France, Sept. 4 -- France's 12 million pupils returned to school this week, and among them are 520,000 children with disabilities. This is the highest number to date - a sign of progress 20 years after a law strengthened disability rights. But rights groups say much more needs to be done to achieve a fully inclusive system.

France's 2005 Disability Act gives every child with a disability the right to enrol in their local mainstream school.

Since then, the number of children with disabilities in schoolhas increased fivefold.

"Families feel empowered to think that their child doesn't necessarily only have a future in the medical-social sector, but could also have a future in their localschool," Nicolas Eglin, president of theNational Fed...