PART 1: Theoretical Knowledge

Another critical challenge to both access to and inclusion in education is poverty. Poverty is intrinsically linked to a wide variety of issues that either directly or indirectly affect education and related achievements - hunger, lack of home/shelter, access to medical care, security and many others.

Figure 2. European data on risks for poverty https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Children_at_risk_of_poverty_or_social_exclusion#:~:text=In%202019%2C%20an%20estimated%2022.5,aged%2065%20years%20and%20over).

The official poverty line is 1.25 USD per day. According to Pritchett (2006), the idea was to make this lower level so low that it would be impossible to argue or disagree about the financial status of anyone living on such an amount. (Armstrong, 2009) However, in Europe, people may live on more per day and still be considered poor. Statistics show quite worrisome figures in relation to children at risk of poverty or social exclusion.

There are several critical effects of poverty that have been selected to be discussed in this chapter. Taking the top to bottom approach, it is important to consider the fact that schools themselves face financial challenges that hinder their capacity to provide inclusive education.

As mentioned in the previous section, investments in school buildings’ renovations and adaptations that ensure accessibility for children with physical disabilities are often limited or non-existent. Elevators, railings, handicapped bathrooms are often too expensive for the school, especially in poorer and more remote areas, which directly takes away the possibility for such children to have access to education at that particular institution.

In cases of some SEM, the environment can have either a positive and negative effect on their well-being, ability to focus, etc. Adaptations to the school rooms, class size and additional personnel also require funding that is often insufficient, hence inclusion of those students can rarely be fully achieved. School personnel are facing many challenges in their efforts to serve diverse families and children with disabilities. Inadequate human and fiscal capacity are usually driving factors for this issue. There have been a large of number of cases reported where a child in a wheelchair or with SEM does not have the ability to receive education at a certain educational institution, so they have to be home-schooled (the rate is especially high in remote areas), with different degrees of success.