A/HRC/40/27 Teachers should be trained to assess pupils’ strengths and needs, and to adapt their teaching programmes and methodologies accordingly. They should be trained also to engage collaboratively with other professionals, work in partnership with parents, use available technologies in order to support learning, and monitor the success of the approaches employed. As a priority, States should invest in and support the recruitment and continuous education of teachers with disabilities, who bring unique expertise and skills into the learning environment, help to break down barriers and serve as important role models for students with disabilities. 4. Gender equality 46. Special attention should be paid to ensuring full access to inclusive education for girls with disabilities, who often face additional barriers due to intersecting forms of discrimination and exclusion. When parents refuse to send girls with disabilities to school, the State has a duty to intervene to protect the child’s right to education, including by addressing the lack of value placed on the education of girls. 31 The consequences are telling: women with disabilities have markedly lower rates of literacy and employment when compared to both women and men in general, and even to men with disabilities. 32 Girls with disabilities are also particularly vulnerable to violence and abuse, including sexual violence, in educational settings. 33 States must take special measures to prevent gender-based violence in educational settings, and tackle gender stereotyping. Such measures should include the elimination of negative gender stereotypes from textbooks and curricula.34 5. Resource allocation 47. Inclusive education cannot be fully implemented without the allocation of adequate financial recourses. For instance, in Ireland, almost 19 per cent of the overall education budget is allocated to additional support for children, including for, in particular, those with disabilities. The allocation covers teaching assistant posts, learning support/resource teacher posts, teacher training and continuous professional development, an assistive technology scheme, school transport arrangements, and modifications to school buildings. It is, however, important to stress that inclusive education does not necessarily require larger public spending, especially considering the long-term perspective. It has been empirically shown that maintaining segregated, separate and parallel education systems is more expensive and less sustainable than inclusive education models. Collaborative work between students, parental involvement in the classroom and teacher problem-solving and mutual support have been shown to be effective. Some of the most innovative developments in inclusive education have been witnessed in low-income countries, such as the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Morocco, Uganda, Viet Nam and Yemen.35 6. Data collection and disaggregation 48. To understand gaps and identify those who have been left behind, article 31 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities requires the State to collect information and to disaggregate data in order to identify and address barriers faced by children with disabilities. 36 The Sustainable Development Goals echo the obligation of States to make available high-quality, timely and reliable data disaggregated by several grounds, including gender, age and disability (target 17.18). Various types of qualitative and quantitative data are needed, including information on the type of impairment, the barriers encountered and the support provided, and the impact on the family’s situation. Disaggregated information specifically on the areas considered in the present report, such 31 32 33 34 35 36 Ibid., paras. 39 and 46. See United Nations, United Nations Flagship Report, pp. 137–138. Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, general comment No. 4, para. 51. Ibid., para. 46. Peter Mittler, Overcoming Exclusion: Social Justice through Education (London, Routledge, 2013). Also recommended by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in its general comments No. 5 and No. 9; see also CRC/C/ERI/CO/4, para. 20, CRC/C/HND/CO/4-5, para. 16, CRC/C/GHA/CO/3-5, para. 16, CRC/C/MEX/CO/4-5, para. 46 and CRC/C/NDL/CO/4, para. 17. 13