EENET asia Newsletters : inaugural issue JUNE 2005 Contents

Regional Workshop on Inclusive Education 19-21 October

Olof Sandkull

In order to further promote inclusive education in the Asia-Pacific region and to commemorate the ten years that have passed since the Salamanca World Conference in 1994, a Regional Workshop on Inclusive Education was held in Bangkok from 19-21 October 2004. It was organised by UNESCO Bangkok together with UNESCO Paris Inclusive Education Unit and the EFA Flagship on the Right to Education for Persons with Disabilities: Towards Inclusion. The sub-theme of the workshop was: 'Getting All Children into School and Helping Them Learn' which was also reflected in the objectives of the workshop, namely to share experiences of inclusive education practices and explore future actions to promote it within the framework of EFA.

About 100 participants from 20 countries attended, representing ministries of education, NGOs, universities, international experts, donor and UN agencies. The key note address was delivered by Professor Mel Ainscow from the University of Manchester, on Salamanca 10 years on: what has been the impact internationally?

During the first day several UNESCO resource materials were presented and the Toolkit for Creating Inclusive, Learning-Friendly Environments was officially launched.

On the second day, participants could choose to attend two of four thematic sessions on Legislation and Policy, Teacher Training, Curriculum Development and Local Capacity-building and Community Development.

The final day was shared with the participants of the 6th National EFA Coordinators' meeting, which ran concurrently with the workshop. Presentations and group work was conducted that highlighted the links between inclusive education and EFA. The main message was that inclusive education offers the means by which Education for All can be achieved by ALL and not almost all. The participants then developed recommendations on how to promote inclusive education further and how to integrate it within the EFA framework. The Workshop Report can be found at: www.unescobkk.org/education/appeal

EENET asia Newsletters : inaugural issue JUNE 2005 Contents