The Right to Inclusive Education According to Article 24 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Background, Requirements and (Remaining) Questions
| Date | 01 September 2014 |
| Published date | 01 September 2014 |
| DOI | 10.1177/016934411403200304 |
| Subject Matter | Part A: Article |
Netherlands Qu arterly of Human Ri ghts, Vol. 32/3, 263–287, 2014.
© Netherlands I nstitute of Human Rig hts (SIM), Printed in the Net herlands. 263
THE RIGHT TO INCLUSIVE EDUCATION
ACCORDING TO ARTICLE24 OF THE
UN CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS
OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES:
BACKGROUND, REQUIREMENTS
AND (REMAINING) QUESTIONS
G B*
Abstract
is articl e deals with the right to inclusive education. Article24 of the U N Convention
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) provides not only that children with
disabilities should not be discriminated against but also that they should be able to
participate in the general education system. Children with disabilities should therefore
be ed ucate d in ma inst ream s chool s. e article begins by studying the r ight to education
in international human rights law (Section 2). It continues with a general introduction
to the CRPD (Section 3). A er discussing its dra ing history, the article goes on to
analyse Article24 of the CRPD, examining the concept of inclu sive education, the duty
to provide reasonable accommodation and the obligation to adopt support measures
and asking the question whether spec ial schools should still be available (Section 3).
Keywords: Article 24; children with disabilities; CRPD; inclusive education;
mainstream sc hools; special schools
Mots-clés: Article 24; enfants handicapés; CRPD; éducation inclusive; écoles
ordinaires; écoles spécialisées
* Post-doctoral Res earcher and Lect urer; University of Le uven. is article was use d as a background
paper for a presentation mad e by the author at the Conference on “Article 24 UNCR PD is this a
Brown v Board of Educ ation moment?” organised , jointly, by the NUI Galway a nd the KU Leuven in
Galway on 22 Februa ry 2014. He wishes to tha nk Shivaun Quin livan for organisi ng this conference
with him as we ll as the partic ipants for their comments on t his presentation.
Gauthier de Beco
264 Intersentia
1. INTRODUCTION
Article24 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
protects the right to education of persons with disabilities. It proclaims the right
to inclusive education and prescribes the steps that have to be taken to this end.
Arti cle24 of the C RPD provides not only that c hildren w ith disabi lities sho uld not be
discriminated against but also that they should be able to participate in the general
education system.
e advantages of inclusive education have been largely discussed. Debates have
especially been t aken place more than 10 years ago when t he right to inclusive education
was not yet recognised in internat ional human rights law. Although the quest ion is not
de nitively settle d, resea rch demons trated t hat educat ing chi ldren wit h disab ilitie s in
regular school s is bene cial for everybody.1 Children with disabilities who have been
to mainstream sc hools have greater chances to participate in the open labour ma rket.
Inclusive education also helps to build more tolerant societies, which will make
children (and future adults) more accustomed to living with people who have special
needs. e purpose of t he paper, however, is not to contr ibute to this k ind of research,
since inclusive education has received a legal basis with the adoption of the CRPD.
Nor is it to examine how inclusive education can be achieved in practice. Instead, it
aims to exami ne how international human rights law protects the r ight to education of
people with disabilities, considering that codi cation is the most novel development
regarding inclusive education. It depar ts thus from existing i nternational instruments .
Using the CRPD as reference point, the paper st udies the di erent aspects of the right
to inclusive education. It provides guidance in the interpretation of Article24 of the
CRPD taking into account the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT).
As will be shown, a lthough the right to inclusive education is to a certai n extent self-
evident, there are sti ll several grey zones that thi s article aims to clarif y.
is article provides for an in-depth examination of Article 24 of the CRPD.
It is divided into four sections. e second section discusses international human
rights treat y provisions on the right to educat ion. e third section outl ines the main
characteristics and introduces the content of the CRPD. e fourth section analyses
Article24 of the CRPD. It starts with retracing its dra ing history. It then turns to
the de nition of inclusive education and examines the duty to provide reasonable
accommodation and the obligation to adopt support measures in order to achieve
inclusive education. It also addresses t he question whether special schools should st ill
be available.
1 R. Morrison and I. Burgman, ‘Fr iendship Experiences Among Children with D isabilitie s who
Attend Mainstream Schools’ (2009) 76 Canadian journal of occupational therapy 145; R. Rieser,
Implementing Inclu sive Education: A Commonwealth Guide t o Implementing Article24 of the U N
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2nd edn (Commonwealth 2 012) 289–291; A.
Kanter, ‘ e Right to Inclusive Education for Stud ents with Disabilities u nder International Law’
[forthcoming], 33–36, on le with the author.
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