Comparative Study - Inclusion Policy in 17 European Countries

In the light of the European Project “Sports and Physical Activity for persons with Disabilities- Awareness, Understanding, Action”, a report on the current situation of the inclusion policy in the 17 participating countries was drawn up.

In this report, 3 aspects of the European policies are addressed: Inclusion policy for youngsters with disabilities with regards to (1) physical education, (2) sports and (3) employment.

This report is only a brief overview of differences and similarities between different European policies. The full national reports can be found on the national pages of our website.

Inclusion Policy in physical education

In most European Countries, there is a tendency to promote inclusive education as the preferred option over separate education. One of the pioneers on inclusive education is Norway . Since 1975, the Norwegian law of one public school for all children came into effect. Other European countries followed later with similar laws promoting the inclusion of children with disabilities in general education. At the moment, 8 ( Belgium , Norway , Italy , Greece , Finland , Germany , Portugal and Hungary ) out of the 17 countries report a law regulating full inclusion of children with disabilities. There are some differences within the formulation of the national laws going from the principle of one school for all, to the right of enrolment in the school of choice or the obligation of each school to accept and accommodate all students.

Seven countries ( Bulgaria , Ireland , Czech Republic , Poland , Spain , France and Slovakia ) report that their national policy promotes inclusion as the preferred option but offer some exceptions. These exceptions can be based on the fact that schools are not prepared to cater for students with disabilities. Another reason for exclusion of pupils with disabilities can be the type or the extent of the disability. Lithuania and Latvia report there is no official policy to include children with disabilities into mainstream education. Although several countries have made good progress during the last few years, reality is often far from official rules and regulations. Main reasons to deny children with disabilities access to mainstream education are: lack of appropriate facilities, lack of support staff and lack of knowledge. Another reason for separate education is the fact that parents and caregivers often perceive separate education as the best option for severely disabled children. Portugal and Norway report the highest number of children with disabilities included in general education, respectively 99.5 and 93 %.

There is less information available on laws and regulations with regards to inclusion in PE and School sports. PE is often perceived as a less important subject. Although it is a compulsory subject in mainstream education in all countries, most countries report children with disabilities in inclusive settings are often excused from PE sessions. The main reasons for exclusion of children with disabilities from general PE classes are medical reasons, lack of knowledge of teachers how to adapt their classes, lack of status of PE as compared to other classes and lack of adapted materials and facilities.

This problem is acknowledged throughout Europe . A few countries report special efforts to include children with special educational needs (SEN) in general PE classes, mostly by improving the knowledge of current and future practitioners ( Norway , Czech Republic ). In Ireland , guidelines are currently been written on how to teach PE to children with learning and physical disabilities at junior level.

Some countries report separate schoolsport events for special schools and SEN children (Bulgaria , Belgium ). In Italy , there has been a spontaneous integration in schoolsport through the general integration on local level. However, in official national school competitions, there is no integration.

Inclusion policy in sports and physical activity

Most countries report officially recognised sports organisations on recreational level as well as on elite level. Recreational sports and activities are often a responsibility of municipalities whereas elite sports are often recognised in the national sports policies and supported by the state. Norway is the only country with an official policy on inclusion of sports organisations for people with disabilities into able-bodied sports organisations. The Norwegian Confederation of sports confirmed in 1996 that their goal was to overtake all responsibilities of sports for the disabled by 2015. In the future, the Norwegian Disabled Sports federation will mainly act as an advisory institution.

This integration policy results in obvious social advantages for people with disabilities and able-bodied sportsmen. The inclusion will enrich the life of each participant and create an enlarged social network. There are also some financial and practical advantages, people will be able to share infrastructure, materials, coaches etc.

None of the other countries have any legislation on the inclusion of disabled sports organisations into mainstream sports organisations. However, Belgium and Czech Republic report to have some inclusive sports clubs (tennis, soccer, basketball). Bulgaria , Ireland and Slovakia report some local initiatives with regards to inclusive sports. Mainly, the organisation of inclusive sports takes place on a personal base and depends of the goodwill of the sports organisations. Every country officially recognises the importance of sports for people with disabilities, either through their official sports policy ( Finland , Norway , Bulgaria ) or through the general non-discrimination act. However in some countries government funding is limited ( Latvia , Ireland ). Only a few countries reported on an official policy with regards to equality and sports. Mostly, there is no specific legislation promoting this equality. In this case, sports fit under the general non-discrimination law.

Inclusion policy in employment for youngsters with a disability

In November 2000, all European member states undertook an act to prohibit discrimination of people with disabilities on the labour market, in the workplace and in vocational training. One of the major focal points of the EU Anti-discrimination directive at that time was to provide reasonable accommodation, a workplace fitted to the needs of people with disabilities.

In the light of the European Year of People with Disabilities (2003), a survey was completed with regards to employment rate of persons with a disability in Europe in 2002 (Statistics in focus, population and social conditions, theme 3- 26/2003). In the group of Persons with a long-standing health problem or disability (LSHPD) a significantly lower employment rate was found. Only 18.8 % of the severely disabled were employed as compared to 68 % of people without LSHPD. Only 15,9 % of working people with work restrictions were provided with some assistance. All these figures vary widely among European countries. To the authors’ knowledge, no exact numbers per country were published. These numbers show that despite earlier commitments made, there is still a lot of work to be done in this field. In the national reports presented by our project, some national laws and regulations with regards to promoting the employment of persons with LSHPD are reported.

Some recurrent measures throughout Europe : are financial support for employers and employees, support in vocational training and support for improving accessibility in the workplace. A few countries ( Belgium , Greece , Poland , Ireland ) report to have employment quota for public institutions or in the private sector as a mean to promote the integration of people with a disability into the workplace. Often, these quota exist but are not being operationalised by the authorities.

More information on the employment situation can be found in the national reports.