INCLUSIVE EDUCATION
UNICEF’s Report on the Status of Disability in India 2000 states that there are around 30 million
children in India suffering from some form of disability. The Sixth All-India Educational Survey
(NCERT, 1998) reports that of India’s 200 million school-aged children (6–14 years), 20 million
require special needs education. While the national average for gross enrolment in school is over
90 per cent, less than five per cent of children with disabilities are in school.
Government and NGOs are initiating measures to review and plan appropriate strategies for special
needs and inclusive education. These measures include evolving policy guidelines, analysing
practices, developing teacher training programmes, and creating resource persons and special
teachers by establishing linkages to complement each other.
In the past few years, focus on children with disabilities has resulted in greater awareness and
increased sensitivity towards these children. The launch of the District Primary Education
Programme (DPEP) in 1994 provided further impetus to existing efforts. The Equal Opportunities
and Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 1995 was comprehensive breakthrough legislation that
provided for education and economic rehabilitation of people with disabilities. It states that free
education for children with disabilities up to the age of 18 years must be provided in an appropriate
environment. The government has recently launched the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). This
proposes to implement ‘universalization of elementary education’ (UEE) in a mission mode with a
focus on providing quality elementary education to all children in the age group 6–14 years.
Inclusive education is an integral component of SSA, and promises to make ‘education for all’ a
reality by 2010.
Programmes launched in the recent past have been able to make only a limited impact in terms of
increasing the participation of children with disabilities in formal education. This situation needs to
change in the near future, and a focused effort is required. Keeping in mind the large number of
children whose needs must be addressed and the limited resources available, the best option is to
promote inclusive education. However, the question is how to demystify the concept and make it
acceptable in a country as large and diverse as India, with its multiple tracks offering inequitable
schooling opportunities to different groups?
There is a need to develop a long-term strategy in which every step taken adds to the sound base
for inclusive education. This can be facilitated by developing a better understanding of the present
status of education of children with disabilities, and how inclusive practices can be promoted.
This study analyses the global polices in education of children with disabilities and how India’s
policies and programme align with them. Good practices are documented for inclusive schooling,
community-based programmes that promote inclusion, and teacher development initiatives that
assist primary school teachers in the classroom to identify, assess and support the needs of
children with disabilities. Early childhood development interventions focusing on early detection
and prevention of disabilities and preparation of children to enter mainstream schools have also
been examined.
The practices were drawn from five states (Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu
and Kerala) based on information available from officials and professionals working for the
education of children with disabilities. The school practices were documented after discussions
with teachers, parents, children with disabilities and their peer group. The concerns of NGOs,
bureaucrats and professionals from apex institutions for teacher training were accounted for by
carrying out interviews.
Based on documentation, field observations and data analysis, this study identifies positive
initiatives taken up by the government and NGOs, and suggests further measures that need to be
taken to achieve the goal of UEE for all children including those with disabilities.
In India, inclusive education is still developing and presently it is not easy to identify ‘good
practices’. In this study, good practices were analysed by using three dimensions: creating
inclusive culture; producing inclusive polices; and evolving inclusive practices (Booth et al., 2001).
Inclusive culture was analysed by studying the knowledge, skills and attitudes of teachers,
parents and children in accepting children with disabilities. Enrolment policies of the government
were examined to identify inclusive policies. Inclusive practices included teacher training
programmes showing awareness, and providing guidance in modification of materials,
methodology, content and evaluation for the benefit of all children.
The good practices studied showed that these traits were not add-ons but an integral part of the
culture. Such practices were possible only when they included appropriate teacher training,
provided accessible schools, child-friendly curricula, appropriate teaching methodologies and
evaluation systems, and developed partnerships with families and communities. It was hard to find
all these features in any single project. The practices identified by this study, therefore, have the
potential to become a package of good practices.
The Sikshit Yuva Sewa Samiti (SYSS), an NGO in a partnership with the government, participates
in the implementation of the Integrated Education for Disabled Children (IEDC) and DPEP projects
(funded by the government), and strengthens the programme through community-based
intervention initiatives. While the projects provide physical infrastructure for schools, this NGO,
through trained personnel, ensures accessibility for and enrolment of children with disabilities in
community schools after identification by trained anganwadi (grassroots) workers. It also provides
resource teachers as a support system to general teachers, and a back-up team of
physiotherapists and occupational therapists at the district level. The NGO provides awareness
and orientation training to general teachers, develops materials, and supports general teachers in
modification of curricula to facilitate learning by children with disabilities. The effort has created an
inclusive culture where parents, the community, peer groups, teachers, and school authorities and
education officers are all involved in educating children with disabilities.
Sir Shapurji Billimoria Foundation, a teacher development initiative, provides in-service training to
ordinary teachers to meet the needs of children with disabilities. Weekend training modules are
used since teachers cannot be away from school for long periods. In addition, there is a three-year
pre-service training programme (B.A. in integrated education) for school leavers. The training
programme ensures that teachers are able to facilitate the learning of all children in the classroom.
Practical experience, exposure to participatory learning methodology, and the ability to teach at
the elementary level in a multiple setting are emphasized together with a focus on human
development.
The Joyful Inclusion Training Programme is being conducted by the CBR Network, an NGO
involved in the education and rehabilitation of children with special needs. Teachers in rural
government schools utilize a training pack that includes a curriculum-based criterion-referenced
checklist prepared by the NGO. The training manuals, developed for training master trainers as
well as general teachers, have proved useful. Teachers have been trained in the methodology
developed in the Joyful Inclusion Package for teaching all children including those with disabilities.
