Inclusive education
A process that protects the presence, participation, and achievement of all individuals in equitable learning opportunities. It ensures that education policies, practices, and facilities respect the diversity of all individuals in the classroom context. Exclusion from education can result from discrimination, or from a lack of support to remove barriers and avoid the use of languages, content, or teaching methods that do not benefit all learners. Persons with physical, sensory, psychosocial/ mental, and developmental disabilities are often among the most excluded from education. Inclusive education acknowledges that all individuals can learn and that everyone has unique characteristics, interests, abilities and learning needs. Therefore, inclusive education means ensuring that the barriers to participation and learning are removed and that curricula, and teaching and learning materials are adapted, made accessible and appropriate for all learners, in all their diversity to reach their full potential. In relevant contexts, it can also be referred to as ‘Inclusive education in emergencies’.