ABSTRACT
The Salamanca UNESCO Forum (1994) called for inclusive principles to operate in education, and recognised that no matter how dedicated the teachers, there are serious hazards in segregated schooling even for pupils with significant learning difficulties (UNESCO, 1994). In 2000, the Dacca Forum called for national education systems to take account of the poor and most disadvantaged ‘including working children, remote rural dwellers and nomads, and ethnic and linguistic minorities, children, young people and adults affected by conflict, HIV/AIDS, hunger and poor health, and those with special learning needs’ (UNESCO, 2000). The issue of satisfactory schooling for severely socio-culturally disadvantaged pupils unites various of these agendas. I will discuss two approaches that have contributed to some progress regarding the complex and often stubborn problems of meeting their educational needs.
