Availability of Resources for The Implementation of Inclusive Education in Government Schools

Abstract

In India, inclusive education for children with disability has only recently been accepted in policy and principle. After Right to education act, it is very much clear that no school can deny admission of any child on any ground. As, according to the most recent advancement is the Right of Children for Free and Compulsory Education (2009), which guarantees right to free and compulsory education to all children between ages six to fourteen. For education for a child with disability, the act has to be read in conjunction with Chapter V of the Persons with Disability Act, 1995.The National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 emphasizes that, “Education is the single greatest tool for achieving social justice and equality” which has implications for development of an inclusive community and society at large. In order for policy to translate to practice, educational barriers, facilities and services for Children with Special Needs (CWSN) must be addressed. The Policy advocates the provisions for CWSN as per the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act, 2016. The policy recommends inclusion and equal participation of CWSN across all stages of school education and to that end, endorses a whole school approach to inclusion such as resourcing school complexes and resource centers, engagement of special educators, capacity building of teachers & special educators, teaching-learning materials and co-curricular activities such as arts, sports and vocational education etc., thus equipping all learners with 21st century skills. This qualitative and descriptive study analyses the influences of resources on the implementation of inclusive education in government schools. It discusses the human resources and physical resources adopted by selected 20 government schools in Delhi-NCR region. For analyzing the data self-made observation cum interview schedule is used. Findings are also given after the data analysis for presenting true scenario and improving the future picture of inclusive education in government schools. 

In light of supportive policy and legislation, the present paper argues for individual initiative on part of schools to implement programs of inclusive education for children with mild to moderate disabilities in their school classrooms.