'Inclusive Education' Workshop
PRESS STATEMENT 113/07
28th September 2007
PACIFIC ISLAND COUNTRIES DISCUSS ‘INCLUSIVE EDUCATION’ AT WORKSHOP
Education decision makers and experts from within the government and non-government stakeholders from Pacific Island Countries are to discuss the issue of ‘Inclusive Education’ at a workshop to be held in Nadi, Fiji 1 – 5 October 2007.
The workshop is being coordinated by the Fiji Government, the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, the Pacific Resources for Educational Learning, the University of the South Pacific (PRIDE), UNICEF, UNESCO, the South Pacific Board for Educational Assessment (SPBEA) and the Pacific Disability Forum (PDF).
The overall goal of Inclusive Education is to promote opportunities for all children to participate and be treated equally. It is a process of addressing and responding to the diversity of needs of all learners and of reducing exclusion to and within the education system.
Inclusive Education is aimed at supporting education for all, with special emphasis on removing barriers to participation for children with disabilities and out-of-school children.
“Our schools in Pacific Island Countries can only be inclusive when they are working towards full participation, community and equality through respect for differences, respect for different learning styles, variations in methods, open and flexible curricula and welcoming each and every child,” Greg Urwin, Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat said
“It is from this perspective that we Pacific Islanders are encouraged to note that inclusive education is concerned with providing appropriate responses to the broad spectrum of learning needs in both formal and non-formal education settings and that it advocates for changes and modifications in content, approaches, structures, policies and strategies,” Mr Urwin said.
With the theme of “Advancing Inclusive Education in the Pacific”, the workshop expects to reach some agreement on a common Pacific definition of Inclusive Education, a policy framework on Inclusive Education, a draft status report on the situation of Inclusive Education in Pacific Island Countries and confirm the UNESCO Tool Kit for Inclusive Education for implementation at the national level in PICs.
ENDS.
For more information contact Mr Fredrick Miller, the Forum Secretariat's Disability Coordination Officer on phone (679) 331 2600 or email: frederickm@forumsec.org.fj
28th September 2007
PACIFIC ISLAND COUNTRIES DISCUSS ‘INCLUSIVE EDUCATION’ AT WORKSHOP
Education decision makers and experts from within the government and non-government stakeholders from Pacific Island Countries are to discuss the issue of ‘Inclusive Education’ at a workshop to be held in Nadi, Fiji 1 – 5 October 2007.
The workshop is being coordinated by the Fiji Government, the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, the Pacific Resources for Educational Learning, the University of the South Pacific (PRIDE), UNICEF, UNESCO, the South Pacific Board for Educational Assessment (SPBEA) and the Pacific Disability Forum (PDF).
The overall goal of Inclusive Education is to promote opportunities for all children to participate and be treated equally. It is a process of addressing and responding to the diversity of needs of all learners and of reducing exclusion to and within the education system.
Inclusive Education is aimed at supporting education for all, with special emphasis on removing barriers to participation for children with disabilities and out-of-school children.
“Our schools in Pacific Island Countries can only be inclusive when they are working towards full participation, community and equality through respect for differences, respect for different learning styles, variations in methods, open and flexible curricula and welcoming each and every child,” Greg Urwin, Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat said
“It is from this perspective that we Pacific Islanders are encouraged to note that inclusive education is concerned with providing appropriate responses to the broad spectrum of learning needs in both formal and non-formal education settings and that it advocates for changes and modifications in content, approaches, structures, policies and strategies,” Mr Urwin said.
With the theme of “Advancing Inclusive Education in the Pacific”, the workshop expects to reach some agreement on a common Pacific definition of Inclusive Education, a policy framework on Inclusive Education, a draft status report on the situation of Inclusive Education in Pacific Island Countries and confirm the UNESCO Tool Kit for Inclusive Education for implementation at the national level in PICs.
ENDS.
For more information contact Mr Fredrick Miller, the Forum Secretariat's Disability Coordination Officer on phone (679) 331 2600 or email: frederickm@forumsec.org.fj
