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Abstract

The ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) has triggered a wave of policy initiatives aimed at inclusive higher education around the world. Yet the extent of progress remains unclear in Asian region. This systematic review fills that gap by analysing 46 peer-reviewed publications (2013–2024) that document post-CRPD developments in ten Asian countries—China, India, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. We mapped legislative reforms, organizational responses and structural adaptations designed to accommodate students with disabilities and compared the pace and depth of change across national contexts. The review revealed pronounced disparities. Economically advanced systems such as Japan and Singapore report the most comprehensive disability policies and support structures, whereas developing contexts—particularly Iran, Pakistan and Kazakhstan—continue to struggle with weak enforcement, under-resourced campuses and limited staff training. Cross-cutting barriers include inaccessible infrastructure, inconsistent accommodations, shortages of assistive technology and persistent social stigma. Conversely, targeted measures—establishing Disability Support Offices, embedding universal design principles and leveraging educational technologies—showed promise in countries like Turkey and Malaysia. By offering the first multi-country comparative synthesis of post-CRPD reforms, this study clarifies both common obstacles and context-specific successes. We concluded that legislation alone is insufficient; meaningful inclusion requires coordinated policy monitoring, sustained faculty-development programs and regional knowledge-sharing platforms. These insights are especially pertinent for low-income and conflict-affected settings such as Afghanistan, where evidence-based policy transfer could accelerate inclusive transformation.

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