TVETipedia Glossary

Educational activity and support designed to address specific needs of disabled children or of children who are failing school for many other reasons that are known to impede optimal progress.
Source: CEDEFOP 2008, Europe

Education designed to facilitate the learning of individuals who, for a wide variety of reasons, require additional support and adaptive pedagogical methods in order to participate and meet learning objectives in an educational programme. Reasons may include (but are not limited to) disadvantages in physical, behavioural, intellectual, emotional and social capacities. Educational programmes in special needs education may follow a similar curriculum as that offered in the parallel regular education system, however they take individuals’ particular needs into account by providing specific resources (e.g. specially trained personnel, equipment, or space) and, if appropriate, modified educational content or learning objectives. These programmes can be offered for individual students within already existing educational programmes, or be offered as a separate class in the same or separate educational institutions.
Source: UNESCO UIS 2013, Global

Educational activity and support designed to address special education needs.
Source: UNEVOC/NCVER 2009, Global

An educational alternative that focuses on the teaching of students with academic, behavioral, health or physical needs that cannot sufficiently be met using traditional educational techniques.
Source: EU Commission LLP 2007-2013, Europe