What is the context?
This policy brief is based on a qualitative study into how children with disabilities experience participation in mainstream public schools in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Sindh provinces of Pakistan. Children with disabilities are entitled to an equitable and inclusive education in their neighbourhood schools, in line with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) article 24. In Pakistan, learning outcomes of children with disabilities continue to lag behind those of their peers. The reasons for this gap remain poorly understood, particularly from the perspective of children themselves. Understanding their perspectives is critical. Existing research in Pakistan has largely been quantitative , offering limited insight into the lived experiences of children, which should shape policy and practice around meaningful inclusion in schools. This study addresses that evidence gap by generating in-depth qualitative evidence from children with disabilities, alongside parents and teachers, across diverse contexts in Sindh and KP, and providing crucial insight into why policy commitments to inclusive education are not yet translating into consistently inclusive experiences for children with disabilities in mainstream public schools.
The study forms part of DARE-RC’s work on improving drivers of learning for marginalised children. It centres the perspectives of children with disabilities, alongside those of parents and teachers, to explore how classroom practices, school environments, and family and community contexts influence participation in education. It specifically focuses on experiences of teaching methods, classroom and school learning environments, and family and community support systems, as well as how these vary by gender, socio-economic background, and parental education. By focusing on children already enrolled in mainstream schools, the study provides evidence on the factors that enable or constrain meaningful inclusion, and highlights priority areas for action across teaching practice, school environments, family support and education system implementation. The findings provide evidence to inform the implementation of inclusive education policies and sector plans, highlighting priority areas for action within schools, communities and education systems.
Pakistan has made strong policy commitments to inclusive education, including constitutional guarantees of free compulsory education for all children aged 5–16 and ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Provincial policies and the Education Sector Plans (ESPs) in both Sindh and KP foundationally support inclusive education. However, commitments to inclusion in education policy are not yet adequately concrete, and not supported by budgetary decisions.
What did we learn?
● Despite Pakistan’s appreciable policy commitments, children with disabilities enrolled in KP and Sindh’s mainstream schools continue to lag behind their peers in learning outcomes. To understand why, this brief moves beyond data and explores the lived experiences of children with disabilities in schools.
● Children value flexible and interactive teaching practices but most teaching is didactic. Teachers lack training in inclusive pedagogy, and feel unable to meet diverse needs due to heavy workloads, large class sizes, and a shortage of adapted materials and assistive devices. Embedding disability inclusion within in-service CPD and pre-service education curricula, leadership training, and teacher licensing requirements can help change this.
● Poor physical infrastructure (inaccessible buildings, overcrowded classrooms, unsafe/absent washrooms) hinders participation, especially for adolescent girls. Peer relationships can be a source of support, but also of exclusion or bullying. Addressing this requires disability-inclusive budgeting, investment in infrastructure standards, and safeguarding measures to support safe school environments.
● Family support for education is often strong but constrained by poverty, low parental literacy, and limited access to services — while unsafe travel to school and community stigma create further barriers, disproportionately affecting girls with disabilities. Addressing these challenges requires stronger coordination between education, health, and social protection systems, and meaningful participation of parents and Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) in local decision-making.
● Better data can also help: incorporating disability-disaggregated information into Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) and Annual School Census (ASC) can help policymakers target and evaluate inclusion efforts.
● Children’s experiences of inclusion are shaped by overlapping factors like disability type, poverty, gender, and location. No single fix will work everywhere but progress is possible through sustained investment, systemic accountability, and context-sensitive approaches.
How did we learn this?
The study used a qualitative, participatory research design to explore the experience of children with disabilities in mainstream public schools in two peri-urban settings in KP and one rural and one urban context in Sindh. The research included children with disabilities aged 6–17, along with their parents and teachers, providing a multi-perspective understanding of inclusion. In total, 111 children, 60 parents, and 55 teachers participated across four locations selected to capture diverse contexts.
Data collection combined focus group discussions and in-depth interviews, using adapted methods to ensure inclusive participation of children with different types of disabilities. Participants were identified through school data and local engagement, including children without formal diagnoses. Data was analysed thematically across key domains: teaching practices, learning environments, and family and community support. Quality assurance processes and standards to ensure rigour and consistency were upheld throughout, including ethical clearance, researcher training, informed consent, child safeguarding, iterative refinement of analysis, and validation of findings with stakeholders.
