Asian Centre for Inclusive Education (ACIE) is established with prime objective of improving access to high quality education to disadvantaged children in Bangladesh as well as in Asian countries. The Centre is currently based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The members of ACIE are academics, researchers, educators and development workers from countries such as Bangladesh, India, China, and Pakistan, Australia, Canada and the USA who have interest in promoting inclusive education in Asian countries. ACIE is registered as a voluntary, non-profit, non-government organization registered under the Ministry of Social Welfare of the Government of Bangladesh.
International Conference on Equity and Inclusion in Education
Asian Centre for Inclusive Education (ACIE), Bangladesh has been organizing International Conference on Equity and Inclusion in Education as a part of regular regional and international network collaboration activities. From year establishment ACIE has organized International Conference on Equity and Inclusion in Education for Six times, four in Bangladesh and two in India. The aim of the conference is to get an opportunity to share and disseminate ideas, research findings, academic and field-level experiences on Inclusive Education from the developing country experiences with a view to developing a recommendation guideline for the redefining education in the context of 21 century.
Fifth International Conference on Inclusive Education-2018, Delhi, India:
Amar Jyoti Charitable Trust in collaboration with the Asian Centre for Inclusive Education, Bangladesh is organizing the 5th International Conference on Inclusive Education. The conference takes place in New Delhi, India from 28-30th November, 2018.
In the global context where the Sustainable Development Goals (UN, 2015) have fore-fronted the notion of equity and inclusion in education as a criterion for achieving quality education, this conference plays an important role in the development of new frameworks in inclusive education. A central theme of the conference revolves around “Fostering excellence through inclusive education’’. Inclusive education has been often considered as an “additional activity” that schools should do. It is possible that this understanding and belief contributed towards slow progress of implementing inclusive education in many countries. Research has shown that inclusion and excellence can co-exist. It is important to re-define inclusive education and consider it a way to foster excellence in our existing school systems. The Conference will address issues related to education of learners who are frequently excluded because of their learning abilities, ethnic background, socioeconomic status and gender.
Key Note Speakers of the fifth conference are professor Dr. Richard Rose, Department of Special Education Needs & Inclusion, University of Northampton, UK; professor Dr. Umesh Sharma, Academic Head (Educational Psychology & Inclusive Education), Monash University, Australia, professor Dr. Chris Forlin, International Inclusive Education Consultant, Australia; Dr. (Mrs) Uma Tuli, Founder and managing secretary, Amar Jyoti Charitable Trust and Dr. M. N. G. Mani, Chief executive officer, International council for education of people with visual impairment, Coimbatore , India.
Fourth International Conference on Inclusive Education-2017, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Asian Centre for Inclusive Education (ACIE), Bangladesh successfully organized the 4th International Conference on Inclusive Education held on 12-14 January 2017 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
The aim of the conference was to get an opportunity to share and disseminate ideas, research findings, academic and field-level experiences on Inclusive Education from the developing country with a view to developing a recommendation guideline for UN so that they can consider it while selecting implementation strategy of the SDG goal 4 by 2030. Theme of the conference was “Inclusive Education is good: But How to do it?”
UNESCO-Dhaka, CBM, Plan International Bangladesh, Manusher Jonno Foundation, DRRA, Liliane Fonds, Save the Children, ADD International Bangladesh, ActionAid Bangladesh, PISER- Dhaka Cantonment & SP Pune University, India were the partners of the conference.
The Conference was inaugurated by Advocate Mostafizur Rahman, MP, Honorable Minister, Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and formally closed by Professor Abdul Mannan, Chairman, University Grants commission of Bangladesh.
The Key Note speakers of that conference were Dr. Nidhi Singal, Reader, Faculty of Education, Cambridge University, UK, Mr. Richard Raiser, CEO, World of Inclusion, UK, Dr. Umesh Sharma, Associate Professor, Monash University, Australia and Professor Dr. M. Tariq Ahsan, IER, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Third International Conference on Inclusive Education -2016, Pune India
Asian Centre for Inclusive Education (ACIE) in association with Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, India organized the 3rd International Conference on Inclusive Education for the first time outside Bangladesh and it was held on 22-24 January 2016 at Pune, India.
250 participants from 8 countries including Bangladesh and host India participated in the conference. Theme of the conference was “Bridging Gap between Policy and Practices in Inclusive Education”.
Key Note speakers of that conference were Professor Tim Loreman, Dean, Research and Faculty Development, Faculty of Education, Concordia University College of Alberta, Canada, Dr. Umesh Sharma, Associate Professor, Monash University, Australia and Professor Dr. M. Tariq Ahsan, Institute of Education and Research, University of Dhaka. The conference was inaugurated by Prof. Dr. Panda, Chairperson of National Council of Teacher Education, New Delhi, India as a Chief Guest. At the closing ceremony Prof. Ashok Kolaskar, Vice Chancellor, The Niotia University, Kolkata was present as chief guest and the session was chaired by Prof N. Gade, Vice Chancellor, Savitribai Phule Pune University.
