The Global Disability Summit 2025 took place on 2–3 April in Berlin, convening more than 4,000 participants including governments, organizations, advocates and individuals to advance disability rights and promote inclusive development. In the lead-up to the Summit, the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 launched an advocacy campaign titled “Teachers with disabilities: Voices we must hear, leaders we must follow” to ensure that the experiences and leadership of teachers with disabilities were part of this global conversation.
Led by the Teacher Task Force’s thematic group on Inclusion and Equity in Teacher Policies and Practices - co-chaired by VSO and the International Council on Education for Teaching (ICET) - the campaign aimed to amplify the lived experiences and leadership of teachers with disabilities, whose insights are too often absent from education discourse and policy. Through interviews, blog posts and social media features, the campaign shared personal stories and calls to action from educators across the globe.
Looking back, the campaign not only highlighted the persistent barriers these teachers face but also showcased the vital leadership they bring to building inclusive, resilient education systems for all.
Teacher voices at the forefront of inclusion and change
This multi-week campaign underscored the essential role teachers with disabilities play in advancing inclusive education. It featured personal testimonies, advocacy messages and spotlights on educators who teach, lead and innovate - often while navigating significant obstacles.
Over the course of two weeks, the campaign spotlighted nine remarkable educators with disabilities from across Africa and Asia, each demonstrating that inclusive education begins with inclusive teaching workforces. From Malawi, Esther Mbite, a blind primary school teacher, shared how her classroom innovations break down barriers to excellence, while Chipulikano Balekire Ngulube, a rural teacher with a mobility impairment, championed inclusive pedagogy. Esterr Viko, also from Malawi, emphasized the need for accessible learning materials as a teacher with an upper body impairment. In South Africa, Qaphelani Dlamini, a wheelchair user with spina bifida, spoke about his dual role as an educator of learners with physical disabilities and an advocate for inclusive teacher training, while Ingrid Parkin, a deaf teacher, highlighted the importance of language and culture in her work at a school for deaf learners.
From Nepal, Shankar Upadyaya and Shrikanta Sapkota, both with severe visual impairments, described how they use assistive technology and champion disability-inclusive curricula in their classrooms. Loknath Gautam, a deaf teacher in Nepal, advocated for integrating sign language training into formal teacher education programmes. Finally, Paul Longoli from Uganda, a teacher with a mobility impairment, showed how leadership and mentorship can challenge perceptions of disability and inspire change in education systems. Together, their stories reflect the strength, diversity and determination of teachers with disabilities driving inclusive education forward.
As part of the campaign, Dr Heike Kuhn, Co-Chair of the Teacher Task Force and Head of the Education Division at Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), contributed a blog post reflecting on the importance of empowering teachers with disabilities and placing their voices at the centre of education reform. In it, she underscored the value of their lived experience in shaping education:
“Teachers with disabilities are not just role models - they are essential to building inclusive and resilient education systems.”
Breaking barriers, together: the power of dialogue in inclusive education
The campaign culminated in a panel titled “Transforming Classrooms: The Power of Teachers with Disabilities in Inclusive Education”, hosted by Perkins School for the Blind at the Summit’s Inclusive Education Hub. Moderated by Dr Heike Kuhn, the session brought together teachers from Uganda, Malawi, Nepal, Rwanda and South Africa.
In powerful personal testimonies, educators spoke about the systemic challenges they face - such as inaccessible training, discriminatory attitudes and infrastructure barriers - as well as the creative, inclusive strategies they have developed in response. Their collective message was unequivocal: there is no inclusive education without inclusive teaching workforces.
Key takeaways from the panel included:
- Teachers with disabilities must have the chance to actively participate in shaping education policy
- Inclusion must extend beyond students to include the educators who serve them
- Disability inclusion is a right - not a favour
Inclusion begins with teachers
The campaign served as both a call to action and a source of inspiration. It reminded policymakers, donors and education leaders that investing in teachers with disabilities is not only a matter of justice - it’s a path to quality, innovation and resilience. The stories we shared delivered a clear message: recognising teachers with disabilities as leaders, not just as beneficiaries of inclusion, is essential. True inclusion must extend beyond students to embrace those who teach them, and disability inclusion must be understood not only as a right, but as a powerful force for building stronger, more resilient education systems.
The Global Disability Summit concluded with renewed commitments to disability inclusion, including the Amman-Berlin Declaration, which urges that at least 15% of international development programming at the country level explicitly pursue disability inclusion.
From inclusion to leadership
The Teacher Task Force will continue to advocate for inclusive teacher policies and support its members in driving systemic change, including through the thematic group on Inclusion and Equity in Teacher Policies and Practices. With the world facing a projected shortfall of 44 million teachers - according to the UNESCO and the Teacher Task Force 2024 Global Report on Teachers - it is more urgent than ever to ensure that teachers with disabilities are not only included but empowered to lead.
Now is the time to act. We must:
- Ensure teacher education is accessible and inclusive for all
- Provide ongoing professional development and assistive technologies to support teachers with disabilities
- Recruit and promote teachers with disabilities as part of national strategies to address the global teacher shortage
- Include their voices in education policy dialogue and decision-making
Inclusive education starts with inclusive teaching. Let’s keep listening, investing - and above all - following the leadership of teachers with disabilities.
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Photo credits: VSO