Tracking Inclusion: Data Sources On Inclusive Education In Sub-Saharan Africa

The concept of “leave no one behind,” at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), aims to eradicate all types of disadvantage throughout the world. To realize this vision, people with disabilities must be fully included in development efforts. People with disabilities face a multitude of physical, attitudinal, and institutional barriers that put them at high risk of being left behind.

Assessing the need for interventions, designing policies, and evaluating their impact requires high-quality data. This report reviews available data sources regarding disability status and inclusive education across Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Data Sources section discusses the various data sources that contain information on learner disability status, including census data, survey data, and administrative (EMIS) data. The Challenges section reviews issues that make it difficult to use and analyze disability data, including challenges in comparability, sample size, sampling frame, and data availability. Annex A of this report provides data tables with information on school attendance, out-of-school rates, school completion, mean years of school, and literacy rates for learners with disabilities across Sub-Saharan Africa. Annex B provides an explanation of how data were selected and used in this review.