ABSTRACT
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2006 seeks to promote the equality rights of people with disabilities and particularly focuses on the rights of Children with Disabilities (CWDs) in the context of education. Despite the basic legal framework at the international level on the issue, there is no centralized world enforcer unlike in the national systems, so it is key to examine the latter to assess the success or failure of their implementation. The authors assess the existing legal regime in two diverse countries on inclusive education for CWDs. India and Canada are countries that have both ratified these conventions. However, while India has incorporated these principles into the domestic law, Canada lacks a specific national legislation on point. The right to inclusive education for CWDs is recognized by India under its policies and statutes, but it suffers from incongruities in policies and gaps in the implementation of law.
Canada does not possess any specific legislation for protecting inclusive education for CWDs, although inequality in general is protected, and “adequate special education” is specifically recognized by the apex court. The authors attempt to trace the international law under the dictate of CRPD, particularly Article 24. Specifically, India and Canada are taken as case studies of national jurisdictions to map the developing jurisprudence on the issue, and to scrutinize the existing legal challenges and the adoption of progressive measures to provide answers to the existing legal prism in other countries.
