Context: Cildren with disabilities face significant disadvantages in Jordan. The Jordanian Ministry of Education estimates that more than two thirds of them are not in school. Children from families with a refugee background are particularly at risk.
While considerable progress has been made in Jordan on the politcial level, schools are struggling to put inclusive education into practice. A lack of knowledge and skills on implementing inclusion, inadequately prepared teachers and overcrowded classrooms make it difficult to meet the needs of all children and to create a learning environment that caters for vulnerable children especially those with disabilities.
Objective:The Jordanian Ministry of Education is successfully implementing the Inclusive Education Strategy.
Approach:The project’s work has four priority areas:
• Education policy: The project supports the Jordanian Ministry of Education to better plan, coordinate and consider children with disabilities in education policy.
• Cooperation with schools: Together with the Ministry of Education, the project supports a total of 60 schools in putting inclusion into practice. For example, schools might improve teaching methods, offer creative project weeks, or hold events for parents on the subject of inclusion.
• Training for teachers: The project is working with the Ministry of Education on developing and running seminars and training sessions for teachers and Ministry staff. The aim is to enable teachers to work with all children individually even in large classes and to design their lessons to allow children to learn based on their abilities. This will contribute to ensuring that all children, especially children with disabilities, can participate in learning.
• Awareness of inclusive education: The project also supports the Ministry of Education in implementing events, media campaigns and art project weeks to foster inclusion and break down prejudices around children with disabilities at schools, in the community and at a national level.