A systematic review of literature on inclusive education with special emphasis on children with disability in Pakistan

Enabling inclusive education and eliminating all differences in education is a key area of Sustainable Development Goals. This systematic review of the literature analysed the major challenges regarding inclusive education in Pakistan. It also studied how these have been investigated by different researchers across the world in the context of a developing country, i.e. Pakistan. The databases searched for carrying out the systematic review were Google Scholar, ERIC, Education Source, ProQuest, JSTOR, Springer, Project Muse, and Informs. The exploration included peer-reviewed research papers from 1980 to 2022 on inclusive education. Approximately 30 research articles were analysed as these met the inclusion criteria. The key findings indicated that global and national policy guidelines are not implemented regarding inclusive education. Moreover, educational institutions in Pakistan are not prepared to cater to children with special educational needs. In addition, the lack of collaboration among all stakeholders and the lack of professionally developed teachers are major challenges towards including these learners. It is recommended that some practical measures need to be taken to implement global and national policy guidelines by the government. To carry out effective implementation of inclusive education collaboration with all stakeholders is recommended.