Over the past few decades, various factors have contributed to the evolving diversity in societies, spanning from changing demographic patterns to migration and refugee crises, pandemics and changes in mental health and well-being patterns. These global developments have contributed to increasing diversity and their related different needs within classrooms, in terms of socio-economic, immigrant and Indigenous backgrounds, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, giftedness, and special education needs (SEN). Indeed, results from the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) of 2024 show that in many schools all over the globe, there are significant percentages of students that come from very diverse backgrounds. This increasing diversity has, in many education systems, led to the promotion of policies aimed at strengthening equity and inclusion in their classrooms, often with particular focus on students with SEN.
In a context in which many countries have made progress in improving access to education for students with SEN, systems continue to face difficulties in ensuring that all learners receive the support they need to participate meaningfully in education. Implications of the lack of inclusion of students with SEN span from lower educational attainment that can translate into poorer labour market outcomes in adulthood. Beyond economic consequences, limited inclusion can also affect individuals’ social participation and well-being.
The Education for Inclusive Societies project’s 13th Policy Forum, The inclusion of students with special education needs, discussed this topic over seven sessions with a range of policy experts and researchers. It gathered almost 80 participants from 24 OECD and four non‑OECD countries, the European Union, the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD, EASNIE, UNESCO, UNICEF, OECD analysts and other stakeholders.