Moreover, specialised professionals work directly with students and collaborate with classroom teachers so that they acquire teaching skills that respond to students’ specific special needs. Altogether, these efforts can better facilitate effective integration of students with special needs into mainstream schools. Also, Chile has an initial teacher education programme for learning disabilities in place. This is a particular strength as schools can have access to qualified teachers that respond to students’ needs. Qualitative evidence suggests that schools select the type of special educational need they respond to depending on their resources for both diagnosing the educational needs of students and attending to the students’ special needs. As a result, mainstream schools tend not to work with students with permanent disabilities as these imply more specialised resources, greater teaching materials and additional investments in infrastructure.