Financing special needs and inclusive education – from Salamanca to the present

ABSTRACT

The focus of this paper is upon an examination of the ‘direction of travel’ in European countries from special needs education to inclusive education – a development influenced by the Salamanca Statement. The 1994 Salamanca Statement argued that inclusive schools provide ‘an effective education for the majority of children and improve the efficiency and ultimately the cost-effectiveness of the entire education system’ (ix). Underpinning this assertion are issues around special needs and inclusive education are financed. The paper will examine the degree to which the critical issue of financing has – or has not – changed across European countries since Salamanca. This examination takes retrospective look at key issues identified in the European Agency 1999 study of funding models for special education in 17 European countries, compared and contrasted with those identified in a 2016 study of approaches to funding inclusive education in 18 European countries. This paper argues that the essential issues underpinning their financing mechanisms have changed very little. For many European countries, changing systems of financing of inclusive education can still be seen as a key lever for achieving the goal of more widespread inclusion of learners with special educational needs, as outlined in the 1994 Salamanca Statement.

KEYWORDS:

• Europe
• inclusive education policy
• financing
• funding models
• resourcing mechanisms
• capacity building

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Cor J. W. Meijer (PhD) is the Director of the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education since 2005. In his former position as staff member of the Agency, he was responsible for major European-wide projects such as special provision and inclusion in Europe, Financing of special needs education in Europe and Classroom Practice studies. He has acted as consultant on special needs issues to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and various other national and international bodies (European Union, UNESCO).

Amanda Watkins (PhD) is Assistant Director with the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education. She is responsible for various European level activities and co-ordinates international projects focussing upon topics such as country policy review and analysis and statistical data collection to inform policy-making. She has published widely at European and international levels, including co-authoring a recent research study on learners with disabilities for the Petitions Committee of the European Parliament.

Notes

1 Austria, Belgium (Flemish and French communities), Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom.

2 Austria, Belgium (Flemish and French communities), Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales).

3 Austria, Belgium (Flemish and French Communities), Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, UK (England and Wales combined). Available to download in full from: https://www.european-agency.org/sites/default/files/financing-of-special-needs-education_Financing-EN.pdf

4 Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom (England, Scotland and Wales). Available to download in full from: https://www.european-agency.org/resources/publications/financing-inclusive-education-mapping-country-systems-inclusive-education