If the ultimate aim of education and training is to maximise the development potential of citizens for their own benefit and that of their society, much remains to be done to achieve this.

Across the world, certain groups of people are still hard pressed to get the most out of their education and training system. In some countries, this may include women, in others it may include people from certain ethnic or religious backgrounds, while in most countries it applies to people who are marginalised for economic or social reasons.

Many countries have, with or without external assistance, tried to improve access to education and training for specific groups, such as the long-term unemployed or people from marginalised ethnic minority groups. Only recently, the discourse in this area has started to change towards a more general all-encompassing approach which feeds on the thought that inclusive education should not address the needs of certain disadvantaged groups, but of all.
Simple as it may sound, this constitutes a radical change in approach that moves the emphasis of inclusive education from additional and extracurricular measures right to the core of education provision, with a particularly important role for the local community, the school, teachers, and indeed parents.

The ETF spearheads this new philosophy in its support to education and training in partner countries, most notably through its work on inclusive education in the countries of South Eastern Europe, but also in formerly communist countries where care must be taken not to lose some of the gains of a century of socialism in radical reforms, and in the Middle East where gender issues still hold back a wealth of unleashed potential.

It does so, among other things, by looking at the role of schools and teachers, the power of teaching materials to break down prejudices, how to reduce physical and financial barriers, the status of vocational education and training and the interface of education with society and the world of work through, for example, career guidance.