Inclusive education: a Pacific perspective

People of the Pacific are urged to note that inclusive education, as defined by UNESCO , is ‘a process of addressing and responding to the diversity of needs of all learners through increasing participation in learning ... and reducing exclusion within and from education’ (Booth, 996 cited in UNESCO, 2003:7). The objective is to support education for all, with special emphasis on removing barriers to participation for children with disabilities and for out-of-school children. The statement notes that the overall goal is a school that adapts to the needs of all learners and where all children can participate and be treated equally—it is thus imperative that the word all effectively includes children with disabilities.