Many of the shortcomings that countries are facing in providing educational opportunities  to their population stems from the fact that inclusive education is being thought of as a stand alone issue, rather than a impediment to the social and economic advancement of the country as a whole. The World Report on Disability estimates that there are between 93 and 150 million school-aged children with disabilities globally, amounting to at least 10% of each every country’s population. Many of these students are excluded from educational opportunities and do not complete primary education, which was priority outlined for all nations in the Millennium Development Goals.

The Model Policy for Inclusive ICTs in Education for Persons with Disabilities document published by UNESCO outlines how access to appropriate inclusive education is hindered by a multitude of barriers.  The document touches on physical barriers in learning environments, such as cases when content and materials are not accessible especially when material are not available in a student’s primary language,  “cognitive barriers for some learners with intellectual disabilities or specific learning problems,  didactical barriers where teachers lack the skills to facilitate inclusive education; and financial barriers relating to the cost of devices with assistive technology to provide access.” There are also detrimental effects on student’s ability to achieve the necessary basic skills for long-term social, economic and digital inclusion in society. This damage then snowballs as it limits their access to further educational opportunities, as well as employment. If 93 million people be unemployed, and did not have the proper training and education necessary to work, the  social and economic costs to society would be catastrophic. The active participation of  students with disabilities is essential to increase their participation in all spheres of society to inform decisions with their valuable  insights and contributions.

The active participation of  students with disabilities in inclusive education is cost-effective in the long-term as it contributes to the elimination of discrimination, promoting wider social inclusion. The UNESCO document notes how inclusive education initiatives for students with disabilities, are also  applicable to any students who are vulnerable to exclusion from any sector of education beyond those who may be identified as having learning difficulties or experiencing different forms of social disadvantage. Inclusive education policies stand to benefit not only student with disabilities, but also students excluded from classrooms on the basis on gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status and language, thus highlighting their importance as a policy priority at the local, national and international level.

Inclusive development looks at ensuring that all groups in society, everyone that is affected, are included in the development processes and programs. In a similar way, inclusive education is focused on the right of education for all children including those that are sometimes left out or marginalized, for example children with disabilities. As the UNICEF document on Inclusive Education Initiatives states, it is the responsibility of all schools to be able to accommodate any and all students. Whether it is one single student or a group of students that need special attention or different physical accommodations, these things cannot be denied. Schools cannot turn students away and they cannot actively neglect someone an education simply because they do not have the necessary resources or do not want to invest the extra time and money into helping these individuals be able to actively participate in their education. While this idea of inclusive education is becoming very widespread, still many educational institutions are not accessible to all and some even actively ignore their responsibility to do so. What makes inclusive education initiatives so challenging is that they require the successful implementation of various elements such as, strong political and government commitment, awareness at all levels of the rights of children with disabilities, awareness of the benefits of inclusive education for all students, pre-service and in-service teacher training, whole school approach with specialist support, constant advocacy for the full employment of disabled children’s rights and needs, and a couple more crucial elements (UNICEF). These elements have to be implemented together in order for the necessary impact to be made and for concrete change to occur.

Some countries more than others have made significant progress towards achieving inclusive education, but several successful initiatives have been driven by motivated individuals with disabilities that choose to fight for their rights and bring awareness to the issue. For example, there is the university student in Brunei who stressed the importance of self-advocacy and fought to get the necessary resources established in the university to ensure that he was able to successfully complete his studies. Setbacks and shortcomings can lead to frustration and feelings of isolation for students with disabilities who are unable to keep up with their studies due to all the barriers they face. The student mentions the importance of learning to overcome that frustration but others should also take it upon themselves to help prevent that frustration. That is why it is so important that university or school staff, teachers, and peers work together to help other students fit in and maneuver the system, so that not all the weight of the problem is placed solely on the student with disabilities.

As schools work to create inclusive educational environments in today’s modern world, the ICTs are increasingly becoming key players towards this goal. With the incredibly sophisticate technologies that we have today, there is much that can be done technologically to ensure that education is made available to all. That is why we now have the Model Policy for Inclusive ICTs in Education for PWDs that focuses on finding ways to use ICTs to support the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of PWDs. In order to guarantee that all students have the same opportunities and access, technology will have to play a role. While it is not the sole solution, it is an important one for many aspects of inclusive education.