A Right, Not an Afterthought

Despite international commitments, millions of learners with visual impairment remain excluded from education systems. Inclusion is too often treated as an afterthought—rather than being embedded in national policies, budgets, and classrooms from the start.

Inclusive education is not just a policy goal—it is a binding obligation under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD, 2006). As reaffirmed in the Global Disability Inclusion Report (2025), it is essential to ensuring all learners can learn, thrive, and contribute fully to society.

What Inclusive Education Means

Inclusive education ensures that every learner—regardless of disability, gender, language, or background—has the right to quality education close to home and with the support they need to thrive (UNESCO GEM, 2023; UNICEF, 2023).

It’s about designing systems where no one is left out of learning, community life, or opportunities for the future.

For learners with visual impairment, inclusion may involve:

Teaching methods such as braille, tactile tools, tactile signing for learners who are deafblind, and digital accessibility, tailored to each learner’s needs.
Learning environments—mainstream or specialized—that are age-appropriate, supportive, and foster belonging.
Active partnerships with families, learners, and communities to shape educational planning and services.
National policies and budgets planned, funded, and monitored to secure equitable access and inclusion across all education systems (UN Flagship Report, 2023; GEM Africa Spotlight, 2023).

Beyond the classroom, inclusion also means participating fully in everyday life—reading signs in public spaces, accessing leisure and cultural events, traveling safely, and engaging in community activities without barriers.

Yet barriers persist even in accessing knowledge itself. Globally, fewer than 10% of published materials are available in accessible formats like braille, audio, or large print—a situation often called the “book famine.” The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) works to address this inequity through the Marrakesh Treaty and initiatives like the Accessible Books Consortium (ABC), a public-private partnership hosted by WIPO. However, significant gaps remain (WIPO, 2023).

ICEVI contributes to these global efforts through advocacy and collaboration. One example is our upcoming Global Braille Literacy Campaign (2026), which will focus on raising awareness, building partnerships, and improving access to braille learning resources as a foundation for lifelong inclusion.

"Inclusive education is not a favor - it is a right. When we design systems that include children with visual impairment from the start, we create a world that sees every learner as worthy of investment, dignity, and opportunity.”

Gertrude Oforiwa Fefoame, President, ICEVI

Real-World Barriers:

Learners with visual impairment face unique barriers, including:

Distance and safe travel to accessible schools, especially in rural or remote areas.
Lack of accessible teaching materials, trained teachers, or assistive technologies.
Digital divides that limit access to online learning tools and resources.
Gender bias and cultural norms that may exclude girls and other marginalized learners with disabilities.
Limited mobility support and environmental barriers that make it difficult to navigate schools or public spaces safely (WHO/World Bank, 2011; GEM Africa Spotlight, 2023).
Crises such as conflict, displacement, and climate disasters that disrupt learning and often exclude learners with disabilities from emergency responses (UNESCO GEM, 2023; Humanitarian Inclusion Standards, 2022).

These barriers are not abstract—they affect real children every day. For example, in Sub-Saharan Africa, children with visual impairment are more than twice as likely to experience blindness as those in high-income countries (IAPB Vision Atlas, 2023). Many live far from accessible schools or lack the assistive technology they need to participate fully in learning.

UNESCO warns that inclusion is often the first priority cut when resources run short, yet the costs of exclusion far exceed the investment required for inclusive systems (UNESCO GEM, 2023; UNICEF, 2023).

"Through my collaboration with ICEVI, I’ve witnessed a transformative shift in the region’s approach to inclusive education... Our collective efforts, including the EFA-VI campaign, have resulted in over 105,000 additional enrolments of deserving children across 24 countries.”

 Akhil Paul, Second Vice President, ICEVI

Why It’s Urgent:

Inclusive education is not simply a policy goal—it’s an international legal obligation under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD, 2006).

Yet recent reports highlight alarming gaps:

Only a fraction of global education aid explicitly targets learners with disabilities (UNESCO GEM, 2023).
Data remain incomplete, leaving many learners invisible in planning, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (UNESCO GEM SDG 4 Scorecard, 2025; UN Flagship Report, 2023).
In Sub-Saharan Africa, barriers like distance, mobility challenges, and lack of assistive devices continue to limit access to education for learners with disabilities (GEM Africa Spotlight, 2023).
UNICEF warns that children with disabilities remain among the most invisible and excluded groups in education systems worldwide (UNICEF, 2023).

Without urgent systemic change, millions of learners with visual impairment will remain unseen and unheard in the decisions that shape their futures.

That’s why ICEVI partners with educators, governments, civil society, and people with lived experience—to ensure inclusion is never an afterthought, but the starting point for building equitable education systems.

Did You Know?

Only a small fraction of global education aid specifically targets learners with disabilities (UNESCO GEM, 2023).
In crises, disability inclusion is often neglected from emergency education responses (Humanitarian Inclusion Standards, 2022).
In Sub-Saharan Africa, learners with disabilities face significant barriers like lack of mobility support, distance, and missing assistive devices (GEM Africa Spotlight, 2023).
Few countries collect reliable data on learners with disabilities, leaving them invisible in policy and funding plans (UN Flagship Report, 2023; GEM SDG 4 Scorecard, 2025).
Over 1 billion people live with visual impairment globally—including 2 million children who are blind and 30 million with moderate to severe vision loss. Many remain excluded from education systems worldwide (IAPB Vision Atlas, 2023).
Less than 10% of the world’s published works are accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired, contributing to the global “book famine” (WIPO, 2023).
ICEVI’s Global Braille Literacy Campaign (2026) will focus on improving braille access and literacy worldwide.

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Take Action for Inclusive Education

Inclusive education is not an add-on—it’s a right. Together, we can help ensure every learner with visual impairment has the chance to learn, thrive, and contribute fully to society.