The Challenge of Inclusive Education in Sub-Saharan Africa

This report documents the challenge of achieving inclusive education in Africa. Primary school completion rates are 10 percentage points lower for girls with disabilities than for girls without disabilities. For boys, the disability gap in primary completion rates is 13 points. Gaps are also large for secondary education completion and children with disabilities are much more likely to never enroll in school at all. In essence, children with disabilities are being left behind by efforts to improve education opportunities for all. Investing in the education of children with disabilities is required from a rights perspective, but it is also a smart investment. Indeed, apart from a wide range of other benefits from educational attainment, the labor market returns to education for individuals with disabilities are large and similar order to the returns observed for other individuals.