The Legislative Definitions around Learners Vulnerable to Exclusion activity examined how Agency member countries legally define and describe learners’ needs in terms of considering them as groups of learners with special needs or learners vulnerable to exclusion. It also considered how anti-discrimination legislation and legislation for inclusive education define and/or describe learners’ needs, and explored the concept of intersectionality.

All Agency member countries are committed to working towards more inclusive education systems. They do so in different ways, depending on their past and current contexts and histories.

An inclusive approach requires a move away from ‘formal’ assessment and labelling, with separate educational provision for different groups. Central to this commitment and understanding of inclusive education are the legal definitions countries have to identify (and potentially label) learners to make provision available for them.

The Agency’s data collection activity (EASIE) provides clearly focused data that informs country policy priorities on inclusive education, the European Commission’s strategic objectives on inclusive education and the implementation of Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006).