Inclusive Education

For the Liliane Foundation, inclusive education of children with disabilities is one of the most important components of its strategy. It is estimated that 65 million school-aged children in developing countries have a disability, half of whom are out of school. In the poorest regions in Africa, Asia and Latin America not even 10 per cent of the children with a disability ever will set foot in a classroom. In addition, even those children with disabilities that are in school, are less likely to stay in school and being promoted. Children with disabilities are also often excluded from mainstream education. The disability of a child is not the biggest barrier to education. The greatest barriers are caused by the attitude of the society.

Learning opportunities in mainstream education

Inclusive education offers high quality formal and informal learning opportunities for every child within a mainstream system that adapts to the needs of all learners. In order for children with disabilities to attain meaningful inclusive education, the Liliane Foundation considers four general principles: acceptability, availability, accessibility and adaptability.

Global awareness campaign

Every year in March, thousands of children ‘ring the bell’ and make sure everybody knows that all children have the right to go to school, also children with disabilities. The awareness campaign ‘We ring the bell’ runs in over 20 countries. In 2019, 270,331 children at 1,321 schools participated. Their message reached a large number of local leaders and government officials.