World Bank Supports Growth of Inclusive Education in Brazil
April 17, 2003 - The World Bank is working with the Brazilian government to include disabled children in the regular educational system. This is critical to ensure that all children are part of the mainstream of their communities and are all benefiting equally from the same curriculum and instruction.
"A cornerstone in Brazil's economic and social development has to embrace all Brazilians, especially disabled children who can escape lives of poverty and blunted opportunity by getting the education that others in the community take for granted," said Vinod Thomas, World Bank Country Director for Brazil. "Education is key for disabled children to develop their full potential and to grow into tomorrow's empowered and productive citizens."
Judith Heumann, the World Bank's disability advisor, recently visited Brazil for meetings with ministers of state, senior policy makers, and education officials on integrating people with disabilities into society and children with disabilities into regular schools. Brazil has advanced legislation on the topic and the World Bank is working with the government in order to implement it, starting with programs on access to education and employment. During her visit, Heumann said that she also would like to help countries apply a "disability lens" to their programming to create greater opportunities and to improve access to other key services, such as health care and transport.
As part of Judy Heumann's mission to Brazil, she attended a workshop on the topic of inclusive education, organized by the World Bank and the Government of Rio, that brought together government officials, educators, and NGO's from every state in Brazil. The aim of the Brazilian seminar was to gain a better understanding of disability issues and programs in the Brazilian context.
Heumann, who also recently visited projects in India and Vietnam, says efforts to educate disabled students are often hampered by negative social attitudes from all levels. As a result, the seminar served two purposes. It enabled the education and disability community to have a better understanding of how to provide a quality and inclusive education for disabled children, and it will serve as a model for what other countries can follow.
At the Conselheiro school in the Bangœ area of Rio de Janeiro there are 60 teachers and class size varies from 30 to 42 students per class. The newly renovated building has enabled the school to be more accessible as there are a growing number of students with disabilities in the school.
These statistics are a reflection of the situation at the global level. Of the world's 600 million disabled people, some 400 million are from developing countries. It is estimated that disability affects at least 10 percent of the world population. According to UNICEF, only 2 percent of disabled children are in school.
A recently prepared Bank supported Rio Early Childhood Development (EDC) project is addressing the needs of disabled children. The project is unique in that:
- Four secretariats designed and are implementing the project together (Education, Health, Social Assistance, and Labor)
- Each program activity provides services to all children, including children with special needs.
- It Focuses on 180,000 children from low-income households of ages ranging from 1 month to 6 years olds in Rio de Janeiro. Poor children in Rio de Janeiro represent 36 percent of the total number of children in this age group.
The Rio de Janeiro project will be replicated in seven more Brazilian capitals as municipalities become more fiscally prepared.
The value of bringing special education and inclusive education programs together is that it helps also bring communities together. If teachers have experience working with disabled children then it enhances the performance of all children in class. It also teaches children the value of diversity, and that we are all different.
It is also important for disabled children to be exposed to disabled professionals. As disabled children in developing countries grow up with few options, they can seek out mentors. The issue of inclusive education is one of the present and of the future.
"The World Bank is committed to support the Brazilian Government on the implementation of legislation for the inclusion of children with disabilities and other special needs in the regular education system," said Ana-Maria Arriagada, World Bank Director for Human Development in the Latin America and Caribbean region. "To this end, the Bank is integrating in its education projects specific activities supporting the participation of disabled children. However, the role of the World Bank in inclusive education goes beyond financing. Lack of adequate transportation, teacher training, equipment, furniture, learning materials, and access to school infrastructure are only the most visible obstacles to a quality inclusive education ... the greater obstacle resides within us, result of our ignorance of the benefits of inclusion and of the costs of exclusion."
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