Parent Confronts David Cameron about his Position on Inclusion

Jonathan Bartley, confronted the Conservative leader with his son Samuel as he left an event in South London. Mr Bartley voiced his concern about Tory plans to "end the bias towards the inclusion of children with special needs in mainstream schools".

Please see video link here to watch the full interview.

Mr Bartley told Mr Cameron about the two-year struggle he had faced to get seven-year-old Samuel into his local mainstream school, and said the existing system was already biased against disabled children being educated alongside their able-bodied peers.

Mr Cameron insisted that, as the parent of a disabled child himself, he was "passionate" about helping them get the education that was right for them and would not do anything to make it more difficult for them. But Mr Bartley said: "It is the wrong way to go. You are not representing the needs of children in mainstream education. You want to segregate disabled children.

"You are saying you want to reverse the bias towards the inclusion of children in mainstream schools. At the moment there is a bias against inclusion, not a bias for it, as your manifesto says. You talk about the broken society. It nearly broke up our family getting our son into school.”

"His two sisters go there, it's our local school, we have had to struggle for two years and in the end the Secretary of State had to intervene. There is a bias against inclusion and you are saying there's a bias for it."

Mr Cameron - whose disabled son Ivan died last year - said: "I absolutely promise you that I would never do anything to make it more difficult for children to go to a mainstream school.

"At the moment, people don't get what they want. You didn't get what you wanted, I didn't get what I wanted. We both had to fight. We are going to make it easier by making sure that statements (of special needs) are not provided by local education authorities, they are provided by someone separate".

See Jonathan Bartley's follow-up article in the Guardian 28/4/10

Renewed Global Commitment to Inclusive Education at Salamanca Conference October 2009

Salamanca Conference Resolution
"We the undersigned participants in the Global Conference on Inclusive Education- 'Confronting the Gap: Rights, Rhetoric, Reality? Return to Salamanca', held at the University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain ( October 21st to 23rd 2009)

1. Reaffirm the commitment of the Salamanca Statement (1994) and commit to develop an inclusive education system in every country of the world. We welcome the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and in particular Article 24 which gives new impetus to the Human Right of inclusive education for all people with disabilities.

2. We understand inclusive education to be a process where mainstream schools and early years settings are transformed so that all children/students are supported to meet their academic and social potential and involves removing barriers in environment, attitudes, communication, curriculum, teaching, socialisation and assessment at all levels.

3. We call on all Governments to ratify the UNCRPD and to develop and implement concrete plans to ensure the development of inclusive education for all. In addition we call on international agencies such as UNESCO, UNICEF and The World Bank to increase and prioritize their efforts to support the development of inclusive education".

4. We commit ourselves to form an alliance to transform global efforts to achieve Education for All creating better education for all through the development of inclusive education and hereby launch INITIATIVE 24 as a vehicle to achieve our goal.

CALL FOR ACTION - Ratification without Reservations
UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities - Article 24

The UK Government is currently planning to ratify (bring into UK Law) the new United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Once ratified, this will create a monumental shift in the way disabled people have our rights recognized and protected across the world.

Until now the UK Govt was leading the way on the Convention but progress has now stalled and the Govt has decided that it does not want to protect disabled people’s human rights after all. The Govt wants to prevent any further moves towards inclusive education for all disabled people by opting out of its commitment to Article 24, of the UNCRPD, on education.

What the Govt seems to have forgotten is that it agreed the text of Article 24 back in August 2006 knowing that it meant it would have to plan for making the education system in Britain, inclusive, over time. This was not a problem for the Govt then so why now?

ALLFIE believes this is shameful backtracking and is a huge betrayal of the Govt’s commitment to equality for disabled people by 2025. ALLFIE believes that equality for ALL disabled people cannot be achieved without an education system that is fully inclusive of ALL learners.

ALLFIE has made numerous attempts to meet with Govt Ministers to discuss their position but they keep refusing to meet with us – so much for transparent government. Whatever happened to the Govt’s commitment to involving disabled people ?

ALLFIE has drafted a letter to Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, saying that the Govt must reconsider this decision and ratify the UNCRPD without ANY reservations. The Govt must understand that its current position is out of step with the rest of the world – no other country has opted out of Article 24 – SHAME ON THE UK GOVT!!

Sample letter here

Please print out the sample letter, sign it or use it to write your own and send to Gordon Brown AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

Ways to send the letter to Gordon Brown:

By post to: No.10 Downing Street, London, SW1A 2AA

No.10 Downing St Fax number: 020 7925 0918

The No.10 Downing Street email is not working currently!

