Disability estimates: implications from a changing landscape of socio-political struggle

National governments in the South, as well as international bodies such as the World Bank, are finally beginning to take the issues of the extent, causes and implications of disability seriously. There is, however, a danger that data on people with disabilities are not being collected in the most reliable manner, resulting in flawed policies and inefficient use of resources. In this policy brief we argue: 1. that the identification of disability must not be seen merely as a technical issue (does someone have or not have a particular impairment) but also as a political one (what claims are being made by or about someone if they define an impairment as worthy of public attention); 2. that in large scale surveys, questions concerning disability must move beyond primarily medical definitions and reconceptualise disability in a functional and interactionist perspective; 3. that there is a greater place for qualitative studies of the social meanings of disability to illuminate the effects of changes in policy and in wider society

Measuring disability in India

Disability status is often transitory or a matter of insidious change. A person's ability to function properly depends to a considerable extent on her/ his social and physical environment. One area that slips through the large-scale studies like the census and National Sample Survey is the impact of the state and the market on the lives of people with disabilities. There is a case for a more fundamental re-envisioning of the nature of the disability estimates

Working in Partnership with Multiple Stakeholders on Global Policy Processes: Disability and Inclusive Education

Given that policies, programmes, and research focusing on disability in relation to other forms of disadvantage has never been higher on the agenda, it is an opportune moment to identify how new evidence being generated can inform policy and practices locally, nationally, and internationally. This working paper is a reflection on the lessons learned from the work on disability and education issues under the aegis of the Impact Initiative. It also captures insights and quotes from education policy actors and researchers who came together in a webinar in September 2020 to discuss what it means to work in partnership with multiple stakeholders on global policy processes related to disability and inclusive education.ESRC-FCD

New approaches to cross-cultural research on education's outcomes amongst the poor: reflections on RECOUP's methodology

The Research Consortium on Educational Outcomes and Poverty (RECOUP), one of the three DFID consortia funded in 2005 to produce policy-relevant research in international education, has as its remit to investigate the outcomes of education for the poor. In this paper, at the mid-point of the research, we reflect on the research design for one of the three themes of RECOUP's work - human and social outcomes - in the light of the assumptions made at the time and subsequent experiences. We identify the three main ways in which we intend to organise our analysis in order to combine the best of both quantitative and qualitative traditions, which we identify as Q-squared (where economics is the lead discipline); mixed methods (where sociology or education is the lead discipline) and nested case studies (where anthropology is the lead discipline). The research, carried out in Ghana, India, Kenya and Pakistan, uses an innovative household survey instrument as well as a series of qualitative studies (including semi-structured interviews, focus groups, life histories) carried out in the same geographical areas and covering in greater depth sub-sets of the topics investigated by the surveys . We review progress towards combining quantitative and qualitative research methods to produce data that will allow us to analyse educational outcomes for the poor in these four countries, to test new research instruments to measure educational outcomes, as well as to generate valid cross-country comparisons

Approaches to Deliver Inclusive Education in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia

This report presents a review of different approaches in service delivery being implemented in the regions of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and South Asia (SA) to ensure the inclusion of children with disabilities in education. The review examines in what ways (and the extent to which) different approaches have been operationalized and contextualized to enable the inclusion of children with disabilities in mainstream education systems, focusing specifically on primary schooling

Inclusive education in the Dominican Republic: teachers’ perceptions of and practices towards students with diverse learning needs

IntroductionStudents with diverse learning needs, particularly those with disabilities or identified as overaged, face significant challenges within the Dominican Republic’s education system. Despite efforts by the Ministry of Education to promote inclusion, these learners often have limited access to quality pedagogical support. This is further confounded by the fact that there is a paucity of research examining how teachers perceive and interact with these learners.MethodsThis ethnographic study draws on diverse methods, including observations and interviews, to investigate teachers’ perceptions of inclusion in two public schools and how these perceptions shaped their pedagogical practices.ResultsThe authors illuminate how teachers’ perceptions of their students, their schools, and their classroom environments influence their commitment to facilitating student learning, irrespective of student age or ability.DiscussionThe findings contribute valuable insights to inform strategies for enhancing inclusive education in the Dominican Republic. Recommendations for policy and teacher training are provided, and the importance of conducting research with teachers is explained

Educational technology for learners with disabilities in primary school settings in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic literature review

Educational Technology (EdTech) plays a significant role in enabling learners with disabilities to access learning at school and reduce educational and social exclusion. It also enables them to enjoy the benefits of a full school curriculum and to participate in activities in different educational arrangements. The purpose of this review was to address the existing evidence of how EdTech is being used to support learners with disabilities in order to inform future research and policymaking. It sought to contribute to an evidence base of ways to reduce barriers to learning drawing on a systematic methodology to gather evidence pertaining to access to EdTech for primary school learners with disabilities aged 6–12 years. After a thorough examination of the literature, the final sample comprised 51 published articles (43 peer-review and 8 conference papers). The review revealed examples of positive outcomes of EdTech interventions being used, particularly in special schools; however, the evidence of their efficacy is weak. The use of EdTech for learners with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries requires further, robust and long-term research that considers the involvement of learners, pedagogy and curriculum design in order to understand its impact on improving educational experiences of children with disabilities

Perspectives of children with disabilities and their guardians on factors affecting inclusion in education in rural Nepal: <i>“I feel sad that I can’t go to school</i>”

Globally, children with disabilities are significantly less likely to attend school compared to their peers without disabilities and, even if they do attend, have poorer educational outcomes. In order to understand why these inequalities persist, this study explores the barriers and enablers to accessing education. We focus on the perspectives of guardians and children with disabilities–voices that have thus far been underrepresented–complemented by perspectives from local and national level stakeholders. Data was collected in three rural districts in Nepal, using semi-structured interviews; data was analysed thematically. Overall, the research found that challenges to inclusion are complex, involving a mixture of individual, family, school, community and policy level factors. Notable barriers were attitudes towards education for children with disabilities, the low capacity of schools to provide an inclusive education, as well as the interplay of additional ‘push factors’ such as poor health and poverty