Ms Derval McDonagh:

We would like to sincerely thank the committee for the invitation to discuss the recently published National Council for Special Education, NCSE, policy advice titled, An Inclusive Education for an Inclusive Society. The alliance is a network of disabled persons organisations, DPOs, advocacy groups, academics and education leaders all working towards a shared vision of a more inclusive education system for all children. It is important to note that the alliance steering group was formed recently. We aim to build momentum over the coming months and years working together on shared campaigns and policy positions. Individual organisations that are a part of the alliance steering group may have unique positions and nuanced approaches to the work but we will continue to advance our vision together and separately on the pathway towards a better system for all children.

Current members of the steering group include AsIAm; Educate Together; Inclusion Ireland; Independent Living Movement Ireland; the National Platform of Self Advocates; Dr. Joanne Banks, assistant professor at the school of education, Trinity College Dublin; Dr. Joe Travers, associate professor at the school of inclusive and special education at the Dublin City University Institute of Education. Dr. Banks and Dr. Travers have joined us today. Our aim is also to form a broader network or forum of individuals interested in the topic of inclusive education and advancing the rights of disabled children in Ireland today. The steering group will shape that work in the coming months. Collaborating and working together towards a shared vision are critical if we want to work towards a fully inclusive model of education.

The purpose of the alliance is outlined in Inclusion Ireland's report, The Pathway to Inclusive Education. The purpose is that broadly we agree to work together towards a time when all children get an opportunity to go to their local school with their siblings and peers. We believe that inclusive communities have their beginnings in education. This vision should not leave out any child, from those who require a small amount of support to access their rights to children who require intensive support and who have traditionally been left out of the mainstream conversation. This vision includes children who are non-speaking, have medical needs and-or psychosocial disabilities and require specific accommodations to access education. We fully believe that all children should have a high-quality educational experience. We are deeply ambitious for children and their futures.

We recognise that inclusive education can be an emotive and complex subject. We want to ensure that we are connected to what is happening in the here and now for children in schools across the country while also beginning to shape the conversation of a vision for a rights-based model of education in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UNCRPD. In light of the review of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act, or EPSEN Act, this year, this conversation is timely and important.

As a steering group, we are aware that there are many myths about inclusive education but it is not about fitting a child into the system as it currently stands. It is rather about imagining a different system in which all children get the same opportunities. For too long disabled children and those with additional educational needs have been forced to fit into narrow boxes – special classes, special schools or mainstream. We want to challenge that kind of thinking. It is not the child who should bend to suit the system and fit into available choices. The system should be universally designed and should bend and flex to suit the child.

When we visualise inclusive education, we sometimes picture all children sitting at desks in a mainstream class all day. This is not real inclusion. Real inclusion is about designing the school so that all children have an opportunity to attend, giving the school the resources, training and support they need and then meeting that child exactly where they are at and supporting them in the way that they need to be supported. Real inclusion is not a neat end destination but is a set of values and beliefs that you belong here, we will support and accept you as you are and will not give up on you. Real inclusion is a process, a pathway or direction of travel, and it is different for every child. It involves the family and sees the school as a central point in developing inclusive communities and in supporting children to value difference.

The NCSE recently published its policy advice. While many children, families and schools welcome this vision, it is also understandable that there can be fear and apprehension about what it means and how we will achieve this goal. There are many real issues facing children in the current system, many of which have led to a lack of trust. It is, therefore, absolutely imperative that trust is built with children, families and school communities. In our view, what is required to make this policy advice a reality is a ten-year implementation plan which is co-created with children, families, schools and communities. This plan must have cross-government, cross-party support and be fully resourced on a multi-annual basis. The plan must be seen as an investment in our education system, one which will have a far-reaching positive impact on all children, not just disabled children or children with additional educational needs.

Building trust also must involve providing information that is clear and accessible to children, families and schools. Publishing a 146-page document without accessible, meaningful information for people can lead to understandably fearful responses. The provision of accessible information is not a luxury add-on but is absolutely central in supporting people to understand the issues and is actually a requirement under Article 21 of the UNCRPD and, indeed, under public sector duty. There are many important principles mentioned in the document, such as universal design and universal design for learning, which we are happy to explore in this session but there is little meaningful engagement with either framework.

What could and should the ten-year plan look like? General comment No. 4 on UNCRPD Article 24 is very helpful in outlining the steps required in progressing an inclusive model of education. These steps must all be included in an inclusive education implementation plan for it to be UNCRPD compliant. The steps include compliance with human rights standards; a clear definition of inclusion; a right to inclusive education; a right of access to necessary support services, including therapeutic supports; new schools built to universal design principles and a timeframe set out for retrofitting; comprehensive quality standards for inclusive education, which may include inclusive pedagogy, such as universal design for learning and trauma-informed practices; and disability inclusive monitoring. Co-creation needs the active involvement of disabled people through DPOs which can inform the direction of policy based on their collective shared analysis and experience of education, including mainstream and segregated education.

The steps also include a need for reasonable accommodations and a link to other legislation with inclusion as a concrete goal. All of these steps are laid out in the UNCRPD and we are happy to explore any of them with the committee.

What would success look like to the alliance in the coming years? The NCSE's inclusive education for an inclusive society policy advice has a published implementation plan which has cross-government and cross-party support. The plan must be UNCRPD compliant. The rest of the steps required are included in the opening statement sent to the committee and we are happy to take questions on them during the meeting.

We look forward to our conversation today. I will hand over to Ms Tamara Byrne, who will share her thoughts on inclusive education as part of our opening statement.