Please, Please, Please, do all that you can to get a copy of this letter to Gordon Brown. We must not allow educational apartheid to continue for future generations of disabled people.

1 Million signatures: A symbol of change.

Sign the petition for the European Parliament's Disability Rights Directive.

In 2003, during the European Year of Disability, the disability Movement tried to get the European Parliament to adopt a Disability Rights Directive, but failed. Now in 2007 (the European Year of Equality), the European Disability Forum has launched a new campaign for a Disability Directive.

What has changed?
In 2003 the European Commission argued that they had their work cut out in implementing the European Equal Employment Directive. A Directive that would force the UK Government to strengthen Equal Employment legislation and force all employers not to discriminate in recruitment, promotion or training on grounds of disability, age, sexuality or religion.

In December 2006 the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, which contains comprehensive measures to develop full equality for disabled people in all areas of life. This is already adopted in certain aspects by the European Commission and 22 of the 27 EU members, but with no common Convention how can the EU claim to have a unified market with social measures?

The European Union has between 50 and 100 million disabled citizens depending on how they are counted. At present there is no unified definition or method of enumerating and a unified directive would ensure such agreements.

Already the EU has demonstrated the benefit of a European-wide legislation for disabled people in the UK, through such things as:
" The Equal Employment Directive - extending the coverage of the DDA.
" The Air Passenger Directive - ensuring equal treatment of disabled people by airlines across Europe.

Trans-European train, bus, coach and ferries directives are also in the pipeline. None of these things are covered by the Disability Discrimination Act.

The UN Convention covers all aspects of life, including the development of an inclusive education system, the need to get more disabled people into work, women and children's rights and the right to supported decision making for all rather than guardianship. However, disabled people and their allies will have to struggle to get these things into British Law, but a really effective way is to get them into a legally binding European Directive.

Support the campaign, sign the petition and make a change.

Please do all you can to get signatures online: www.1Million4disability.eu or on paper.

Come to Brussels on October 4th to show your support. Contact your MEP who may be able to pay for your attendance at the demonstration and lobby.

Richard Rieser, UK Council for Disability Rights in Europe representative on the European Disability Forum.

Article 24 - Education

1. States Parties recognize the right of persons with disabilities to education. With a view to realizing this right without discrimination and on the basis of equal opportunity, States Parties shall ensure an inclusive, education system at all levels, and life-long learning, directed to:

(a) The full development of the human potential and sense of dignity and self worth, and the strengthening of respect for human rights, fundamental freedomsandhumandiversity;

(b) The development by persons with disabilities of their personality, talents and creativity, as well as their mental and physical abilities, to their fullest potential;

(c) Enabling persons with disabilities to participate effectively in a free society.

2. In realizing this right, States Parties shall ensure:

(a) That persons with disabilities are not excluded from the general education system on the basis of disability, and that children with disabilities are not excluded from free and compulsory primary and secondary education on the basis of disability;

(b) That persons with disabilities can access an inclusive, quality, free primary and secondary education on an equal basis with others in the communities in which they live;

(c) Reasonable accommodation of the individual's requirements;

(d) That persons with disabilities receive the support required, within the general education system, to facilitate their effective education;

(d) bis That effective individualized support measures are provided in environments that maximize academic and social development, consistent with the goal of full inclusion.

3. States Parties shall enable persons with disabilities to learn life and social development skills to facilitate their full and equal participation in education and as members of the community. To this end, States Parties shall take appropriatemeasures,including:

(a) Facilitating the learning of Braille, alternative script, augmentative and alternative modes, means and formats of communication, orientation and mobility skills, and facilitating peer support and mentoring;

(b) Facilitating the learning of sign language and the promotion of the linguistic identity of the deaf community;

(c) Ensuring that the education of persons, and in particular children, who are blind, deaf and deafblind, is delivered in the most appropriate languages and modes and means of communication for the individual, and in environments which maximize academic and social development.

4. In order to help ensure the realization of this right, States Parties shall take appropriate measures to employ teachers, including those with disabilities, who are qualified in sign language and Braille, and to train professionals and staff who work at all levels of education. Such training shall incorporate disability awareness and the use of appropriate augmentative and alternative modes, means and formats of communication, educational techniques and materials to support persons with disabilities.

5. States Parties shall ensure that persons with disabilities are able to access general tertiary education, vocational training, adult education and lifelong learning without discrimination and on an equal basis with others. To this end, States Parties shall ensure that reasonable accommodation is provided to persons with disabilities.