(Slide 1): The exclusion of children from education, because of their learning disability, ended with the passing of the Education (Handicapped Children) Act 1970. This removed the category of ‘ineducable’ and made it the absolute right of all children in England and Wales to a full education. The change largely came about through the lobbying of parents, who demanded an education for their sons and daughters. Before 1970, some disabled children did receive an education, but this was usually through segregated provision, or what became known as ‘special schools’.
(Slide 2) Since then, the key debate has been whether children with learning disabilities can and should be taught within mainstream schools, often referred to as ‘inclusive education’. Legislation passed after 1970 made it more difficult for local authorities to deny children with learning disabilities a place at mainstream schools. For example, the special Educational Needs and Disability Act (SENDA) 2001 extended disability discrimination legislation to schools, colleges and universities and gave disabled children many more rights in mainstream education.
(Slide 3) This was strengthened further by international developments. For example, in June 1994 representatives of 92 governments and 25 international organisations formed the World Conference on Special Needs Education, held in Salamanca, Spain. They signed up to the Salamanca Statement on the education of all disabled children, which called for inclusion to be the norm. Then, in 2009, the UK ratified the UN Convention of the Rights of Disabled Persons. Article 24 of the UNCRPD states that all children have a right to access mainstream education.