Inclusion of children with disabilities in govt primary schools: Prospects, realities and actions

Sightsavers Bangladesh and Prothom Alo organised a roundtable titled "Inclusion of Children with Disabilities in Government Primary Schools: Prospects, Realities and Actions" on 26 February 2025.

Md Farhad Alam

Deputy Director (PEDP4), Directorate of Primary Education)

Through the Fourth Primary Education Development Programme (PEDP4), we're working to train 130,000 teachers on inclusive education. The five-day training, which has already reached 98,000 teachers, focuses on empathy and understanding. It aims to help teachers support students with disabilities, remove social barriers, and prevent bullying, ensuring an inclusive learning environment for all.

Some teachers still hesitate to admit students with disabilities into schools, and many parents are reluctant to enrol their children, fearing they will face bullying and return at home with emotional distress rather than gaining anything positive. To address these issues and encourage a shift in attitudes, we have included motivational initiatives in PEDP4.

The upcoming PEDP5 will focus on strengthening the physical and mental health protection and welfare of children, with special consideration for children with disabilities. It will also emphasise on enhancing partnerships between the Ministry of Education, other relevant ministries, and development.

Fazle Siddique Md. Yahya

Director (Dev, Pl and ICT) and Deputy Secretary, Jatiyo Protibondhi Unnayan Foundation, Ministry of Social Welfare)

The National Foundation for Development of the Disabled (NFDD) has collaborated with Access to Information (a2i) to create a talking book that is accessible to everyone. We are committed to inclusivity for all, not just a specific group, and have taken a major step in this direction. A two-hour disability awareness session is now part of BPATC's basic training for officials, providing in-depth knowledge on the subject. Going forward, we plan to develop an online module for focal persons in ministries to strengthen their understanding and responsiveness to disability issues.

We are openly discussing disability issues and working together for a brighter future. With increasing capabilities and GDP growth, we aim for an inclusive Bangladesh. Children with disabilities contribute to the GDP, securing fourth place in the East-West Football Championship and engaging in bakery production, showcasing their potential.

Children with disabilities contribute to ‘Mukta water’ production, but their efforts aren't fully recognised. While we have the Jatiyo Protibondhi Unnayan Foundation (JPUF) for advocacy, we're planning to highlight our work in three newspapers and create TVC materials for television. We aim for a positive shift and will establish a standardised approach to identify students with disabilities, ensuring consistency across all departments.

Tahera Jabin

Social Advisor, FCDO/Bangladesh

The UK is leading global disability inclusion, having hosted the first Global Disability Conference in 2018. In Bangladesh, we partner with UNICEF and the World Bank on the Education Quality Improvement Program, supporting the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education to include students with disabilities. We are training 130,000 teachers, with over 98,000 trained so far, and running pilot projects that will aid future decision-making.

Collecting data on how many children with disabilities are enrolled or out of school, along with the types of disabilities, is crucial. Coordination among relevant ministries is needed. At the next Global Disability Summit in Berlin, we need to define Bangladesh's commitments on inclusive education, following the 11 commitments made at the last conference, including one on this topic.

Amrita Rejina Rozario

Country Director, Sightsavers

There are challenges in the legal framework for inclusive education for children with disabilities, as terms like "special needs" in education don't align with the The Rights and Protection of Persons with Disabilities Act. We need to coordinate laws and involve relevant stakeholders. Despite limited resources, we must prioritise and use what we have effectively.

At the Global Disability Summit 2022, we made 11 commitments. We must review our progress on these and decide if new commitments are needed. However, we’ve had limited involvement in evaluating our advancements, and there are gaps in SDG monitoring. We need to focus on these areas. To meet our international commitments, we must promote inclusive education and work collectively to move forward.

Laila Farhana Apnan Banu

Education Expert, UNICEF

We’ve made significant progress in inclusive education with improved policies, frameworks, and increased enrollment of students with disabilities. However, we still face challenges in mindset, capacity, and supportive resources. While the 2010 Education Policy mentions inclusive education, it is placed in a lower priority section, and as we approach 2025, the policy remains outdated. The true vision of inclusive education is not fully reflected in the policy, highlighting the need for updates.

We have enrollment data by gender in primary education, but lack information on students with disabilities. Without this data, it’s difficult to design effective programs. We often don't consult persons with disabilities or relevant institutions when making decisions or creating policies. Collaboration between government and private organisations can help solve this issue.

Md Sharif ul Islam

Education Officer, Information Management Division, Directorate of Primary Education

To plan effectively for children with disabilities, we need grassroots data, but the Primary Education Department lacks survey authority, which belongs to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. The government is working to resolve this.

The Directorate of Primary Education currently collects data on children with disabilities in a disaggregated manner. According to the Annual Primary School Census, 25,564 children with disabilities enrolled in pre-primary last year, including 14,159 boys and 11,105 girls. Our data covers 7 types of disabilities, although the law recognises 12 types.

