International Day of Persons with Disabilities

International Day of Persons with Disabilities (December 3) is an international observance promoted by the United Nations since 1992. It has been observed with varying degrees of success around the planet. The observance of the Day aims to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. It also seeks to increase awareness of gains to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.

Right to education

The convention's Article 24 states that persons with disabilities should be guaranteed the right to inclusive education at all levels, regardless of age, without discrimination and on the basis of equal opportunity. It specifies that children with disabilities must have effective access to free and compulsory primary and secondary education; adults with disabilities have access to general tertiary education, vocational training, adult education and lifelong learning; and more.

Parties are to take appropriate measures, such as: endorsing the learning of Braille, alternative script, augmentative and alternative modes, means and formats of communication and orientation and mobility skills, and facilitating peer support and mentoring; supporting the learning of sign language and promoting the linguistic identity of the deaf community; advocating that education of persons, particularly children, who are blind and/or deaf, is delivered in the most appropriate languages and means of communication for the individual; and employing teachers, including teachers with disabilities, who are qualified in sign language and/or Braille, and to train education professionals and staff about disability awareness, use of augmentative and alternative modes and formats of communication, and educational techniques and materials to support persons with disabilities.

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities' General Comment Number 4, adopted in August 2016, stressed the importance of inclusive education and condemned segregated education. The Comment was opposed by organizations including the World Blind Union and the World Federation of the Deaf which unsuccessfully argued for a "sensory exception" to recognize the importance of cultural and linguistic rights.