Committee examines each report and makes such suggestions and general recommendations on the report as it may consider appropriate and forwards these to the State Party concerned. The Optional Protocol gives the Committee competence to examine individual complaints with regard to alleged violations of the Convention by States parties. It should be noted, however, that neither the nor the Salamanca Statement explicitly states that SWSEN should be educated in fully inclusive Convention all settings at all levels of the education system. Nor do they explicitly exclude such an interpretation. In other words, there is a degree of ambiguity regarding the intentions of both documents with regard to the meaning of inclusion. With the impetus provided by the UN and UNESCO, and other influences such as those outlined in Chapter One, it is not surprising that virtually all countries have policies on inclusive education, or are in the process of developing them. To attempt to summarise them would be a major task. It is perhaps sufficient to mention some approaches in order to illustrate the developments that are occurring, countries’ In this country, the 2004 document England. Removing barriers to (Department for Education and achievement: The Government’s strategy for SEN Skills, 2004) made a clear commitment to inclusive education by embedding inclusive practice in every school and early years setting. It cited the 1997 Green Paper, as signaling the commitment to the Excellence For All Children, government’s principle of inclusion and the need to rethink the role of special schools within that context. It also referred to The SEN and Disability Act 2001 as delivering stronger ‘a right to mainstream education, making it clear that where parents want a mainstream place for their child, everything possible should be done to provide (p.25). A small, it’ but significant, caveat to the principle of inclusion, however, can be found in the 2001 (Department for Education and Skills, 2001), which stated that Code of Practice ‘A to have their child with a statement educated in the mainstream should parents’ wish only be refused in the small minority of cases where the inclusion would be child’s incompatible with the efficient education of other (p.14). A further children’ indication of commitment to inclusive education is the England’s government’s decision to place the Index for Inclusion (Booth & Ainscow, 2002) in every school. Several Australian states have made a commitment to inclusive Australia. education. In Western Australia, for example, the aim of the Building Inclusive
Committee examines each report and makes such suggestions and general recommendations on the report as it may consider appropriate and forwards these to the State Party concerned. The Optional Protocol gives the Committee competence to examine individual complaints with regard to alleged violations of the Convention by States parties. It should be noted, however, that neither the Salamanca Statement nor the Convention explicitly states that all SWSEN should be educated in fully inclusive settings at all levels of the education system. Nor do they explicitly exclude such an interpretation. In other words, there is a degree of ambiguity regarding the intentions of both documents with regard to the meaning of inclusion. With the impetus provided by the UN and UNESCO, and other influences such as those outlined in Chapter One, it is not surprising that virtually all countries have policies on inclusive education, or are in the process of developing them. To attempt to summarise them would be a major task. It is perhaps sufficient to mention some countries’ approaches in order to illustrate the developments that are occurring, England. In this country, the 2004 document Removing barriers to achievement: The Government’s strategy for SEN (Department for Education and Skills, 2004) made a clear commitment to inclusive education by embedding inclusive practice in every school and early years setting. It cited the 1997 Green Paper, Excellence For All Children, as signaling the government’s commitment to the principle of inclusion and the need to rethink the role of special schools within that context. It also referred to The SEN and Disability Act 2001 as delivering ‘a stronger right to mainstream education, making it clear that where parents want a mainstream place for their child, everything possible should be done to provide it’ (p.25). A small, but significant, caveat to the principle of inclusion, however, can be found in the 2001 Code of Practice (Department for Education and Skills, 2001), which stated that ‘A parents’ wish to have their child with a statement educated in the mainstream should only be refused in the small minority of cases where the child’s inclusion would be incompatible with the efficient education of other children’ (p.14). A further indication of England’s commitment to inclusive education is the government’s decision to place the Index for Inclusion (Booth & Ainscow, 2002) in every school. Australia. Several Australian states have made a commitment to inclusive education. In Western Australia, for example, the aim of the Building Inclusive
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