Children with disabilities arguably form the largest group of readily identifiable children who have been and continue to be persistently excluded from education. The World Bank estimates that of the 115 million children worldwide who are not in school, 30-40 per cent are children with disabilities. Evidence from 43 governments in the review of national progress in the implementation of the Agenda for Action for the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons (1993-2002) indicated that less than 10 per cent of children and youth with disabilities had access to any form of education. This paper will aim at providing a guideline to the provision of education for children with disabilities in the community; it will further discuss the strategies that can be used in order to integrate such children in the education system. Finally it will show how one can address the challenges related to mainstreaming. And at the end of this threefold task a conclusion will be drawn.
Firstly it would be necessary to understand and recognise who these children with disabilities are in the communities, the numbers of children with disabilities is grossly underestimated, particularly in developing countries. Children with severe and moderate disabilities may be acknowledged, but children with mild or hidden disabilities are ignored. So too is the large population of children with learning disabilities or difficulties. These children account for a large proportion of children who drop out and do not complete primary education. They have no obvious disability but may experience extreme difficulty with learning in one or more areas. Children with hidden disabilities may include those with intellectual disabilities and mental health problems, but may also include children with unidentified disabilities such as hearing loss. Children from many of the groups listed above may fall into any of these categories.
Discrimination in education needs to be understood within a broader context. Globally, children with disabilities are part of a population of 600 million people with disabilities. This is approximately 10 per cent of the World’s population, two thirds of whom live in the Asia-Pacific region. Discrimination against people with disabilities has been long-term and widespread with a number of significant effects. Persons with disabilities have been prevented from accessing rights that are freely available to other members of society in such areas as health, education, employment, community participation and other basic social and political rights. They have also been denied access to the disability-specific services that they need in areas such as early intervention and rehabilitation.
Failure to access these services, combined with prejudice and rejection, has resulted in economic and social exclusion for children and adults with disabilities and their families. This marginalization has meant that their needs have not been considered in the development of basic mainstream services such as education and health. Where services have been provided, it has usually been in the context of welfare or charity, often initiated by non-governmental organizations, with responsibility less likely to be taken by the government. Education has most commonly been provided in segregated special schools, to a minority of children in urban areas.

One thing one has to understand is that, the first international mandate on the right to education for all children was pronounced 60 years ago. Since that time the right to education has been repeatedly endorsed and expanded by the international community. Response by national governments has varied, but overall has moved in a direction towards fulfilling this right for the majority of children, but not for “all”. Interpretation of the word all has reflected the values and attitudes of the times. Only relatively recently has there been the beginnings of a shift towards including the right to education of children with disabilities within the commonly accepted understanding of the right to “Education for All”.

There are various strategies that need to be employed in order to integrate with disabilities. The reforms that will need to take place in the education system will affect all areas, starting with policy, legislation and the commitment of budgetary and other resources. Administrative procedures need to be effective from central to local school levels. The focus in the early stages must be on building support and creating positive attitudes, and preparing the school for the necessary changes.

Another focus must be on establishing methods of finding children who are out-of-school, and encouraging them to attend. One of the most important keys to success is the preparation of teachers so that they have the skills necessary to teach children with a wide range of abilities. A further critically important area is to establish effective systems for collecting data, so that the progress of children with disabilities can be monitored and evaluated, and included in the EFA process. The role of parents, organizations of persons with disabilities and the community must be considered and their expertise harnessed.
There are various ways of overcoming the challenge of the mainstreaming, these may include; advocacy by organizations of parents of children with disabilities, and by organizations of people with disabilities is a very important mechanism for changing the education system to make it more willing and more capable of including children with disabilities in schools and making sure that the schools meet their educational needs. In many countries where special schools have been established, they were started by organizations of parents working in partnership with non-governmental organizations. In other countries they have been instrumental in encouraging governments to include children with disabilities in regular pre-schools, primary schools, secondary schools and universities.

Persons with disabilities are the most qualified and best equipped to support, inform and advocate for themselves and other persons with disabilities. Evidence suggests that the quality of life of persons with disabilities, and of the broader community, improves when disabled people themselves actively voice their concerns and participate in decision-making. Self-help organizations are the most qualified, best informed and most motivated to speak on their own behalf concerning the proper design and implementation of policy, legislation and strategies which will ensure their full participation in social, economic, cultural and political life and enable them to contribute to the development of their communities.

Ministries of Education need to formulate educational policy and planning in consultation with families and organizations of persons with disabilities and develop programmes of education which enable children with disabilities to attend their local primary schools. Policy implementation needs to prepare the school system for inclusive education, where appropriate, with the clear understanding that all children have the right to attend school and that it is the responsibility of the school to accommodate differences in learners.

Decisions on policy and practices for the education of children with disabilities should be made in collaboration with education officials, schools, parents, communities, families and organizations of people with disabilities. The school should be fully accessible for children with disabilities, all learning materials should be accessible for the specific needs of each individual, and the curriculum must be flexible to ensure that all children can participate in all activities.