Equality and Human Rights Commission

Article 24 says:

• Governments must ensure the education system at all levels is inclusive and geared towards supporting disabled people to achieve their full potential and participate equally in society.
• Disabled people should be able to access  free, inclusive primary and secondary school education in the communities in which they live.
• Disabled people must not be excluded from the general education system (at any level) because of their disability.
• Disabled people have the right to reasonable adjustments and extra support to take part in education.
• Governments must also promote the learning of Braille, sign language and use of appropriate forms of communication for disabled learners. This involves promoting the linguistic identity of Deaf people and ensuring enough teachers are trained in different communication methods.

What does this mean?

This is about education and life-long learning.

It places an obligation on the government and relevant authorities to provide inclusive education, which means that disabled children and adults can access education with the right support.

Reservation and interpretive declaration

The UK Government did not accept this Article in full.  When it ratified the Convention it made two statements which limit this Article’s impact in Britain. One statement was a ‘reservation’. This said that disabled children could carry on being educated outside their local community. The other was an ‘interpretive declaration’ which said the UK interpreted the term ‘general education’ as including special schools as well as mainstream schools.  The Equality and Human Rights Commission and disabled people’s organisations opposed these statements on grounds that they were not necessary and not compatible with the Convention’s firm commitment to inclusion.