New Group to Fight Barriers to Inclusive Education

Inclusive Education Action Group

MEDIA STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
21 August 2007

New Group Launched to Fight Barriers to Inclusive Education

The Inclusive Education Action Group (IEAG), which aims to highlight and address the serious difficulties faced by disabled children who are denied rights to participate in education alongside their peers at their local school, will be launched this Wednesday.

Minister for Disability Issues Hon Ruth Dyson and Green Party spokesperson on education and disability issues Metiria Turei will speak at the parliamentary launch. Inclusive education expert and academic Roger Slee from McGill University in Canada will also speak.

"New Zealand's education policy accepts that the best way for disabled children to learn is with children of their own age in regular classroom settings. The policy is guided by legislation that is generally in accord with international instruments to which New Zealand is either a signatory or has ratified. Unfortunately, most children with impairments are denied the opportunity to fully enjoy those rights", IEAG spokesperson Ian Armstrong says.

IEAG is made up of academics, practitioners, disabled people and parents who are concerned about the difficulties disabled children experience in accessing an inclusive education at their local school.

"Inclusive education is accepted as the best way to meet the educational needs of all children, including children without impairments. These children, by learning alongside disabled students, become accepting of difference and see their peers as people and classmates first and not different because of impairment", Mr Armstrong said.

"If disabled children are to truly benefit from our education policy, schools need to learn how to meet their statutory obligations. Inclusive education practices are an essential part of ensuring inclusive communities."

BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT THE LAUNCH

OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF THE INCLUSIVE EDUCATION ACTION GROUP (IEAG)
22 AUGUST 2007

Minister for Disability Issues Hon Ruth Dyson and Green Party spokesperson on education and disability issues Metiria Turei will be co-hosting an event at Parliament to launch the newly formed Inclusive Education Action Group (IEAG).

Also speaking at the event will be Dr Roger Slee, Canadian Inclusive Education expert and founding editor of the International Journal of Inclusive Education.

IEAG is made up of academics, practitioners, disabled people and parents who are concerned about the difficulties disabled children experience in accessing an inclusive education at their local school. Problems can include lack of adequate support, reduced hours of attendance, unwelcoming practices, and sometimes even refusal to enrol. New Zealand's education policy has made steady progress towards inclusion but in practice many disabled children and young people are not able to routinely enjoy their rights to education.

IEAG is working towards a fully inclusive education system consistent with the objectives of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the NZ Disability Strategy and the NZ National Plan of Action for Human Rights.
For more information go to the Inclusive Education Action Group website at: www.ieag.org.nz

The launch of IEAG will take place in the West Foyer, Beehive, Parliament Buildings, 12.30 -1.30pm, Wednesday 22 August 2007.

ABOUT DR ROGER SLEE
Dr Slee is an international expert on Inclusive Education. He is the author of numerous publications on the benefits of ensuring all children have the opportunity to learn together in inclusive educational settings, and is the founding editor of the International Journal of Inclusive Education.

He has been invited to New Zealand by the newly formed Inclusive Education Action Group (IEAG) and will be speaking at seminars in Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.

Dr Slee is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Education at McGill University, Canada. He is a member of the Department of Integrated Studies in Education and the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology.

Dr Slee was formerly Deputy Director General of the Queensland Department of Education, and Dean of Education at the University of Western Australia and Goldsmiths College, University of London and holds Adjunct Professorial posts at The University of Queensland and Griffith University.

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BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Inclusive Education Action Group

The Inclusive Education Action Group is a group of people committed to ensuring that all disabled children, young people and adults may participate fully in their local, regular educational setting.

The basis for our work

• Inclusive education is based on the principle that all people are equal and should be respected and valued, as an issue of basic human rights.

• Inclusive education involves supporting all people to participate in the cultures, curricula and communities of their local educational setting. Barriers to learning and participation for everyone, irrespective of their ethnicity, culture, disability or any other factor, are actively reduced so that they feel a sense of belonging and community in their educational context. Inclusive education occurs in regular classrooms, with people of the same age and with the same teacher.

• Inclusion rejects the categorisation of children and focuses on recognition of and respect for difference. Inclusive education is in opposition to, and offers an alternative to, special education.

• Inclusive education works. Research and practice in New Zealand and internationally shows that inclusive education produces students who are better educated and better able to participate and contribute as members of their communities and society. Inclusive education is more cost-efficient and cost effective than segregated or "special" education .

• Inclusive education helps build inclusive communities where each member is supported to contribute, and where the human values created as a result support our societies to achieve our most important goals.

Our beliefs

• All children and young people have the right to learn together, so that they can develop relationships, skills and knowledge for everyday life.

• No disabled person should be denied the right to participate fully in education alongside others of their age.

• The role of education is to support people to be and become participating citizens in a civil democratic society.

• To achieve inclusive education the education system must change so that it has the resources, understandings, values and commitment to teach all children well in non-discriminatory settings.

• Inclusion is a process of removing barriers to participation and learning for all children.

Our work

We recognise that disabled people are often denied the right to participate in education alongside other people of their age. Through our work we aim to promote knowledge, attitudes, policies and practices that facilitate inclusive education so that all disabled children, youth and adults will have equal opportunities to learn and flourish in their local, regular, educational setting.

ENDS