Naidu, Anuradha
(2018)
Inclusive education: issues and challenges.
Learning Curve (30).
pp. 33-38.
Abstract
Inclusive Education is a relatively new concept,
having gained international attention in 2000,
following the Education for All campaign. In India,
the 86th Constitutional Amendment guarantees
education as a fundamental right to all and this
includes the child with a disability. The subsequent
enactment of two progressive legislative initiatives
- the Right to Education Act and The Rights of
Persons with Disability Act - reflects a policy
shift from a welfare-based approach to one that
emphasises human rights. However, Disability
Rights activists draw attention to the sobering
reality that, despite enrolment, children with a
disability are invisible in the classroom. The three
cases studies presented in the essay demonstrate
that children fall through the cracks of a fragmented
system, despite laws recognising disability as an
element of human diversity. Some of the critical
aspects of the objective of attaining quality of
learning are differentiated curriculum, pedagogical
innovation, examination reform and, most of all,
teacher preparation. A culture of collaboration and
dialogue among all stakeholders - teachers, special
educators, administrators, families and persons
with disability is urgently needed to eliminate social
barriers and enable a Whole School Development
approach to support Inclusion for all children.
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