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International conference:
Reaching the marginalised – How to approach Inclusive Education
Dusseldorf, Germany, 10 – 11 September 2009

Children and young people, who belong to ethnic minorities, live in poor urban and rural areas, are affected by child labour or live with disabilities are only a few of the large number of disadvantaged groups, which in many societies are excluded from education. Schools that are inclusive for all and provide a general education are, in the opinion of international education experts, the most important prerequisites for ensuring that children from marginalised population groups have equal access to education and training in their countries. This is true, starting from pre-school education, continuing through primary school and it also continues through to further education options.

At the invitation of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the UNESCO International Bureau of Education (IBE) and the Peter Ustinov Foundation, eighty experts from all over the world and from different supranational and national organisations met at Garath Castle in Dusseldorf on 10 and 11 September, in order to develop recommendations for inclusive education as a future point of emphasis for educational cooperation. It is intended that inclusive training opportunities will make it easier to attain the objective of the UNESCO programme “Education for All”, allowing all children in the world to benefit from qualified school education by 2015. For this, the conference delegates were of the opinion that the social background of families and the educational requirements of the children and young people involved must also be included in the measures.
At this event, Karin Kortmann (Member of the German Parliament, MdB) and parliamentary Secretary of State in the BMZ, established: “To date, there is no binding definition of fringe groups not covered by the different school systems in the world. For this reason, it is really important that this conference agrees on which children belong to the most important fringe groups and which problems make it difficult or impossible for them to access the educational systems in their countries. In addition to this, we should agree on sample concepts which will allow the obstacles to be overcome.”

The conference agreed on three countries in Africa, South America and Asia in which the recommendations made by the conference are to be piloted.

Together with the partner countries, political guidelines and implementation strategies are to be developed for inclusive education, which is aimed at all children and young people. For this, the various underlying conditions of the countries must be taken into account in order to be able to ensure relevant and qualitative educational programmes in all forms and at all educational levels.

The PETER USTINOV STIFTUNG, which has already been active on behalf of disadvantaged children and better educational opportunities, declared at the end of the international conference on inclusive education that it intended to pilot initial measures of the agreed action plan. Three projects at sample schools on three continents are initiated and supported. Yet again, the Peter Ustinov Foundation confirmed its reputation as an organisation that implements ideas in projects quickly and directly. “Thanks to our personal involvement and flexible structure, we are able to help people directly on the spot,” says Igor Ustinov, Chairman of the Foundation Council and a delegate at the conference.

Karin Kortmann (MdB), parliamentary Secretary of State in the BMZ, Joachim Prey, Director Planning and Development Department of GTZ and Igor Ustinov, Chairman of the Peter Ustinov Foundation Council, in conversation.

The problems on the spot are very varied. Various financial burdens on the family, which occur as a result of children attending school, are, for example, an important hurdle preventing access to education. “Forty percent of the poorest families in developing countries have to pay ten percent of the family’s income to educate their children,” explains Dina Craissati from UNICEF New York. However, it is difficult here to record the actual costs because statistics are not standardised. Apart from school fees, the costs include the expense of books, school uniforms or attendance at certain school programmes. “In many countries, the parents also have to contribute to the teacher’s salary,” explained Craissati. What is certain, as demonstrated by experience gained in Africa, is that the number of pupils increases sharply if the school costs are reduced or abolished.

The lectures illustrated clearly the differences in the challenges for disadvantaged groups in many part of the world. Matthias
Brenzinger from the University of Cologne explained that, in Africa, language problems are an everyday occurrence in schools. There are two thousand languages used on the continent of Africa. Many aspects remain to be clarified such as which language will be used for education, how children from other language groups are integrated and how to avoid languages being lost as a result of the introduction of general education.

When considering children and young people from urban slums, Alex Erich from AVEDIS Social Development Consultants explained that more than half of this group live in Asia but, in particular, China, India and Pakistan. Ultimately, the slums grow because the chances of survival in rural areas are even slimmer. It has been pointed out that investment in urban areas could intensify the problems because this could increase the flow of migrants into these settlements around urban areas.

Another topic closely linked to urban poverty is child labour. According to Patrick Quinn of the International Labour Organisation the education of children who work is primarily characterised by late entry into and early departure from the educational system because, as a rule, work and school do not combine easily. In order to avoid and reduce child labour, it is crucial to create educational opportunities which are free of charge, compulsory and flexible to adjust to the mobility of working children.

Children and young people with disabilities would also benefit from inclusive general educational systems. Jamie Gentile from South Africa stated that 40 of the 115 million children and young people, who do not go to school, live with disabilities of differing degrees. Although the top priority is to include as many of these children in the mainstream educational system as possible, many delegates did, however, agree that some children and young people with very specific requirements will require their own educational institutions.

The basic model of the inclusive education recommended by UNESCO will not be implemented in the developing countries and emerging economies alone. It is also suitable for implementation in economically highly developed states with extensive school systems and to achieve a better education for disadvantaged population groups. For instance, Pirjo Koivula, the schools minister in Helsinki, provided the information that Finland is currently reforming its school legislation according to the ideal of inclusive education. The aim of this reform is to have a just and efficient system of education which, above all, will also integrate children with disabilities more effectively.

Group photo of all participants at the international conference.

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