Strategies for Making Schools Inclusive Prof. Anita Julka Head, Department of Education of Groups with Special Needs N.C.E.R.T

WHAT IS INCLUSION?

Inclusion Inclusion refers to a wider community that embodies a number of diversities Inclusive Schools are a part of this larger movement towards tackling social exclusion especially of children on the margins of society, street and working children

“Inclusive Education refers to the educational practice base on the philosophical belief that all learners, those with disabilities and those without, have a right to be educated together in age appropriate class groups, and that all will benefit from education in regular classrooms of community schools. Within these settings teachers, parents and others work collaboratively using appropriate and sufficient resources to interpret and enact the regular curriculum in a flexible manner in accordance with the individual abilities and needs of all learners.” Prof Gary Bunch Ontario Inclusive Education

Achieving Inclusion Extending the scope of ordinary schools to include a greater diversity of children (Clark et al.,1999). Accepting all children as the responsibility of all teachers & teaching within a common framework (Thomas, 1997) Adopting an institutional perspective & focusing on organisational arrangements & school improvement (Rouse and Florian, 1996) Developing a unified system of schooling (Whole School Approach), responding to all children as individuals & doing away with the parallel systems of separate forms of education - (UNESCO, 1994)

Inclusion at Present All countries are committed to inclusion either as separate policy frameworks or as a part of law enforcing Education for All Progress towards inclusion is uneven in the countries. While some have extended it to all schools others have initiated it on pilot basis All countries have a twin track system with special & inclusive education either running parallel or converging for service delivery. In some countries alternative/non formal systems also exist All countries have initiated teacher training programmes for inclusive education. The duration & modality varies from country to country

● Separate provisions supporting schools and teachers to deal with most problematic forms of diversity- resource centres, special schools, special classes within the regular school ● Community involvement to some extent in most of the countries ● High drop out rates ● Unavailability of trained teachers leading to denial of admission ● Support structures in schools still not adequate for inclusion ● Quality of education affected by casual inclusion ● Inaccessible Schools & in some countries very few only girls school In the Schools

Accessibility of schools

Accessible Toilets?

● Most of the countries identify inclusion with students with disability. A few are in the process of doing away with labels ● Remedial Teaching and not child centered pedagogy ● A tightly prescribed, content heavy curriculum in some countries ● Assessments aiming at realizing measurable 'behaviours'-grades, marks percentages ● Limited access to existing and upcoming technology Cont…

Issues and Challenges Movement towards development of Inclusive Schools is still considered to be difficult and behest with ambiguities ● Schools across countries are still not having the capacities to provide for children with a wide range of diversities (without comprises) ● Special Education is still existing as an important component of Inclusive Education for preserving the comfort and stability of the mainstream education system ● Structures in schools are not apt enough to encourage team work and specific interventions ● Resistance to inclusion is still prevalent as inclusion is considered to be dictat from the top and not acceptable to teachers

Cont. ● Conflict between Curriculum Load and meeting demands of diverse population of children in the classrooms ● Conflict between inclusion agenda and (standard) agenda ● The cultural transformation of schools demanded by Inclusion not yet in place ● Training of teachers and pooling of resources still inadequate ● Application of Universal Design to school buildings is not a reality ● Collaborations between school - Community, teacher - teacher, peers, teacher-parents weak

The Way Forward “Being included is not a privilege to be earned, nor a right that is given to individuals. Inclusion is first and foremost state of mind” Kathie Snow Schools at present are characterized by partial development of structures and cultures that support inclusion. Good pockets of practices do exist but are very few and need to be adapted by different countries. There is still a wide gap between policy and practices which needs to be bridged if schools have to serve all children in their communities.