20,000 European children with intellectual disabilities are getting no education at all.
- monicasemedo6
- Nov 30, 2023
- 2 min read
Updated: Dec 4, 2023
European Day of Persons with Disabilities 2023
In the framework of the European Day of Persons with Disabilities 2023, I hosted an event in the European Parliament to present the Inclusion Indicators 2023 report by Inclusion Europe.
The report covers 7 key aspects of the daily life of people with disabilities:
Right to decide and right to vote
Right to live independently and to be included in the community
Housing and support
Education
Employment
Healthcare
Representation
Education is on a good path in most European countries, but 700,000 children with learning disabilities are in special schools and there are 20,000 children with intellectual disabilities getting no education at all. Education is key and without education, they can find even more barriers in the future to access employment, housing, reaching independence or developing the critical thinking to live independently and integrate in society with equal conditions as everyone else.
The right to vote matters too. Did you know that only 5 countries fully respect the right to vote and that in 7 countries people with intellectual disabilities under guardianship cannot even vote?
The event counted with Inclusion Europe's President Jyrki Pinomaa and Director Milan Šveřepa, a guest speech by Katrin Langensiepen MEP and the participation of several experts of the organisation that presented the key findings of the report at EU and national levels.
These are some of the key findings of the Inclusion Indicators 2023:
In 26 countries, a person’s legal capacity can be removed, and they cannot decide about their own money, or where to live, or who to marry.
750,000 people with intellectual disabilities must live in segregated “care” institutions with 30 persons or more in one place.
In 21 countries, few or no adults with intellectual disabilities live in their own place. That is a far cry from how adults in Europe typically live.
Less than 10% of people with intellectual disabilities have a paid job. In 17 countries, people with intellectual disabilities risk losing disability benefits when they earn their salary.
Read the full report here.
