Foreword This Compendium is designed to help ensure that all children, whether infected or affected by HIV, are able to realise their right to education of good quality. Inclusive education is a developmental approach seeking to address the learning needs of all learners, with a specific focus on those who are vulnerable to marginalization and exclusion. Inclusive education is concerned with responding to the needs of all learners and therefore involves changes in content, approaches, structures and strategies. At the core of inclusive education is the right to education. The right to education is not only a right in itself but also a fundamental means to realize other human rights. The Compendium has been produced as an important tool in the struggle to reduce the detrimental effect of HIV and AIDS on the lives of children in South Asia. Throughout the region the number of people with HIV is increasing and, as a result, so is the harmful impact on families and on the lives of children. Children are being born with HIV infection; others have relatives who are ill or have already died. This too often results in these children being forced out of the education system. They become too ill to study; they are taken out of school so to care for sick relatives; or they simply can no longer afford the school fees. They are also often denied the right to study because of stigma and discrimination, where schools or communities refuse to allow them to study because of misconceptions about how the disease is spread. Education for all can only be achieved if all those involved in education recognize their legal and moral responsibility towards all children excluded from schooling, for whatever reason. We hope that this Compendium will help in this process.
Sheldon Shaeffer
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