Workbook final

422 / 454

FACTS ON O UTCOME, IMPACT AND EFFECTIVENESS
5. According to a study by the Irish National Council on Special Education of 2014, which compared different national
approaches to inclusive education, “of all countries screened Canada (Nova Scotia), Norway, and Italy had provisions
driven by a policy principle that positions the vast majority in mainstreams schools”.
6. According to the ANED Country Report 2010, Italy is the European country with the highest inclusion of people with
special needs in mainstream schools, while other European countries make use of special schools. There is
consensus that both children with and without disabilities learn from each other, and there are no voices
demanding separated schools.
7. According to the ANED Country Report 2010, the overall assessment of school experience by persons with
disabilities is good. In fact, the average score was 4.0 (on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 was the lowest). The majority of
respondents felt very or fairly satisfied with their relationship with peers (84.6 per cent), teachers (85.1 per cent)
and other educational personnel (84.2 per cent).
TRANSFERABILITY, SCALABILITY AND COST-EFFICIENCY
Italy’s commitment to inclusive education is commendable. Its national legislation is a model of inclusive education for
all students with disabilities at all levels of education in various countries. Internationally, Italy also engaged in the
drafting process of the UN CRPD, particularly its Article 24 on Inclusive Education. As a public school reform, it would be
relatively straightforward to transfer the Law to other countries with public school systems. With the ratification of the
UN CRPD, states have the obligation to establish an inclusive school environment (Article 24) and this policy offers an
excellent example of how to implement both the UN CRC and UN CRPD.
FUTURE DEVELOPMENT (WITH ADDITIONS FROM THE ZERO PROJECT TEAM)
Some concerns exist that Italy has overcome macro exclusion, but that children with disabilities still experience micro
exclusion; that is, they experience exclusion even within the integrated and inclusive settings (raised by the UN CRC
Committee in its Concluding Observations 2011). Therefore, it will be necessary to intensify the quality of education for
support and class teachers and to strengthen the position of support teachers; to intensify the current rights-based
approach; to tackle the variation of provision and micro exclusion; to provide more resources as well as specific and
disaggregated data related to children with disabilities. In the light CRPD Article 24, the Italian policy will need some
further development, especially to also include children with psychosocial problems in accordance with the
International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). In 2015, following extensive discussions and the
participation of civil society and academic stakeholders, a new school reform will be passed. According to the new draft
law, class teachers and all school personnel should attend compulsory annual training courses on the needs of children
with disabilities. Even though many challenges to realizing the goal of full inclusion remain, most of these reflect gaps in
the implementation of the law rather than a retreat from the long-standing commitment to the values of acceptance
and belonging that drives Italian inclusive education. Italy’s inclusive education law, like most laws, is yet to be
comprehensively implemented.