In Rio de Janeiro, on 24, 25 and 26 March 2003, the workshop "Inclusive Education in Brazil – Diagnosis of Current Situation and Challenges for the Future" was held. The workshop was promoted by the World Bank in partnership with the Education Department of the City of Rio de Janeiro and the Instituto Helena Antipoff. The workshop brought together specialists from the areas of applied statistics, curricular adaptation, accessibility; development of pedagogical material, assistance technology, human resource skill improvement, public policies and relations with the family and the community, as well as other professionals, members of the government and representatives of civil society.
The objective of the event was to present data and successful and/or innovative experiences from the area of inclusive education, identifying problems and proposing interdisciplinary solutions for improving the practices used. The workshop was partially funded by funds from Japan and Portugal, channelled through the World Bank. Disabled People’s International-Japan was a direct partner in the organisation of the event while CNOTINFOR of Portugal was also a partner, directly involved in preparing the reports and studies and handling the discussions that took place after the event.
As participation in the Rio workshop was restricted to only 120 people and there was an enormous call for information in the area of Inclusive Education to be shared, the project established an Internet discussion list, open to all, with the objective of extending the discussion and consultations on the theme beyond the limits of the event.
The joint official languages of the list were Portuguese and Spanish. The list followed the basic concepts of Internet accessibility. The discussions, moderated by World Bank consultants, lasted for six weeks and analysed the main theme – Inclusive Education – through the six basic project areas, namely:
At the end of the discussions held during the workshop and through the Internet list, detailed reports on each of the above areas and the final event report were prepared. These documents are available in Portuguese, Spanish and English.
In addition to the workshop and the Internet discussion, the World Bank, through local consultants, also carried out studies that were complementary to the project objectives, namely:
All the documents generated by the project are available on the Internet on www.cnotinfor.pt/inclusiva or by post, on request from Ricardo Silveira (rsilveira@worldbank.org).
The project has provided the World Bank with knowledge on different models, experiences and opinions gathered from education system professionals and users from all over the country. This information will certainly contribute towards directing the Bank’s policies in this area and generating possibilities for technical and financial cooperation for the development and implementation of inclusive public policies in Brazil, in other Latin American countries and throughout the world.
With the project now at its end, the World Bank team feels tremendously enriched by the experience and would like to thank all those who participated in this process: partners, organisers, consultants, professionals and members of the community involved.
For the World Bank, opportunities like this are fundamental for generating the knowledge necessary for planning and developing top quality programmes that meet the demands of the community most directly involved with the question of Inclusive Education.
Ricardo Rocha Silveira
Economista Sênior
Programa de Educação para América Latina e Caribe
Banco Mundial,
Room #: I 7-021, 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20433 EUA.
Phone/Fax: 1(202)453-8490
E-mail: rsilveira@worldbank.org
Rosangela Berman Bieler
Consultant,
Disability & Development,
Human Development Department
Latin-America and The Caribbean Region
World Bank
Room #: I 7-024B
1818 H Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20433 USA
Phone: 1(202)458-4118
Fax: 1(202)522-0050
E-mail: rbermanbieler@worldbank.org