1.The fourth session of the Task Force on Education for all Children and Youth with Disabilities was opened by Ms Penny Price. Apologies were presented for Mr Bill Brohier, Co-cordinator, who was unable to attend the session. The session was attended by 24 members, including 5 government representatives, and representatives of UNESCAP, UNESCO and WHO and World Bank.

2.The following agenda was adopted:

1. Welcome.
2. Report of TF EFA activities.
3. Presentation by Dr Pupulin, WHO, on early detection of children with disabilities.
4. Participant reports and discussion on action to implement Biwako Millennium Framework (BMF) education targets.
5. UNESCO Flagship on Disability.
6. Other Matters

1. TF EFA had been invited to attend SRF/TWG on EFA on a regular basis. The first meeting had been held in February 2003 and the next meeting was scheduled to take place on 16 June 2003. Attendance enabled advocacy for focused attention on children with disabilities and requested inclusion in all initiatives undertaken by agencies represented, particularly UNESCO and UNICEF.
2. Advocacy to UNICEF protesting closure of focal point on disability. A letter had been written to Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF, requesting continued attention to the issue of disability and the rights of children with disabilities to equal access to education.
3. A paper on the education of children with disabilities had been presented to the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat Meeting of Ministers of Education, December 2002. The paper had been prepared jointly by ESCAP Pacific Office, ESCAP Disability programme, and DPI Oceania.
4. Meetings are planned with relevant UN and other agencies to discuss collaboration in implementation of BMF targets on early detection, early intervention and education.
5. Close communication with Ms Judy Heumann, Disability Adviser to World Bank, on World Bank research into situation of children with disabilities and professional development for inclusive education. Research undertaken with a view to providing guidelines for most effective forms for projects of World Bank to take in promoting the education of children with disabilities.

1. Dr Pupulin gave a brief report of the CBR Meeting held in Helsinki in May 2003. The meeting was attended by representatives of 60 countries and all UN agencies with the exception of UNESCAP. 60 Governments were present and all stakeholders including Disabled Persons' Organizations, (DPOs), INGOs, NGOs. Recommendations would be made available in July 2003.
2. DR Pupulin reported on progress of a WHO project to develop a scientifically validated screening test for early detection of infants and young children under the age of 3 years. Field tests had been undertaken in India, Uganda, Sri Lanka and UNICEF would conduct further trials of a modified version in Egypt in September 2003. The test needed to be scientifically valid to avoid false negatives and false positive identification, and it needed to be able to be administered by Primary Health Care workers in a 5 minute time period.
   
   The test was an important contribution towards the achievement of target 9 in the Biwako Millennium Framework (BMF), policy guideline for the second Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, 2003-2012. Dr Pupulin reported that the test would be available in 6 countries in the UNESCAP region in 2004.

Timor Leste

It was reported that the social situation and the situation for children with disabilities in Timor Leste was extremely difficult. All of the infrastructure had been destroyed, and it was necessary to make a completely new start. Support had been received from Rehabilitation International, and a survey and awareness raising had been conducted. Policy was being developed. At present there is only one special school and a lack of trained teachers. UNICEF is not concerned with children with disabilities in Timor Leste. Assistance was being received from a number of INGOs.

UNESCO

Mr Olof Sandkull, the new UNESCO representative to TF EFA introduced himself to the group. He is the focal point on disability within the Bangkok office, responsible for human rights and education, EFA and inclusive education.

UNESCO has education projects in Indonesia, Cambodia and Bangladesh and is currently developing a Tool Kit For Creating Inclusive, Learning-Friendly Environments.

Parent groups

A representative spoke on the importance of early intervention and the need for availability from the age of 3 years. Parents were the first to identify needs, and the formation of parent groups was very important for support and for advocacy to seek community support.

Roi Et Education and Rehabilitation Centre for the Blind in Thailand

CBR programme has been in operation since 1987. There has been more focus on education since Thailand passed the Education Act in 1999. Most children in the CBR community attend a school for blind children, but some attend local schools.

Malaysia

Amendments to the Education Act make education compulsory. The Ministry of Education is instituting changes and making schools more accessible.

Lao PDR

Lao PDR has a very successful inclusive education programme which has been systematically developed. There are 180 inclusive schools in 80 provinces, including children with mild and moderate disabilities.

DRRA Bangladesh

NGO agency promoting community approaches with community schools which are regular schools and inclusive. Children and parents are prepared for inclusion in regular schools.

NFOWD Bangladesh

Education has been a weak area in terms of Government policy and action. Education of children with disability is not under the Ministry of Education. NGOs provide the main school access for children with disability but reaches a low percentage of children. The National Forum has a task force on education which is working to change government policy.

