a Reality? Unravelling the Dilemma
An examination of the effectiveness of inclusive education in India, and a model for active partnership between special schools for the blind and teachers trained in general disabilities.

Inclusive Education of Blind Pupils in Cambodia
A history of education of students with visual impairments in Cambodia. Achievements and difficulties of inclusive education; specific strategies for addressing the challenges.

An Inclusion Experience in Our School
Peruvian teachers describe the history of inclusive education in their country and identify some of its challenges.

Integrated Education for Visually Impaired Children in China
The status of inclusive education in China, including some of its major challenges and suggestions for the future.

Positive Examples Useful for System of Inclusive Education of Persons with Visually Impairment
Three Serbians share their personal experiences with vision loss and offer suggestions for increasing services through inclusive education. (This pdf is not accessible to screen readers.)

The Role of the Schools for the Blind in Integrated Education for the Visually Impaired Children in China
Schools for the blind in China and their role as regional Educational Resource Centres.

Strengthening Integrated Education Programs for Blind and Visually Impaired Children in Bangladesh
The barriers to education for children with visual impairments; advantages and disadvantages of different educational models.

Towards Inclusive Education in Ghana
Inclusion and other educational practices in Ghana.

Towards Providing Inclusive Education for School-Aged Visually Impaired Children in Nigeria: The Ijanikin Experience
The history of education for the blind in Nigeria, including a model inclusion program in Ijanikin.

--Other Resources--

Including Blind Children in St. Lucia                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Enabling Education Network
A brief history of inclusive education in St. Lucia.

Including Deafblind Children                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Enabling Education Network
The problems facing deafblind children, illustrated by Sense International’s work with individual children in India.

Inclusion – Understanding Basic Concepts
Sense International (India)
Gives practitioners a basic understanding of inclusion and its impact on students, their families, teachers, and administrators.

Inclusive Education: An Overview of International Experiences and Approaches
Dark and Light Blind Care
This 31-page document presents an overview of inclusive education, with chapters on legislation, promotion, various approaches, best practices, and resources. 

Integrated Education for Children with Special Needs in the Context of Community Based Rehabilitation
Enabling Education Network
Lessons learned from community-based programs in Central Java, Indonesia.

Models of Inclusive Education: Where Do Community Based Support Programmes Fit In?
Enabling Education Network
Examples of inclusive education at the community, school and classroom level in several locations in Africa.

Social Integration 

Addressing the Social Exclusion of Blind and Visually Impaired Persons in Sierra Leone                                                                                                                                               AfriCAN
Challenges facing people with blindness or visual impairment in Sierra Leone, including barriers to full social inclusion.

Teacher Training 

An Innovative Project to Develop Services and Train Mentor Teachers for Programs Serving Preschool Children and Students with Visual Impairment with Multiple Disabilities in China
International Council for the Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI)
A collaborative project to create educational services in China for preschoolers and older children who are blind, including those with additional disabilities.

Mobility and Rehabilitation Programme for Persons with Visual Impairment in Uganda
International Council for the Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI)
A training program for Orientation and Mobility instructors in Uganda.

Vocational training 

Developing Livelihoods
Enabling Education Network
This chapter from Mavis Campos’s book, Innovations In Developing Countries For People With Disabilities, addresses the creation of  livelihoods for people with disabilities, including vocational training, rural self-employment, and social marketing.

Expanding Education and Employment Opportunity for Blind and Visually Impaired Persons through the Development of an Eastern European Network on Access Technology
International Council for the Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI)
How people with visual impairment and their trainers can use access technology to connect to information, education, and employment opportunities.

Inclusion of Disabled People in Vocational Training & Income: An Overview of International Experiences and Approaches
Dark and Light Blind Care
This 34-page publication gives an overview of the challenges faced globally by people with disabilities in gaining employment; suggestions for creating programs to address the problems.

Inclusive Work for Blind and Low Vision Young People in Uruguay: Present Reality and Future Perspectives
International Council for the Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI)
An overview of several employment models, including sheltered workshops, supported employment, and competitive employment in the open market; in Spanish.

Project Aspiro
Career and Business planning assistant is provided by Project Aspiro, a global initiative of the World Blind Union. Learn what resources are available and visit the successstories of Aspiro clients.

Real Jobs for Real People
Pancyprian Organization of the Blind
Promoting the hiring of workers with blindness or visual impairment by changing the attitudes of employers.

Romania Vocational Training and Employment Challenge in a New EU Member Country
Pancyprian Organization of the Blind
The history and current status of vocational training in Romania, including employment of individuals with visual impairment.

Skills Development through Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR)
International Labour Organization (ILO)
A 122-page planning guide for implementing skills development and access to work for people with disabilities.

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