Access to Inclusive Education for Children with Disabilities

The issue faced

Disability is one of the major reasons for school-aged children being out of school in Iran. Indeed, some 15 per cent of pupils with disabilities are out of school at primary level, well above the 2 per cent rate recorded for all primary pupils.

Two major fundamental challenges are driving this phenomenon:

Disability Identification and Data Collection. The Government of Iran estimates that 2 per cent of children in Iran are identified by at least one form of disability, which is far below the global standard of 5-15 per cent and suggests underestimation of the actual rate. Such underestimation is likely due to limitations in the screening and identification processes employed and narrow definitions of disability adopted. The State Welfare Organization (SWO) indicates that it supports 300,000 children with disabilities1, while the actual figure may be in the 700,000 – 2,100,000 children range2.
Accessible Infrastructure and Learning Tools and material. Despite a significant increase in the number of mainstream inclusive schools (to 20 per cent of all schools), evidence points to a lack of inclusive learning equipment and material as well as inadequate accessibility. This leaves the burden of adapting to the mainstream education system on the shoulders of children with disabilities and their families.

The actions taken

UNICEF is supporting the Government in providing children with disabilities with quality, inclusive education. Mainstreaming of disability inclusion into educational policy and services is occurring through:

Improving the capacity of pre-primary, primary teachers on provision of timely intervention for children with disabilities in mainstream schools.
Increasing the coverage and quality of national screening systems for disability detection and referral.
Promoting adoption of disability-inclusive data collection methods at institutional level and establishing functional data management systems on disability-related data.
Facilitating access to assistive technologies and building a national assistive technology innovation cluster within Iran’s innovation ecosystem, to enhance access for children with disabilities.
Improving the capacity of adolescents with disabilities on relevant employability skills and supporting their transition to gainful employment.
Enhancing the national intersectoral collaboration mechanisms on the rights of children with disabilities.
Tackling all forms of stigmatization and discrimination against children with disabilities, via social behavioural change interventions.

The partners engaged

UNICEF partners involved in implementation of the programme in this focus area include the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Labour, Cooperatives and Social Welfare, the National Early Childhood Education Organization, the Special Education Organization, the State Welfare Organization, and the Vice Presidency for Science, Technology, and Knowledge-Based Economy.

The impact sought

UNICEF aims to promote an inclusive world where children with disabilities enjoy the same rights and opportunities as any of their peers. Removing policy barriers, facilitating access to physical spaces and mainstream services, and enabling transition to gainful employment are proven ways of fostering this change in the life of children with disabilities. UNICEF, in collaboration with its government partners, is thus undertaking these actions in the Iranian context to deliver on the shared vision of a more tolerant and inclusive society, where each member is empowered to achieve their potential.

Monitoring and Accountability

In adherence to principles of accountability, UNICEF enriches its programme designs and adaptations through systematic assessment and monitoring of the child’s rights deprivations, operating environment, partnerships and progress towards planned results. The implementation of Harmonised Approach to Cash Transfers (HACT) ensures both financial and programmatic compliance through a combination of micro and macro assessments, spot checks, audits and programmatic visits. Leveraging sophisticated and integrated enterprise platforms and tools, UNICEF maintains a consistent monitoring of its programme implementation assessing quality and coverage, identifying risks and challenges, highlighting best practices and lessons learned, fostering stakeholder participation and engagement and conducting end user monitoring of supplies. Additionally, UNICEF remains committed to its costed evaluation plan which includes external evaluations of its projects, partnerships, and/or strategies primarily aiming to enhance relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact, and sustainability of its programmes.