The inclusion of children with disabilities(CWDs) in regular schools and classrooms is a human rights matter with UNCRPD the first Human right instrument on disability( ratified by India) has adopted that education shall be without discrimination and on the basis of equal opportunity and the government shall ensure an inclusive education system at all levels, whichis a significant step towards making the education system responsive and responsible for the education of children with disabilities. With India’s commitment to UNCRPD, the land mark Act of Right to education 2009 (RTE) and the amendment in 2012 ,which has made education as the fundamental right for all children in the age group of 6-14 yrs, has immense significance for the education of children with disabilities.
Implications and ground realities of RTE in the context of disabilities
The amendment of RTE in April 2012 has included children with disabilities (as per pwd act and national trust act) under the disadvantaged group.This implies that all the provision for the disadvantaged group under RTE shall hold good for children with disabilities also. The respective state government shall have to include the same in their model rules. The government of India has made necessary provision under SSA-RTE frame work to implement the same through its government schoolsin the country. In private schools, however, there is lack of clarity regarding the quota for the CWDs within 25% reservation which is for the disadvantaged group and the supreme court has passed the order with very strong message of valuing inclusion and social engineering. This requires immediate attention and appropriate planning in the distribution amongst the disadvantaged groups, otherwise one can imagine the ordeal the parents will have to go through to get admissions fortheir children with disabilities in private schools.
To make inclusion effective in private schools, there is a need for the school management to be sensitive towards diverse abilities and CWDsand play a more proactive role. Schools which have taken the lead to include CWDs even before the implementation of the RTE Act, can play an important part as role models, these schools can sensitize the private education sector. After all, it is the school management who plays an integral role in the social engineering of the education sector. The private schools are equally responsible in bringing about inclusive development in our society andnation through inclusive education
Developing inclusive learning environment
Schools must be designed using an inclusive lens to create a barrier-free environment for CWDs. Not only must buildings incorporate ramps, but also make access to classrooms, drinking water, toilets, playgrounds, laboratories, libraries, etc easier. This can be achieved by including simple additions in the design structure such as ramps with railings, colour contrasting black boards for visual impaired and enhanced acoustics.
Apart from the structural changes, the main curriculum should also be accessible to CWDs and adequate measures should to be taken for curriculum adaptation in terms of methodology, Individual Education Plan, Comprehensive Continuous Evaluation based on NCF 2005 with adequate classroom management to enable them to participate in the learning process. An Inclusive curriculum essentially means one curriculum for all with flexibility to enable all learners to participate and achieve their goals. CWDS are now a part of the mainstream education system with efforts of DPEP, and SSA flag ship projects of MHRD. Now the challenge is to retain them and provide with equitable learning opportunities through an inclusive learning environment, making school disabled friendly. Developing an inclusive learning environment requires humane teachers who can value diversity as an educational resource by positively using differences from CWDS to enrich the learning environment.
Developing peer group support is an extremely important factor in facilitating inclusive practices because there have been many examples and instances where inclusion has been possible due to peer support – as the saying goes those who learn together live together.
Systemic Reforms – Need of the hour
Teachers of both Government and Private schools (who have hitherto remained insulated from Policy changes) need to address new issues and challenges and reorient their teaching-learning processes to make classrooms inclusive of the needs and interests of these diverse learners. At present, teachers are ill equipped to implement RtE Act, as there are very few robust programmes that help them address issues related to diverse student populations. Attitudinal awareness and skills to teach diverse children cannot be developed through short terms, one-off programmes. It requires critically reflecting on and examining one’s own beliefs alongside getting equipped with the requisite concepts and skills.
The success of the strategies adopted by the Act will depend crucially on an understanding that much of exclusion arises from attitudes and historically determined roots. While inclusion has been part of the rhetoric of all policies and programmes, the need is to make it a reality which calls for a more radical approach to the issue of marginalization and discrimination than so far adopted.
Challenges
At present most children with disabilities are enrolled in Government schools and therefore, the RTE Act may be used effectively to encourage private schools too to admit these children.
Education of children with disabilities in the mainstream setting will not become successful unless the general teachers are fully oriented to the nuances of education of children with disabilities. At present the general education system is not equipped adequately for inclusive education and therefore, a re-orientation is vital.
Systemic reforms interms of teacher preparation centers in the entire country. Firstly, adequate content on education of children with disabilities should be included in the teacher education curriculum and secondly, the provision of NCTE Act 2009 that one of the teacher educators of teacher preparation institutes should have specialisation in special education must be put into action to make the teacher education inclusive.
Inclusion of children with special needs demands creativity on the part of general teachers and therefore, programs dealing with innovative teaching methods and curriculum transactions need to be developed and offered to general education teachers.
Special schools have to be redefined their role as Resource Centers and provide resource support to regular schools in meeting the diverse needs of CWDs in the classrooms. By doing this they can support large group of children within general education system and easy to mainstream them in the society.
The provision of home based education under RTE act should not be used for discrimination and segregation but should provide means for preparing them for inclusion.
In conclusion
The existing changes in the field of education calls for systemic reforms of school education. There is a need to develop the education system which can see through an inclusion lens, where the focus should be on developing a system which will be sensitive and responsive to all learners keeping in view their diverse back grounds and overcoming the barriers which hinder education for all.
With India ratifying UNCRPD and enforcing RTE, more number of children with disabilities and diverse abilities, are joining regular schools. The challenging task is bringing about a shift in public perspective for creating inclusion and celebrating diversity
