Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Members of the subcommittee, I'm pleased to be here.
Thanks so much for the invitation to appear.
My name is Naser Faruqui. I'm the director of education and science for the International Development Research Centre, or IDRC.
IDRC is a Crown corporation that was established in 1970. It reports to Parliament through the Minister of International Development. We support research and innovation in low- and middle-income countries as part of Canada's official development assistance.
Two principles underpin our support to local actors. The first is that those closest to development problems are best placed to develop innovative solutions to solve them. The second is the importance of sharing what works across regions and internationally.
Previous witnesses have made clear the need for action on disability-inclusive education. We are working with many of those organizations.
What IDRC would like to bring to this discussion is the need for and the power of research and evidence to effectively respond to the educational needs of people with disabilities. There is a genuine demand in the global south for evidence on the most effective ways to strengthen education for all learners. IDRC's work is responding to this demand and looking to scale what works.
Complementary to Canada's important investments in the Global Partnership for Education, IDRC hosts the research and evidence arm of this international fund. We call it the knowledge and innovation exchange, or KIX for short. KIX builds evidence on how proven innovations can improve education systems in low- and middle-income countries.
To optimize the limited resources available to national education systems in these countries, our approach identifies innovations that work and builds evidence on how to scale them. These innovations cover a broad spectrum, from educational technology solutions to cost-effective, community-based early learning models.
I'd like to share four of the areas where IDRC is strengthening the evidence that is critical to advancing disability-inclusive education.
First is gaining a better understanding of the realities of children learning with disabilities to improve their education access and learning. Without clear data on disabilities, including baselines and gaps, we are unable to respond to all children's needs. IDRC is supporting countries to strengthen their education data systems, including integrating data on disabilities to provide schools with the information they need to plan for inclusive education.
Second, inclusive education in the early years is critical to identifying disabilities and paving the way for success throughout a child's education. IDRC is supporting community-based pre-primary centres to identify and include children with multiple types of disabilities early on, especially in rural communities where these children often fall through the cracks.
Third is harnessing the potential of technologies in the classroom, ensuring that they're inclusive and ensuring that teachers know how to support those technologies. Artificial intelligence technologies hold promise, but often are not accessible in local languages. For example, we're supporting the development of an assistive technology that translates spoken English to Kenyan sign language using virtual signing characters. This will help Kenyans with hearing disabilities access education more easily, as there are few qualified Kenyan sign language interpreters in the country.
Last, it's clear that disability-inclusive initiatives cannot be isolated from the overall system. We're learning how to integrate inclusive education into public education systems that are adapted to local contexts. For instance, we're helping to equip teachers, school leaders and parents with the skills they need to integrate learners with disabilities into education systems, including empowering school principals to support greater disability inclusion in their schools.
A recent UNICEF study shows that half of the kids with disabilities in low-income and middle-income countries don't finish school, with girls facing disproportionate challenges. This timely study by the subcommittee can help address the need for practical solutions.
I'd like to conclude by reinforcing the critical importance of building evidence on what works to ensure that no one is left behind in education.
Thank you very much.