Abstract
Children with disabilities’ right to an education are articulated through Articles 23 and 28 of the Convention on the Rights for Children (UNCRC) and viewed in conjunction with Article 29. Advances in disability rights and educational practices have meant the interpretation and realisation of disability rights in education do not align with the original text of the UNCRC. We explore and critique disability rights for children in, to, and through the Australian educational context and examine how enacted domestic legislation and policy align with the obligations outlined in the UNCRC. Our analysis of the rights of children with disabilities reveals inconsistencies and conflicts between the articulation of disability rights in the UNCRC and their realisation in and to education in practice. Moreover, children with disabilities rights are found to be inferior to non-disabled children’s rights and lacking in the future vision for education. We recommend the need to update the UNCRC and to use other disability specific Conventions to fully realise disability educational rights.
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Winter, S., de Bruin, K. (2021). The Educational Rights of Children with Disability in Australia. In: Gillett-Swan, J., Thelander, N. (eds) Children’s Rights from International Educational Perspectives. Transdisciplinary Perspectives in Educational Research, vol 2. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80861-7_4
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