We are working on updating our forms. Many disabilities are difficult for teachers to identify, so we need to enhance teacher capacity and provide proper identification tools.

Masudul Hasan Taposh

Deputy Director, District Social Services Office, Narsingdi

We provide disability allowances and education stipends at the district level. Parents prefer the lifelong disability allowance to cover education costs. We aim to increase this allowance.  The Rights and Protection of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2013, must be properly implemented for improvement. We’ve created the DIS software, which tracks information on 3,573,161 people with disabilities in Bangladesh, including their disability types.

Visually impaired students still face challenges with scribes during exams. For successful inclusive education, teachers must complete a one-year B.Ed course from the National Special Education Centre. While we provide scholarships and other benefits to students with disabilities, without proper teacher training, these initiatives will not be effective.

Ghulam Faruq Hamim

Bangladesh Programme Team Lead, ADD Int.

Parents of disabled students often hesitate to send their children to school, but home-based education has built confidence and made it possible. However, remote areas lack accessible schools, and even when accessible designs exist, poor construction by local contractors often prevents proper facilities.

Primary education in Bangladesh is vast and requires public-private partnership. Despite having many laws and policies, their implementation is lacking, with little accountability. We receive many suggestions, but no clear roadmaps for implementation. With the upcoming PEDEP-5, we expect clear guidance on effectively bringing disabled children back to school.

Md Jahangir Alam

Senior Coordinator, CDD

To bring disabled children into inclusive education, we must first change our flawed mindset. Due to inadequate infrastructure, including issues like washroom shortages, the dropout rate in primary schools remains high. Accessibility is a complex issue; simply adding a ramp does not ensure full access. Both infrastructure and ICT accessibility are essential.

A 2002 survey showed that only 4 per cent of disabled students attended school, but by 2021, this figure rose to over 23 per cent. This indicates positive change, and we are hopeful. Inclusive education for disabled students must start by truly accepting them, not just superficially. We may have accepted it under national and international policy pressure, but we need to assess if we have fully embraced it in our hearts. Coordination between primary education and social services is crucial, as specialised institutions also follow the primary education curriculum.

Ranak Chandra Mohanta

MERLA Director, Winrock International

Our primary focus is research, but the key challenge we face is the insufficient data. While some data is available, it often lacks the necessary detail. In the curriculum developed through our projects, we have outlined measures to enhance the development of disabled children.

We have included these topics in our training programs as well. To address the shortage of teachers, we have added these modules to teacher training. We have created a GIS platform using data from 20,000 schools in Bangladesh. By utilising information and communication technology across the board, the issue of data insufficiency can be largely mitigated. While many are working on this separately, we do not always have access to their data. If everyone coordinates their efforts, significant success can be achieved.

Md Motahar Hossain

President - Rights & Empowerment Organisation for the Persons with Disabilities

To include children with disabilities in education, coordination between policy and implementation is crucial. Most schools lack ramps, Braille books, hearing aids, and assistive technology for disabled students. There's also a shortage of specialised teachers or assistants. Many families and communities still believe that disabled children are incapable of learning or that education isn't necessary for them, limiting their access to education. For low-income families, bearing the cost of special education and treatment is challenging. Despite various policies, the lack of proper implementation prevents ensuring education for disabled children.

Organisations for disabled individuals can help raise awareness among parents, teachers, and the community, increasing educational opportunities for children with disabilities.

Mrinal Kanti Das

Consortium Project and MEL Manager - DID, Sightsavers

Every government primary school in Bangladesh has a special fund called 'School Level Improvement Plan' (SLIP). The funds are allocated annually. We held meetings with the schoolteachers, the managing committees, the upazila education committees, and the upazila administration to discuss how to use this fund to promote inclusive education and for children with disabilities. Although there were some complications in the beginning, the discussion paved the way for the funds to be used for the education of disabled children at some stage.

We discussed back-to-back our lessons at the school's head teachers' meeting. Soon these things began to be implemented in all schools. The results show that, though 45 schools were targeted, but all the schools under the working areas of our project (a total of 2,444 schools) are now starting to use a portion of their SLIP funds for children with disabilities. If these things can be spread across the country, it will pave the way for disabled children to receive inclusive education.

Aouana Marzia

Technical Expert, DID-IE, Sightsavers

In our country, the Constitution, the Compulsory Education Act and the National Education Policy are the foundation for inclusive education policies and practices. The Rights and Protection of Persons with Disabilities Act also mentions about inclusive education. Moreover, Primary Education Development Program (PEDP) is working to ensure quality education for children with disabilities in government primary schools.

However, various challenges still exist, including accessible infrastructure, appropriate teaching learning materials, focused teacher training, curriculum and customised assessment process as well as social attitudes. Also, the coordination gap among the concerned ministries and a clear concept of special and inclusive education needs to be comprehensive for the stakeholders at all levels.