Workshop "Inclusive Education in Brazil ? Diagnosis of Current Situation and Challenges for the Future" promoted by the World Bank in partnership with the Education Department of the City of Rio de Janeiro and the Instituto Helena Antipoff in 2003. The workshop brought together specialists from the areas of applied statistics, curricular adaptation, accessibility; development of pedagogical material, assistance technology, human resource skill improvement, public policies and relations with the family and the community, as well as other professionals, members of the government and representatives of civil society.
The education of children with diverse backgrounds and abilities remains a major challenge in the Asia-Pacific region. In April 2000, the World Education Forum held in Dakar, Senegal, set as its second goal: "ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to and complete free and compulsory primary education of good quality." Realizing this goal means increasing school attendance and completion rates; eliminating bias within schools, national education systems, and curricula; and eliminating the social and cultural discrimination that limits the demand for schooling for children with diverse backgrounds and abilities.
One of the greatest problems facing the world today is the growing number of persons who are excluded from meaningful participation in the economic, social, political and cultural life of their communities. Such a society is neither efficient nor safe. The Jomtien World Conference on Education for All (1990) set the goal of Education for All. UNESCO, along with other UN agencies, and a number of international and national nongovernmental organizations, has been working towards achieving this goal - adding to the efforts made at the country level.
This Guide can be used in addition to the UNESCO Teacher Education Resource Pack: Special Needs in the Classroom. It repeats some of the messages contained in the Resource Pack. But it also guides teachers on practical ways of coping with children who have particular difficulties in learning. The Guide can be used as a study book on its own or as a guide for groups of teachers studying together. It should help:
Children develop more and faster in the first 5 years of life than at any other time. They learn to communicate and understand the world as they interact with people and things around them. Children who cannot hear well need extra help to learn a spoken or sign language. This is important since language is the foundation for thinking, problem-solving, and interacting with other people.
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