ACIE coordinated the Bangladeshi participant’s team where Director, IER, University of Dhaka, Director Policy and Operation of DPE, Country Director of ActionAid Bangladesh and many renowned persons participated in the conference. ACIE secretary General Professor Dr. Traiq Ahsan was one of the key note paper presenter. Professor Nazmul Haq was also invited as the key note speaker, former Director of IER, DU Professor Dr. Abdul Awal Khan participated as the Special guest of the inauguration ceremony. Mr. Anwarul Haq, Director, Policy and operation, DPE was present as the special guest in the conference cultural evening. Furthermore, Professor Dr. M. Tariq Ahsan, Dr. Abdul Awal Khan, Mr. Mansur Ahmed Chowdhury, Ms. Farah Kabir, Mr. Asgar Ali Sabri from Bangladesh chaired different sessions.
Represents from UNESCO-Dhaka, UNICEF Bangladesh, Plan International Bangladesh, ActionAid Bangladesh, NAPE, DPE, UEO, URC instructor, PTI instructor, IER-DU faculty and student, ACIE members participated in the conference and presented several papers in the conference. ACIE also showcased different activities through a stall in the conference venue.
Second International Conference on Inclusive Education-2015, Dhaka, Bangladesh:
Asian Centre for Inclusive Education (ACIE) organized the 2nd International Conference on Inclusive Education held on 9-11 January 2015 at PROYASH, Dhaka Cantonment, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Theme of the conference was “Achieving Inclusive Education through Post EFA Goals 2015—How Far are We?” 300 participants from 20 countries including Bangladesh participated in the conference where 40 foreign delegates, 64 papers presented by local and foreign presenters based on related sub-themes.
The participants were represented from government, INGO, local NGO, educational institutions and related other organizations. The conference was inaugurated by Mr. Md. Mostafizur Rahman Fizar, M.P, Honorable Minister, Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. The Key Note speakers of that conference were Professor Tim Loreman, Dean, Research and Faculty Development, Faculty of Education, Concordia University College of Alberta, Canada and Dr. Umesh Sharma, Associate Professor, Monash University, Australia. At the closing ceremony of the event Mr. Md. Alamgir, Director General, Directorate of Primary Education and Major General Dr. Sheikh Mamun Khaled, NDC, Vice-Chancellor, Bangladesh University of Professionals were present as chief and special guest. Dr. Ranjit Kumar Bishwas, NDC, Honorable Secretary, Minstry of Cultural Affairs was present as the chief guest of the conference dinner.
UNESCO-Dhaka, Plan International Bangladesh, Sightsavers, Manusher Jonno Foundation, ActionAid Bangladesh, CBM, DRRA, Save the Children, Niketan, and Proyash Dhaka, were the proud partners of this event.
First International Conference on Inclusive Education-2013, Dhaka, Bangladesh:
ACIE organized the first International Conference on Inclusive Education on 15 – 17 February, 2013 at LGED Bhaban, Agargaon, Dhaka 1207. The conference theme was: “Meeting Challenges of Inclusive Education”. In that conference 250 participants from 19 countries including Bangladesh participated in the conference, 50 paper presenters presented their papers based on different sub-themes. The participants were represented from government, INGO, local NGO, educational institutions and related other organizations.
Key Note speakers of that conference were Professor Chris Forlin, Adjunct Professor, Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong, Professor Roger Slee, Director, The Victoria Institute (Education, diversity & lifelong learning),Victoria University, Australia and Mr. Monsur Ahmed Chowdhury, Member, United Nations Committee on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). British Council, Dhaka, Plan International Bangladesh, Sightsavers Bangladesh, Manusher Jonno Foundation and Aga Khan Foundation were the proud partners of this event.
6th International Conference on Equity and Inclusion in Education-2022, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Conference Venue
Host country: Dhaka, Bangladesh
Venue: Bisswo Shahitto Kendro, Dhaka, Bangladesh & Virtual Platform
Conference Partnership
There were four types of partnerships- Organizing partner, Technical partner, Contributing partner, and Sponsor Partners
Technical Partner
- SP Pune University, Pune, India
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Independent University, Bangladesh
- Centre of Excellence for Teaching and Learning (CETL), Green University Bangladesh
Organizing Partners
- UNESCO Dhaka
- CBM Global Disability Inclusion
Contributing partner
- PLAN International Bangladesh
- Room to Read Bangladesh
- Sesame Workshop Bangladesh
Sponsor Partners
- Agni Systems Limited, Bangladesh
- National Bank Limited, Bangladesh
Conference Modality
The 6th International Conference on Equity and Inclusion in Education 2022 was conducted via a blended/hybrid approach.
The approach of the conference was as following:
- Day 1: Blended/Hybrid
- Day 2: Virtual
- Day 3: Blended/Hybrid
The whole conference was conducted virtually via Zoom Meetings and streamed live from the Facebook Page of ACIE Bangladesh and the event page of the 6th International Conference on Equity and Inclusion in Education 2022.The face to face venue for the conference was Bishwo Shahitto Kendro, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
The first day of the conference and the closing ceremony of the conference took place on the face to face venue and was streamed live from there on the online meetings and live platforms. The second day of the conference and all the concurrent sessions of presenters, partners, and practitioners from day 2 and 3 from all across the globe was conducted via Zoom Meetings online and it was streamed live on Facebook.