As countries seek to strengthen their national educational systems, finding ways of including all learners and ensuring that each individual has an equal opportunity for educational progress remain major challenges. This guide is intended to support countries in embedding inclusion and equity in educational policy. The ultimate objective is to create system-wide change for overcoming barriers to quality educational access, participation, learning processes and outcomes, and to ensure that all learners are valued and engaged equally.
The guide is built around an assessment framework that can serve to: Review how well equity and inclusion currently figure in existing policies; Decide which actions are needed to improve policies and their implementation towards equitable and inclusive education systems; and Monitor progress as actions are taken.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with its focus on leaving no one behind, provides a unique opportunity to build more inclusive and equitable societies. This should start with inclusive education systems.