Peter Mittler, Congress Chair
ISEC is unique in that it is the only truly international special needs congress in the world which takes place regularly. For the past 25 years, the UK has hosted a major international congress on special needs education. The first took place at Canterbury in 1975 and others followed in Nottingham (1985), Cardiff (1990) and Birmingham (1995).
Much has happened since that first gathering in Canterbury both in the UK and all over the world. Despite enormous differences in traditions, attitudes, cultures and resources, it is remarkable that there is now so much consensus on the way forward and that virtually all countries are changing their policies and practice to ensure that all children can have access to education and that schools are better prepared to meet their needs, regardless of barriers created by poverty, gender, disability, discriminatory legislation or negative attitudes such as under-estimation.
This is due in no small part to the real leadership provided by the United Nations and particularly by UNESCO which is well represented at ISEC 2000. Working with a very small staff and sometimes single-handed, UNESCO has worked with governments, parents and professional organisations in sharing and promoting examples of good practice around the world and by collaborating with others to support teachers in their task of making schools and classrooms more inclusive.
The Salamanca Declaration and Framework for Action in 1994 marked a major global milestone along the road to inclusion by clarifying both the principles and the practice of inclusive education. It also established beyond doubt that inclusive education was at the core of the UN Education for All movement and that all children without exception had the right to attend school. In parallel with this, the work of the United Nations in energetically monitoring the impact of the Standard Rules on the Equalisation of Opportunities for Disabled Persons (1993) sets education in the broader context of the fight for human rights.
As the recent ten year review of Education for All and the five year review of the World Social Summit have shown, progress is frustratingly slow but it is there nonetheless, as this Congress will richly demonstrate. In our own country, the government has made a public commitment to the implementation of the Salamanca Declaration and Framework in its Programme of Action (1998) and has launched many new initiatives. Looking beyond these shores, however, it is striking that the boldest and most radical proposals for inclusion and reform are now coming from some of the poorest countries of the world.
In future, the 'experts' in inclusive education will come from countries of the South rather than from the traditional highly developed countries of the North. Indeed, many of them will be at ISEC to share their experiences and enrich the global community of people working for a more inclusive society and a more inclusive eduction system.
Inside or outside the seminars, ISEC 2000 will provide a rich meeting ground for people from some 80 countries in an inclusive atmosphere. There will be plenty of opportunities to work together to ensure that by the time they and others meet again in 2005, the world will be a better place for all its children.
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28/06/2000