The 2020 Global Education Monitoring Report (GEM Report) Inclusion and Education: All Means All was launched last July 2020. The report comes at a crucial moment, with the global COVID-19 outbreak causing a major education crisis, particularly for the most vulnerable. The GEM Report addresses a broad notion of inclusion, focusing on persons with disabilities and other marginalized groups, as well as intersecting vulnerabilities and discrimination based on gender, location, wealth, disability, ethnicity, language, migration, displacement, sexual orientation, incarceration, religion, and other beliefs and attitudes. It assesses progress made towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG-4) and reminds governments of their obligation to “ensure an inclusive and equitable quality education” for all. This year’s report shows that even before the pandemic, the right to education for all students was far from being achieved, with one out of five children, adolescents, and youth excluded from education.

It alerts decision-makers that the COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated underlying inequalities and “that resistance to addressing every learner’s needs is a real threat to achieving global education targets.” In conclusion, the GEM Report 2020 should be a wake-up call for governments to reform their education systems to ensure the right to education for all.

SDG-4 will only be achieved if education systems provide inclusive education for all at all times. The COVID-19 crisis should not delay our efforts to address the challenges those most vulnerable among us face but accelerate inclusive education policy reforms and implementation. To succeed, the reform process itself must be inclusive and involve representatives of vulnerable groups, as well as teachers, education support personnel, and their unions. Education International will continue to demand the fulfillment of the right to quality public education for all and every educator’s right to decent working conditions.

Source: Education International