The international standards for inclusive education policy and practice, such as the Salamanca Framework or the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, emerge from a predominantly western-centric, resource-rich model of service provision that is often incompatible with the lived realities of people with disabilities in non-western contexts. Drawing on post-colonial and critical political theory scholarship, this paper explores the development of inclusive education in Cambodia within the context of international development and the aid agenda. It analyzes the “goodness of fit” of international standards espoused by international donors and consultants on the overall implementation of inclusive education policy and programs, as well as on specific practices, such as developing individualized education plans and classifying disabilities.

Keywords
inclusive education, international development, children with disabilities, educational policy, Cambodia