Executive Summary

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Education which is considered as a right for all children has been enshrined in several international documents since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. The Education for All movement and subsequent international conventions have pointed out that particular groups of children are especially vulnerable for exclusion or denied the chance to optimally participate in the learning activities which take place in a formal, informal or non-formal settings. The children are educationally disadvantaged by the social, cultural, regional, political and economic environments in which they live. Some international instruments highlight the particular rights of groups such as the girl child, indigenous people and those with special needs (including those with disabilities) just to mention a few.  The right to be educated within the regular school setting and not to be discriminated against is highlighted more detailed in instruments such as the World Declaration on Education for All (1990), UN Standard Rules on the Equalisation of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities (1993), UN Conventions on the Rights of the Child (1991) and Dakar Framework for Action (2000) amongst others.