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The challenges for educational inclusion in Latin America in the voices of ministerial experts
The event was organized by the UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office in Santiago, the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports of Spain (MEFPD), and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID).
At the event, held at the Spanish Cooperation Training Center in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, delegations from 17 Ibero-American countries participated, including authorities from ministries and departments of Education from Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Spain, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
The attending countries determined the design of a roadmap to ensure the right to education for people with disabilities in Ibero-America and approved the update of the Regional Information System for Students with Disabilities (SIRIED), whose implementation will be applied in 13 Member States of the RIINEE.
The authorities and specialists attending the conference identified the challenges for the educational inclusion of people with disabilities and the effectiveness of public policies in their countries and in Latin America.
LucÃa Vázquez, General Director of Special Education at the Ministry of Education of the Dominican Republic
Following the event, LucÃa Vázquez, General Director of Special Education at the Ministry of Education of the Dominican Republic, highlighted the importance of these meetings to ensure the continuity of what her country is doing regarding the , specifically concerning Article 24, on the education of students with disabilities.
According to Vázquez, the Dominican Republic benefits from the RIINEE Network and the Regional Information System for Students with Disabilities (SIRIED) because the documents provided by these mechanisms allow for complementing the information from her country's Census, which is insufficient for the characterization of students with disabilities, complicating their educational inclusion: “The biggest challenge is statistics. People with disabilities are not really classified; only a percentage: 12% of people with disabilities are counted. But for education, it is so crucial to know how many are of school age, how many we have in the system, and who are missing. We have 28,100 registered students, but there are those we don't have, and for that, we are going to conduct surveys, so they can enter the schools of our country.â€
Lisandro Fallas, national advisor of the Department of Educational Support for Students with Disabilities at the Ministry of Education of Costa Rica
For his part, Lisandro Fallas, national advisor of the Department of Educational Support for Students with Disabilities at the Ministry of Education of Costa Rica, mentioned the benefits of the conference and the challenges his country faces to achieve inclusion in education: "The importance of this meeting for us, as countries belonging to the RIINEE, is the ability to share experiences and also to take away the learnings from other countries. The challenges we face as a country are: the strengthening of a support system for the entire student population and, of course, from the perspective of this meeting, the possibility of accompaniment and political support," he concluded.
Jennifer Salazar, General Director of Special Education at the Ministry of Education of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
Jennifer Salazar, General Director of Special Education at the Ministry of Education of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, asserted that, through the conference, the topic of educational inclusion "becomes a benchmark at a global level, so that our societies change, begin to broaden their view towards diversity. This space guarantees that we can make exchanges, can establish relationships with other types of people, to enrich our educational models, aiming towards educational inclusion."
According to Salazar, the main challenges to achieving inclusion of people with disabilities in the Venezuelan educational system "are connected to the ongoing training of teachers in early childhood education, primary education, and throughout the educational system, to truly welcome these children so that someone with any type of disability is never again invisible."
Olga Acosta, National Director of Educational Quality at the Ministry of Education of Colombia
Olga Acosta, National Director of Educational Quality at the Ministry of Education of Colombia, highlighted that the meeting with Ibero-American countries shows that a primary task for these nations is to embrace educational inclusion, so that more children can enter the system and eliminate the barriers that prevent the entire population from having access to education, in all its stages, completely.
Acosta pointed out that “the great challenge for Colombia is for all children, especially the youngest, to be able to access the educational system, so that no child with a disability has to stay at home, but rather that the school opens its doors for everyone to come together with all other children, to learn about life, about peace.†She also emphasized the need for greater inclusion in Colombian universities: “We believe that teachers must embrace diversity, that it becomes part of the school, and that university programs make it possible to bring the discussion of inclusion to the table, as a way to build a better country and a better society.â€
Ausmenia Valencia, Director of Special Basic Education at the Ministry of Education of Peru
Ausmenia Valencia, Director of Special Basic Education at the Ministry of Education of Peru, identified the common challenge that Latin America and the Caribbean face in achieving inclusion and discussed the issues affecting her country. "Peru has significant challenges in this area, and I believe one of them is teacher training. While it is true that we are in the process of training and also providing technical assistance, it is important to consider initial and ongoing, continuous training for teachers. As well as providing them with the necessary materials and resources, so that this process can be carried out under the best conditions. Many barriers need to be overcome, including those related to the curriculum, accessibility, and methodology. But I believe there is an even more important barrier, which is attitudinal. We need to change our philosophy, our outlook, the way we see people, children, and youth with disabilities: to see not only their barriers but also their strengths," she stated.