Inclusion in schools: urgent need for action for children with disabilities!

Inclusion in schools: urgent need for action for children with disabilities!

Wien, Österreich - Vienna, March 20, 2025-On the occasion of the international world-down syndrome day, which will be committed on March 21, the Catholic Family Association of Austria (KFÖ) focused on government plans for school inclusion. President Peter Mender praised the positive aspects, including the announced implementation of the 11th and 12th school year for children with disabilities, emphasized the urgency of realization. However, this measure, which benefits many affected families, is under a budget reservation. The introduction of an independent teacher training for inclusion and special education as well as the increase in the cap for special educational support were also recognized as steps in the right direction. Mender demanded that all students who need this support should actually receive the necessary resources. In addition, the planned all-day care is welcomed to inclusive schools in order to offer families with children with disabilities a freedom of choice and the best possible funding, such as kathpress.at reported.

challenges of inclusion in Germany

In Germany, a large number of empirical studies show, including that of the Berlin Science Center for Social Research, that the school inclusion is slowly progressing according to the UN Disabled Rights Convention of 2009. There are serious differences in the implementation, especially in Bavaria, as evidenced by the investigations by inclusion expert Hans Wocken. Many teachers feel left in inclusive lessons and report a lack of support. According to a survey by the Bavarian Teachers' Association (BLLV), 97 percent of the teachers surveyed believe that inclusion is difficult to implement under current conditions. They demand that children with special needs are counted triple in the budgeting in order to obtain more time and resources for individual funding. In fact, the Free State has only created 1,100 new jobs since 2011, which are often only partially occupied by qualified staff, which further strengthens the challenges of inclusive lessons, as Deutsches-schulportal.de