III. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and
Inclusive Education
The quality and manner in which education services are delivered to students of
all abilities should now be significantly informed by the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), ratified by Canada
on March 11, 2010.^49
A. The CRPD, Inclusive Education and Article 24
The CRPD, like Canadian human rights jurisprudence, rejects a formal equality,
“separate but equal” doctrine of human rights and in no way contemplates any
separate or parallel delivery of education services. Among the obligations
imposed by the CRPD, the duty to “ensure an inclusive education system at all
levels”^50 is of significant relevance. Article 24 of the CRPD envisions the delivery
of primary and secondary education to students of all abilities in a truly inclusive
manner, by ensuring that all necessary supports and accommodations are
provided.^51 The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education
stated that article 24 in the CRPD, “unambiguously recognized the link between
inclusive education and the right to education of persons with disabilities”.^52
Article 24 (1) of the CRPD obligates States Parties to ensure the following:
- States Parties recognize the right of persons with disabilities to education.
With a view to realizing this right without discrimination and on the basis of equal
opportunity, States Parties shall ensure an inclusive education system at all
levels and life long learning directed to:
a. The full development of human potential and sense of dignity
and self-worth, and the strengthening of respect for human rights,
fundamental freedoms and human diversity;
(^49) CRPD, supra note 5.
(^50) ,CRPD, supra note 5, art 24, para 1.
(^51) CRPD, supra note 5, art. 24; See also United Nations, From Exclusion to Equality: Realizing
the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Handbook for Parliamentarians on the Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol 52 , (Geneva: UN, 2007) at 82-85.
UN Human Rights Council, Special Rapporteur on the rights to education, Vernore Munoz, The
right to education of persons with disabilities: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to
education, U.N. Doc A/HRC/4/29 (2007) at para 21.