Students with disabilities

Subject: Students with disabilities

Even though the majority of schools in the EU Member States are now paying greater attention to inclusion, children with disabilities continue to face problems of rejection and the lack of appropriate accommodations and support to develop in an inclusive environment. The EU and its 28 Member States have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which guarantees children with disabilities the right to inclusive education. Despite Member States’ obligations under the convention, cases in which children with disabilities face barriers such as lack of individualised support measures and reasonable accommodations in school, including adapted teaching methods, materials and programmes, assistive technology and alternative examination formats, are still very numerous.

What are the specific support measures through which the Commission encourages inclusive education in the EU Member States?

Answer given by Ms Thyssen on behalf of the European Commission

(6 March 2019)

In designing their education policies, EU Member States are bound by Articles 7 and 24 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), to which all Member States are parties. The Union’s encourages the cooperation between the Member States by supporting and supplementing their actions.

The Commission notably monitors the situation in the area of inclusive education through the European Semester and urges Member States to enhance the inclusiveness of their systems in accordance with the UNCRPD.

Through the framework for European cooperation in education and training adopted in 200 9 (1) and the Erasmus+ programme, the Commission supports cooperation between Member States. A specific call for projects on ‘social inclusion through education and training’ is issued annually.

The Erasmus+ programme also provides financial support to the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education (2), which collects information and studies across Europe, including a report (3) on funding mechanisms for inclusive education of learners with recognised special educational needs.

The Council, on a proposal from the Commission, adopted a recommendation on promoting common values, inclusive education and the European dimension of teaching (4), which provides that Member States should promote inclusive education, inter alia, by providing the necessary support to all learners.

The resources of the European Social Fund (5) can also be used to enhance access to education and training systems for pupils and students with special needs.

⋅1∙ http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52009XG0528(01)&from=EN

⋅2∙ http://www.european-agency.org/.

⋅3∙ https://www.european-agency.org/publications/ereports/financing

⋅4∙ https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32018H0607%2801%29

⋅5∙ http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/funding/social-fund/