The right to education is legally guaranteed to all humans alike. Higher education too is no exception. Inclusive education initiated with the lofty ideal of provision of education to students with disabilities (SWDs) without discrimination is an education system that includes all students, and welcomes and supports them to learn whoever they are and whatever their abilities or requirements. It is the internationally recognized way of dealing with disabled people whose lifelong needs can best be dealt with. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons states that “disabled persons, whatever the origin, nature and seriousness of their handicaps and disabilities, have the same fundamental rights as their fellow citizens of the same age, which implies first and foremost the right to enjoy a decent life, as normal and full as possible”. It recognizes the need for celebrating differences and responding to individual needs through transforming legislation and policies related to diversity, equity and inclusion.
The 9th Ruhuna University International Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences (RUICHSS 2023) offers an opportunity for scholars, researchers and practitioners to share their knowledge and experiences on diverse aspects of inclusive education and related discourses among participants attending the forum.
The conference creates a platform to enhance awareness of the needs and requirements of SWDs in Higher Education. RUICHSS 2023 will be organized under the Erasmus+ capacity building project, “Developing Inclusive Education for Students with Disabilities in Sri Lankan Universities (IncEdu)” which is a collaborative project among four local partner universities and four European universities. The consortium comprises the University of Peradeniya as the coordinator of the project, and three other local universities namely, the University of Ruhuna, Eastern University of Srilanka, and Sri Lanka Technological Campus. The four European universities are Masaryk University, Czech Republic, Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania, University of Zagreb, Croatia and Uppsala University, Sweden.