A school educating a majority of deaf students with a minority of hearing students

Fundación ICAL, Colombia: Runs a specialized school using the Inverse Inclusion model. Majority of students with disabilities learn alongside a minority of hearing students. By 2023, more than 170 students aged 3 to 25 years were enrolled.

Fundación ICAL, a foundation based in Chía near Bogotá, runs a specialized school in which students with and without disabilities study together, using a self-developed model called Inverse Inclusion. With a particular focus on deaf students, Inverse Inclusion educates a majority of deaf students with a minority of hearing students in the same classroom, using highly developed methodologies. By 2023 more than 170 students – aged 3 to 25 years – were learning at ICAL.

Problems Targeted

In low-income areas deaf children do not have access to quality education for their special needs.

Solution, Innovation and Impact

Fundación ICAL has been running a school for deaf children in Chía, a municipality near Bogota, since 1974. The institution includes a Montessori kindergarten, primary and secondary education, as well as the programme ‘Sketching my future’. The students, aged 3 to 25, come from low-income families living in both rural and urban areas. Usually, these families cannot effectively communicate with their deaf family member. In 2000, with a rights-based approach, a model called Inverse Inclusion was launched by Fundación ICAL, targeting deaf children and their hearing siblings, enabling them to be educated in the same environment. Later, other hearing students without a deaf sibling were introduced to this inclusive education method. Different teaching methods, such as Verbotonal and bilingual (Colombian Sign Language), are used depending on the needs of each individual pupil. ICT and personal assistance are used to support the learning of all the students. Over the years, Fundación ICAL started also to accommodate students with some intellectual disabilities, using a similar approach. From 2000 to 2023, more than 2,700 students have been educated, of whom 72 per cent on average have been students with hearing impairments and intellectual disabilities. The project has been recognized by the HundrED Global Collection 2022 and 2023, shortlisted by the Reimagine Education Awards 2021, shortlisted by the World’s Best Schools Prize 2023, and became an active member of the Education 4.0 Lighthouses Program from the World Economic Forum.

Funding, Outlook and Transferability

Fundación ICAL is financed through government contracts, donations from individuals and NGOs, and from the public and private sectors. For additional revenues it offers inclusive education services, sign language classes, hearing health services, and sells hearing health products. (Awardee 2024)

Pictures

ICAL's school teaches a majority of deaf pupils together with a minority of hearing students.

ICAL's school teaches a majority of deaf pupils together with a minority of hearing students.

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