inclusive education is not an alternative but an inevitability ?
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.
vl 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