Udisha–Portage Project is an early childhood development initiative for children of 0–6 years of
age. In this programme, a modified version of the Portage pack is used as a home-visiting guide for
early childhood development that meets the socio-cultural needs of Indian people. In the training
programme, a team at the district level (one government representative and one NGO
representative) is trained on the principles of the Portage pack. This district team then trains
integrated child development supervisors who in turn train anganwadi workers. These workers use
their skills to ensure the holistic development of all children. The Udisha–Portage Project has
trained a large number of anganwadi workers and supervisors who help mothers to understand the
underlying principles of child development, and assist children with developmental delays by using
resources available in the family and community. The project succeeds in reaching unreached
children with disabilities, especially in rural and urban impoverished areas.
This study also brings out good practices that were observed in the southern states of Kerala and
Tamil Nadu. These are considered to be good practices because of their wide coverage especially
in rural and hilly areas (especially in Kerala), and their positive impact. With a few modifications,
these models could be successfully replicated.
Based on analysis of the state of special and inclusive education and the documentation of
inclusive model practices, the following key observations are made.
· l Central and state governments have taken a number of initiatives to improve the enrolment,retention and achievement of children with disabilities. There is a need to establish interlinks and collaborations among various organizations to prevent overlapping, duplication and contradictions in programme implementation.
· l Most services for children with disabilities are concentrated in big cities or close to district
headquarters. The majority of children with disabilities who live in rural areas do not benefit from these services.
· l There is an absence of consistent data on the magnitude and educational status of children
with disabilities, and the disparities between regions and types of disability. This makes it
difficult to understand the nature of the problem, and to make realistic interventions.
· l Special schools and integrated educational practices for children with disabilities have
developed over the years. Inclusive educational has gained momentum over the last decade.
· l Community involvement and partnerships between government agencies and NGOs have been instrumental in promoting inclusive education.
· l Many schools have a large number of children in each classroom and few teachers. As a
consequence of this, many teachers are reluctant to work with children with disabilities. They consider it an additional workload.
· l Training for sensitization towards disability and inclusion issues, and how to converge efforts for effective implementation of programmes, are important concerns.
· l Different disabilities require different supports. The number of skilled and trained personnel for supporting inclusive practices is not adequate to meet the needs of different types of disability.
· l The curriculum lacks the required flexibility to cater to the needs of children with disabilities.
There are limited developmentally appropriate teaching–learning materials for children both with and without disabilities. The teaching–learning process addresses the individual learning needs of children in a limited way.
· l Families do not have enough information about their child’s particular disability, its effects and its impact on their child’s capacity. This often leads to a sense of hopelessness. Early
identification and intervention initiatives sensitize parents and community members about the education of children with disabilities.
Bearing in mind this scenario, the following recommendations need to be considered in order to
move towards education of children with disabilities in inclusive settings.
· l The attitude that ‘inclusive education is not an alternative but an inevitability, if the dream of providing basic education to all children is to ever become a reality’ needs to be cultivated
among all concerned professionals, grassroots workers, teachers and community members,
especially in rural and remote areas.
· l Links and bridges need to be built between special schools and inclusive education practices.
Linkages also need to be established between community-based rehabilitation programmes
and inclusive education.
· l Public policies, supportive legislation and budgetary allocations should not be based on
incidence, but on prevalence of special education needs, and take into consideration the
backlog created as a result of decades of neglect.
· l The existing dual ministry responsibilities should be changed. Education of children with
disabilities should be the responsibility of the Department of Education. The Ministry of Welfare should confine itself to support activities only.
· l Inclusion without ‘adequate’ preparation of general schools will not yield satisfactory results. It is essential that issues related to infrastructural facilities, curriculum modification and educational materials should be addressed.
· l Regular evaluation should be based on performance indicators specified in the implementation programme, and accountability for effective implementation at all levels should be ensured.
· l There should be emphasis on bottom-up, school-based interventions as part of regular
education programmes following inclusive strategies. The programme should be based on
stakeholder participation, community mobilization, and mobilization of NGO, private and
government resources.
· l The training of general teachers at pre-service and in-service levels should address the issue of education of children with disabilities, so that teachers are better equipped to work in an inclusive environment. Some of the issues in training that need to be addressed include the methodology to be adopted for identifying children with disabilities; classroom management; use of appropriate teaching methodologies; skills for adapting the curriculum; development of teaching–learning materials that are multi-sensory in nature; evaluation of learning; etc. The time has come to scale up successful experiments on teacher training such as the Multi-site Action Research Project and the Indian adaptation of the UNESCO Teacher Education Resource Pack, since these experiences are lying dormant.
· l Orientation training of policy-makers and education department officials, both at the state and block level, is essential. In addition, there is a need to develop on-site support systems for teachers. Grassroots workers, parents, special school teachers, para-teachers and other
individuals can be shown how to provide the required support.
· l The existing handful of teacher trainers cannot reach the vast number of teachers working with children with disabilities in rural/remote areas. There is a need to explore alternatives such as training para-teachers, investing in pilot studies to develop tele-rehabilitation programmes, and exploring strategies for distance education.
· l The preparation of children—in the form of early childhood intervention before enrolment—is
required. This would ensure that they do not drop out, are retained in schools, and compete
equally with other children.
· l In order to strengthen inclusive practices, networking between existing practitioners (i.e., IEDC,DPEP, SSA, etc.) would be useful. Simultaneous implementation, and consistent monitoring, reinforcement and coordination between government departments and NGOs at national and state levels will promote inclusive practices.
