information about the right to inclusive education among parents, discriminations and social stigma.40 In its 2017 review the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities raised concerns on these issues as well as the absence of measures to improve access to education for children with disabilities living in rural communities. 41 Recently, the Iranian Government has reportedly adopted a number of measures to improve access to education for children with disabilities, notably by increasing the budget for their education, establishing physical accessibility requirements and extending educational support for children with disabilities attending mainstream schools.42 However, government-funded buildings built before 2018 remain largely inaccessible to persons with disabilities, 43 and there is no comprehensive data informing about the number of new schools built in compliance with these new accessibility standards.44 In 2019, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran indicated that a law on the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities was being discussed in parliament.”45 Despite these commitments, children with disabilities still lack access to inclusive education in the Islamic Republic of Iran, notably due to the instituted “triage” among students deemed “educable” and whether they can attend mainstream school. Article 24 of the ICRPD requires that “people with disabilities are not excluded from the general education system on the basis of disability, and that children with disabilities are not excluded from free and compulsory primary education, or from secondary education, on the basis of disability”.46 In its General Comment on Article 24, the Committee stipulated that the full realization of inclusive education “is not compatible with sustaining two systems of education: a mainstream education system and a special/segregated education system.” 47 The Committee also stipulates that State parties should ensure full accessibility and quality education, provide reasonable accommodations and train teachers as well as education officials on methods of inclusive education.48 40 Center for Human Rights in Iran, https://iranhumanrights.org/wp-content/uploads/Iran-Disability-Education-Children.pdf and, Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/10/02/just-other-kids/lack-access-inclusive-quality-educationchildren-disabilities#_ftn97 41 Concluding Observations, Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, May 2017, https://undocs.org/Home/Mobile?FinalSymbol=CRPD%2FC%2FIRN%2FCO%2F1&Language=E&DeviceType=Desktop 42 Human Rights Watch, https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/10/02/just-other-kids/lack-access-inclusive-quality-educationchildren-disabilities 43 Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia, 2020, https://www.dfat.gov.au/sites/default/files/country-informationreport-iran.pdf 44 Center for Human Rights in Iran, https://iranhumanrights.org/wp-content/uploads/Iran-Disability-Education-Children.pdf and, Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/10/02/just-other-kids/lack-access-inclusive-quality-educationchildren-disabilities#_ftn97 45 Report of the UN Secretary General on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, August 2019, https://undocs.org/en/A/74/273 46 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, art. 24, para 2(a) 47 General comment No. 4 (2016) on the right to inclusive education https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRPD/C/GC/4&Lang=en 48 General comment No. 4 (2016) on the right to inclusive education https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRPD/C/GC/4&Lang=en 5

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