Pakistan

Special Education is not under the Ministry of Education but under the Ministry of Women Development, Social Welfare and Special Education. There is an EFA project designed to train regular teachers to teach children with disabilities. The Directorate General of Special Education prepared this Project and The National Institute of Special Education (NISE) will hold the training courses from July 2003 for the teachers of regular schools both in Federal and Provincial settings. Some children with mild disability are already attending regular schools.

World Bank

The World Bank Office in Bangkok is the hub for programs in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, and Thailand. The Bank has education officers and ongoing or planned education projects/analytical work for each country. Currently, the Bank is preparing its Country Assistance Strategies for Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Mongolia.

World Federation of the Deaf (Japan)

Training is very limited for teachers in terms of special skills and expertise to teach children with disabilities. Persons with disabilities should be encouraged to train as teachers. The education system in Japan is rigid and difficult to change.

Disability Australia

Inclusive education is widely available in Australia but teacher training and professional development lags behind. Parents are supporting good schools. The major issue in inclusive education is how to change teacher training and get the required expertise into schools.

CDD Bangladesh

CDD is engaged in integrating disability issues into mainstream development. Education issues are addressed through 3 structures:

• Technical skill training on disability and the inclusion of early detection and early intervention in education
• Non-formal education sector provides the most opportunity for access to school for children with disabilities. 70 per cent of non-formal schools include children with disabilities. CDD provides teacher training for the non-formal sector.
• CDD is an active member of NFOWD and of the Task Force on EFA, engaged in situation analysis, advice and advocacy to Government and NGOs.

NFOWD has been unsuccessful in getting education for children with disabilities placed in the Ministry of Education. Surveys have been conducted and good practices documented. Partnerships with UNESCO, UNICEF and ICEVI have resulted in assistance with educational materials (UNICEF) and teacher training for inclusive education (ICEVI).

No new information was available on the Flagship, now located in Norway

The Task Force reviewed its present functioning and purpose and made the following decisions:

1. To strengthen the information sharing and networking - with renewed emphasison two-way communication
2. Continuation of its advocacy function
3. Consideration of concrete action that can be taken to support implementation of the early detection, early intervention and education targets of BMF by members of the Task Force and through the development of partnerships with UN and other regional agencies.
4. Information gathering and research at the local level to obtain information that can help provide an accurate picture of the situation within the region; consideration was given to working with partners engaged in regional research, such as Professor Sato who is a member of TWGDC.
5. To advocate for membership of TF EFA in the Flagship on Disability.

List of TF EFA members who attended the meeting on 5 June 2003:

Name	Organization	E-mail
Graham Smith	Disability Australia	grasm@connexus.net.au
Enam Hoque	Jesh Foundation, Bangladesh	JESH@agni.com enam@planet.net.au
Khandaker Jahurul Alam	NFOWD, Bangladesh	nfowd@bdmail.net csid@bdonline.com
Nazmul Bari	CDD, Bangladesh	cdd@bangla.net
Noman Khan	CDD Bangladesh	cdd@bangla.net
Farida Yesmin	DRRA, Bangladesh	sila@dhaka.agni.com
Shoji Nakanishi	DPI-AP, Japan	humancare@nifty.com
Etsuko Ueno	JSRPD, Japan	eueno@dinf.ne.jp
Eiichi Takada	WFD A/P, Japan	info@jfd.or.jp
Machiko Takagi	Sign interpreter
Yoshimi Hida	Sign interpreter
Singkham Takounphak	LDPA. Lao PDR	ldpa@laotel.com
Xoukiet Panyanouvong	LDPA, Lao PDR	ldpa@laotel.com
Muniandy Vengidasalam	Dept. of Social Welfare,Malaysia	gkvmuniandy@yahoo.com
Abdul Shakoor	Special Education Centre Pakistan
Muhammad Shafi	National Institute of Special Education Pakistan	mehrshafi@hotmail.com
Dr Enrico Pupulin	WHO, Switzerland	pupuline@who.int
Olof Sandkull	UNESCO, Thailand	o.sandkull@unescobkk
Poranee Louineau	Parents' Association, Bangkok	Wandeech@web.com
Satapon Mongkolsrisawat	Roi Et Education and Rehab Centre, Thailand	sataphon@cscoms.com
Penny Price	UNESCAP, Thailand	penelopej2000@yahoo.com
Kirk Horton	Hilton/Perkins Programme Thailand	panna@mozart.inet.co.th
Minna Hahn	World Bank, Thailand	mhahn@worldbank.org
Mayuri Hirata	Embassy of Japan	mayuri.hirata@eoj.arccyber.com
Amandio Amaral Freitas	Secretary of State,Ministry of Labour and Solidarity, Timor Leste	amandio_freitas@yahoo.com