Capacity Building Workshop to Support the Implementation of Inclusive and Comprehensive Education in Lebanon

التعليم للجميع

2022 - 10 - 10

The UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in the Arab States (UNESCO Beirut) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for West Asia (ESCWA) organized a two-day national capacity-building workshop (6-7 October 2022). The training was focused on 14 modules jointly developed by the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in the Arab States and ESCWA with funding and support from the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief) within the framework of their joint resource development project “Education is Peace”.

The workshop was held at the UNESCO Regional Bureau in Beirut and brought together 25 trainers, coaches, teachers, mentors, instructors in Lebanon or training program administrators specialized in teacher training.

The objective of the training was to strengthen ties, exchange information and knowledge on special needs education policies and provide participants with the necessary tools and skills to improve the quality of education and increase participation rates for learners with special needs.

The training was held within the framework of the five-year plan for general education as well as higher education in Lebanon, with the aim of contributing to building a national policy for inclusive education for learners with special needs and learning difficulties.

On the first day of the workshop, participants were introduced to the 14 modules on inclusive education, as well as to different concepts related to inclusive education, including discussions on type of special needs, teaching methodologies, the role of families, communities, school and learning community in creating an environment conducive to learning. A brief presentation was given emphasizing the work, achievements as well as key challenges facing the promotion of inclusive education.

Participants discussed different strategies to develop simple curricular content to help students with special needs to achieve quality inclusive education. They also shared about how to evaluate the public policies to uphold every person’s right to be a valuable contributor to the community at large. Furthermore, they tackled changes and modifications in content, approaches, structures, policies and strategies.

On the second day, participants deliberated on inclusive education in emergencies, distance learning for children with special needs and provided concrete recommendations based on their experience in inclusive education.

On the sideline of the workshop, UNESCO conducted an interview with Dr Alaa Sebeh, Regional Adviser on Disability, Inclusive Social Development Section/Social Development Division at ESCWA.

Asked about the current status of inclusive education in Arab states and the Middle East, Dr Alaa Sebeh affirmed that Arab countries have undertaken various measures and made significant progress in inclusive education over the last decades, however, they have not realised the aspired objective of ensuring the full inclusion of persons with special needs to ensure that no one is left behind.

He emphasized the importance of early intervention for children with special needs that involves timely provision of an optimal nurturing and learning environment that aims to maximise developmental and health outcomes and remove the barrier of functional limitations. He explained that “early intervention is the first stage of a comprehensive life course model of care that is more effective if delivered across all environments, including home, child care, other educational settings and all places that children access”.

About the role of persons with special needs, Dr Sebeh asserted that they are key partners and they must be involved in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of national e-accessibility policies, recommendations and regulations, based on the principle of “nothing about us without us”.

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