As children across Europe return to school this September, the start of the school year is not the same for everyone. In France, COFACE member organisations Unapei and APF France Handicap have launched back-to-school campaigns calling for strong measures to boost inclusive education for students with disabilities. Together, these campaigns from French member organisations underline the need to move beyond the principle of inclusive education and ensure that it is effectively delivered in practice, with the resources, support and public policies needed for every child to participate.
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#NoSchoolForMe campaign run by Unapei
Unapei is once again raising the alarm through its #NoSchoolForMe campaign, calling for concrete and sustainable action to ensure that every child can access an appropriate and inclusive education.
For more than 20 years, resources have been redirected and pilot projects have been developed, but successful initiatives have too often remained limited in scope. Meanwhile, children are growing up and cannot afford to wait for solutions that remain experimental. Their educational pathways need to be planned and supported from an early age.
UNAPEI argues that the situation can change if the necessary resources and long-term commitment are put in place. This means moving beyond isolated projects and scaling up solutions that have already demonstrated their value.
The organisation is calling for several key measures to make inclusive education a reality:
- Sustainable support from early childhood, ensuring that children receive the assistance they need from the earliest stages of their development.
- Accessible schools, including appropriate facilities, teaching methods and transport.
- Medico-social support, recognising that educational inclusion requires coordinated support beyond the classroom.
- Seamless educational pathways, supported by cooperation between relevant services from early childhood through the age of 25.
At the heart of UNAPEI’s campaign is a simple message: one child out of school is one child too many.
Ensuring that children with intellectual disabilities can access education is not only about fulfilling their rights today. It is also about creating the conditions for them to participate fully in society in the future. For UNAPEI, the solutions exist. What is needed now is the commitment and resources to make them sustainable and available to all.
Through its #NoSchoolForMe campaign, UNAPEI is calling for proven solutions to finally move beyond the experimental stage and for a truly inclusive education system in France.
Find more information about the campaign here.
“My Place is in the Classroom” campaign of APF France Handicap
APF France handicap highlights how inclusive education benefits everyone and they are mobilising as part of the collective “Ma place c’est en classe” (“My place is in the classroom”) ahead of the 2026 school year. The collective is using the start of the school year to highlight the benefits of inclusive education for all pupils and to give greater visibility to the experiences of pupils with disabilities, their families and education professionals.
The campaign emphasises that inclusive education is not only about ensuring the right to education for children with disabilities. Learning and growing up together from an early age can enrich learning, encourage mutual support, foster respect for differences and help prepare a society in which everyone can find their place.
Through testimonies from pupils, parents and professionals, the collective wants to highlight the importance of keeping pupils with disabilities within mainstream education. With the Conference Nationale du Handicap approaching and major political milestones ahead, the campaign also calls for this shared vision to be reflected in ambitious and coherent public policies that respond to the needs of pupils and their families.
The collective brings together organisations including APF France handicap, UNAPEI, FCPE, Fédération PEEP, Trisomie 21 France and others, under the message: “Quand tous les enfants apprennent ensemble, tout le monde grandit” (“When all children learn together, everyone grows”).
Find more information about the campaign here.
