Inclusion in education means transforming schools so they can respond to the learning needs of all children - ensuring they are not just present in the classroom but also safe, participating and learning.

Around the world, approximately 240 million children with disabilities are out of school from pre-primary through to secondary.

Children with disabilities are 49% more likely to have never attended school compared to children without disabilities and are 42% less likely to have foundational literacy and numeracy skills.

GPE’s partnership approach to gender equality and inclusion in education involves diverse stakeholders who work together to make sure education policies, plans and programs are gender responsive and inclusive, addressing the local challenges tied to the different experiences of girls and boys with disabilities and other characteristics have when going to school.

Barriers to learning are not the same for every child

The barriers to accessing and participating in school vary for girls and boys with disabilities:

• school buildings may be physically inaccessible;
• teachers may not be trained to support learners with disabilities;
• stigma and discrimination may make parents reluctant to enroll their children with disabilities in school.

Some children with disabilities face additional barriers.

Girls with disabilities are the most excluded group of children from primary school to higher education settings and are more likely to experience gender-based violence in and around schools.

In South Sudan, the Girls’ Education Accelerator - GPE’s financing window for countries where girls’ education needs the most support—is being used to target the root barriers to achieving in school that highly marginalized girls including girls with disabilities face by focusing on health and life skills, including providing courses on menstrual health and assistive learning devices.

Place-based factors also matter. In emergency contexts, children with disabilities account for around 20% of children who are out of school, with girls with disabilities more likely to be out of school than their male peers.

To change classrooms, we need to support teachers and children

For all children to learn and grow in one classroom, teachers require the right training, support and resources to create an inclusive learning environment.

Access to assistive devices, specific therapies and individualized education plans are part of the targeted support and equipment children with disabilities need to succeed in school.

In Chad, a $10-million GPE grant funded an inclusive education project, ‘Project for the Urgent Reinforcement of Education and Literacy in Chad (PUREAT),’ managed by UNESCO in 4 regions with high levels of population movements so that girls and boys with disabilities could continue learning.

In partnership with a local non-governmental organization ALISEI (Association pour la Coopération Internationale et l’Aide Humanitaire), the project developed data collection tools to identify children with specific learning needs.

In 28 schools, 445 students (including 189 girls) were identified as needing specific learning support for visual and auditory impairments, developmental disorders, psychological trauma and degenerative diseases.

Over 150 teachers have been trained to use inclusive educational strategies and 60 participants from disabled people’s associations were trained in psychosocial support for girls and boys with disabilities and in advocacy for their right to education in mainstream schools.

In the Eastern Caribbean, the National Child Disability and Special Education Needs survey was conducted in 10 states. The 5,000 survey responses are informing policies and planning to expand services equitably for special educational needs at national and regional levels across countries.

In Grenada, the government and partners used the survey and other data sources to design a GPE Multiplier grant program of US$5 million to support national teams to develop and use gender-sensitive individualized education plans to guide teaching and learning for children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Over 2 years, approximately 180 team members will be trained—covering 100% of public primary and secondary schools.

The training will build on a wider teacher training in gender-responsive pedagogy designed to create classrooms that are gender responsive, improving learning outcomes for both boys and girls.

The individualized education plans seek to foster inclusion by addressing dual barriers to learning that relate to both disability and gender.

In Belize, a $5-million GPE Multiplier grant is supporting teachers to screen children across the country for special education needs and to develop relevant individualized education programs in collaboration with parents, school administrators and students, specifying their instructional needs to support academic progress.

In Cabo Verde, the national education coalition of civil society organizations led by the President of Union of the Blind of Cabo Verde successfully campaigned for the establishment of a legal framework for pre-school to secondary and a law that establishes principles and rules for the inclusion of children and young people with special educational needs, includes measures to be implemented in the educational process and resources to meet the learning needs of each student.

The law guarantees tuition-free education for learners with disabilities. The coalition emphasizes the importance of education financing and transparency in how resources are used to promote equity through an annual forum with all education, public and private finance stakeholders.

Disability inclusion is achievable as long as we plan for it

At the 2025 Global Disability Summit, GPE reemphasized its commitment to strengthening education systems so that they meet the learning needs of all children, including by:

• supporting countries in the availability and use of data on disability
• promoting more equitable domestic financing that benefits girls and boys with disabilities
• building capacity and access to knowledge for inclusive education policy and planning; engaging with organizations of persons with disabilities
• monitoring of the volume of GPE funding supports disability inclusion under GPE’s forthcoming strategic plan, GPE 2030.

Inclusive education is an approach to learning that recognizes the diversity of skills, experiences and characteristics of every child.

Globally, partners must work together to ensure girls and boys with disabilities are a priority in education policy and programming and that strengthening education systems truly includes every girl and boy from the start.