Policy brief: Teacher professional development for students with disability in the Asia-Pacific

Around the world, policymakers and development organisations are increasingly supporting the education of students with disability, particularly in the bid to achieve United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 – to ensure ‘inclusive and equitable quality education for all’. Yet globally, more than half of students with disability drop out of secondary school due to the lack of support in classrooms (UNESCAP, 2019). In the Asia-Pacific region, resource shortages and high student drop-out rates significantly impact the shift to inclusive education. Additionally, educational segregation of students with disability is widely accepted in low- and middle-income countries in the region, despite international evidence of improved academic and social outcomes for students with disability educated in inclusive settings. Developing teachers’ understanding of disabilities and building their capacity to implement evidence-based inclusive teaching practices and effectively use assistive technologies, are key to transitioning to inclusive education of students with disability.