Inclusive Education: What, Why, and How: A handbook for program implementers

Inclusive education is one dimension of a rights-based quality education which emphasizes equity in access and participation, and responds positively to the individual learning needs and competencies of all children. Inclusive education is child-centered and places the responsibility of adaptation on the education system rather than the individual child.

This handbook has been developed specifically for Save the Children program staff, implementing partners, and practitioners supporting education programs in any context – development, emergency, or protracted crisis. Although not all education projects have the word “inclusive” in the title or goals, every education project can and should be made more inclusive, and we encourage this resource to be used by all education staff, not only those working on targeted inclusive education projects.

A document review conducted by the Inclusive Education Working Group (IEWG) in 2013 found that despite a large number of resources available on inclusion, most have not led to universal understanding and uptake of inclusive education. Many inclusive education manuals are very long, and are not easily accessible to busy project managers. The majority of documents also targeted a wide audience, and in doing so, limited their utility to any specific group. The IEWG recognizes that inclusive education begins with the work being done by education staff in the field, and have therefore designed this handbook specifically with them in mind. Guidance has also been structured along the project cycle, so that it may be useful to programs regardless of their current stage of implementation.