Exceptionalities Germany

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Ziegler , p. 185) Article 24, requires states to recognize the rights of persons with disabilities to inclusive education and life long learning opportunities that will enable them to realize their potential.
Has Bavaria's educational system reached an inclusive education for those with exceptionalities according to the UN Convention of Rights?

Sonderschulen is the term used for the special needs schools in Bavaria. Sonderschulen translated into English means the special school. The term in itself does not indicate inclusion but a separate or "different school.

Children who attend the Sonderschulen can transfer to Rundschule or Haupstshule if it is deemed they can cope with the lesson successfully. This request can made by the parents, teacher or head teacher. Parents may request that their on target child attend a Sonderschulen.

Bavaria is in a transitional period of the inclusive education process. Mainstream schools and special schools have cooperated in creating extra-curricular activities, limited inclusive classes and holding classes on the same campus.

* The German educational system trains individuals with exceptionalities for a vocational career during their schooling. *The individuals future employment is determined by the Bavaria school system based on the students learning ability. *The students vocational training will take place within the school system. *The wonderful lunches provided by the Bavaria school system to our cohort, were most likely prepared by individuals who did not choose their career path. They were either tracked into this system or were currently being trained in school for this occupation.

Ernst-Barlach-Schulen was an state of the art facility that was recently designed to meet the needs of the physically challenged students. This school had many resources our school systems do not have, including the floor design being accessible by elevator, stairs, ramp or rock wall. It would be ideal if schools like Ernst-Barlach-Schulen would be modeled throughout the world for all students to attend. The accessibility of this school would epitomize accessibility for all under the UN Disability Convention of Rights

*The Personnel of the Ministry of Education and German educators seemed very passionate about education *Inclusion is in the introductory stages in Bavaria *The schools toured reflected a high quality of education with minimal inclusion *Pedagogy seemed very similar to the United States *The Bavarian Ministry of Education collaborating with the College of Mount St. Joseph demonstrates their interest in modeling the US school inclusion practice

Resources:

Ziegler, D. A. (2010) Inclusion for All: The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (July, 2013). Education in Bavaria. www.km.bayern.de/education-inbavaria