ABSTRACT
The idea of inclusive education is gaining ground in many parts of the world. It was given further impetus by the UNESCO World Conference on Special Needs Education, held in Salamanca, Spain, in 1994. The conference considered the future direction of the special needs field in the light of international efforts to ensure the rights of all children to receive basic education. It examined how far special needs is part of this ‘Education for All’ movement. In other words, is the aim to move towards a unified system of schooling that is capable of responding to all children as individuals, or to continue with the tradition of parallel systems whereby some children receive separate forms of education?
