OBSERVER RESEARCH FOUNDATION MUMBAI

Ideas and Action for a Better India

Inclusion is

“A sense of belonging: feeling respected, valued for who you are; feeling a

level of supportive energy and commitment from others so that you can do your

best. It is about valuing all individuals, giving equal access and opportunity to

all and removing discrimination and other barriers to involvement.”

Miller and Katz (2002)

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed individuals can change the

world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

- Margaret Mead

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Change Agents for School Education and Research (CASER), a broad-based platform working

towards quality education, hosted educators, experts, doctors, teachers, academicians,

researchers, NGOs, working in the area of inclusive and special needs education and experts

from the Department of School Education, Government of Maharashtra (GoM) for a day-long

roundtable on, ‘Transforming Inclusive Education through Innovations: dreams, designs and

solutions for education of children with special needs’ on 27 November, 2014. The event was

co-organised by Observer Research Foundation (ORF) Mumbai, Sol’s Arc and Atma. The event

was attended by close to 60 experts working in different aspects of special education. The

attendees included the parent of an autistic child, an MBA student who had a challenging

livelihood since he was born deaf, special educators working at the grass-root level in rural

Maharashtra and doctors from government hospitals.

The discussion focused on three key areas of Disability Certification and Education Concessions,

Pedagogies for Special children and governance/ policy issues in Inclusive Education.

Everyone agreed that there’s a need to educate everyone in the society and government

towards an inclusive mind-set, and the needs of children with disabilities. The system will also

need to be significantly ramped up to handle the different challenges. The key takeaways and

recommendations that emerged from the discussion are highlighted in the next page.

The experts lamented that they are not involved in the process of education – from planning,

policy making to implementation and assessment.

Marking a departure from this perception, the government actively participated in the

discussion, and emphasised the need to jointly work towards improving the overall quality of

education, especially education for children with special needs, that is currently not given the

desired and much needed attention. As an immediate follow-up, GoM has invited all experts

to join a discussion on how they can participate in the plan for school education, for the year

2015, with focus on inclusive and special needs education on 5th December, 2014 at ORF

Mumbai (from 11 am to 2 pm).

S U M M A R Y

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Key Takeaways

1. There’s an urgent need to move education for special children from Ministry of Social

Justice and Welfare to Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD). Currently

several education and development needs are being compromised – this shift will be

critical to move from a mode of welfare and rehabilitation to inclusion and

empowerment.

2. Mainstream education of special children in regular schools, as far as possible. Teachers

who can provide care and education to special children should receive attractive

incentives, so that best talent comes to this profession.

3. It is important for the government and society to move to a ‘social model’ of inclusion

from the current ‘medical model’. The social model is one that looks at eliminating

different barriers to education and care, so that children reach their full potential and

become self-reliant by not pushing them out of the system.

4. The government should open adequate number of schools for special children needing

serious attention and therapy. The government should also adequately support NGOs

engaged in this service.

5. Special education, especially after the eighth standard should focus on skill development

and generating livelihood. The National Skill Development Mission can play a crucial role

here.

6. Process for disability certification and education concessions needs to be simplified, and

made more accessible and available – which includes increasing capacity.

7. We need to define ‘learning disability’ and its different types better and increase

awareness and response readiness.

8. We need to form core groups that can work together on different focus areas and make

recommendations and suggest scalable, replicable and sustainable solutions to the

government. The areas include pedagogy, curriculum and resources, teacher training,

assessment and evaluation, impact assessment of government programmes, next steps

on education concessions, early detection and intervention, charting the long-term plan

and even conducting studies, research and pilots.

9.

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S E S S I O N 1 : I N C L U S I V E E D U C A T I O N L A N D S C A P E , D I S A B I L I T Y

C E R T I F I C A T I O N & E D C U A T I O N A L C O N C E S S I O N S

The roundtable began with a presentation

by Ms Sakina Chhil, Sol’s Arc on

‘Inclusive Education: The current

Scenario – What is good, what is not?’

The issues include:

1. Inclusion in India is not taking place

today in the true sense; there is

physical inclusion of children within

mainstream classrooms with no

emphasis on learning outcomes.

2. A child with special needs today faces

a gamut of obstacles that hold him

back from achieving and learning to

the best of the potential.

3. For instance, compare the facilities

and services available to a regular

child and a child with special needs:

4. There are an estimated 50 million or

even more children with disabilities in

the country but they barely have any

access to any kind of early

intervention!

WHAT WE NEED IS A SHIFT IN

PERSPECTIVE.

The world today has moved decades

ahead from the medical model to the

social model. However in India we still

look at all issues from the medical model

perspective instead of the social model.

We still look at the person with disability

as the problem; instead we as a society

should be looking how we have created

barriers for them and therefore remove

the barriers.

Educational

opportunities

Normal

child

Special

needs child

Curriculum ✔ ✖

Learning Materials ✔ ✖

Recognised Certification ✔ ✖

Appropriate

Evaluations ✔ ✖

Higher Learning

opportunities ✔ ✖

Job opportunities ✔ ✖

Productive member of

the society ✔ ✖

Painting made by special children at Sol’s Arc

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Government Schemes for Inclusive

Education

Various schemes under the Government

of India and Government of Maharashtra

have been implemented for Special

Education for Children with Special

Needs (CWSN) through the Sarva

Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) for children in the

age group of 6 to 14 years under SSA-IED

(Inclusive Education for the Disabled)

and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha

Abhiyan (RMSA) for children in the age

group of 14 to 18+ years under RMSA-

IEDSS (Inclusive Education for the

Disabled at Secondary Stage). Mr

Shrinivas Shastri, the Under Secretary of

Department of School Education and

Sports, Government of Maharashtra

outlined the details:

The following support is offered towards

the education for CWSN:

1. Psychological, Educational and

Physical Assessments

2. Options of:

a. Early identification (0-6 years) now

under Rashtriya Bal Swasthya

Karyakram under Women and

Children Department (RBSK/

WCD).

b. Classroom support, provided by

the class teacher.

c. Inclusive support with partial

support of a special educator.

d. Integrated support in a regular

school, with full support of a

special educator.

e. Mapping of special teachers

f. Schedule of visits by expert

resources.

g. Special teacher provision,

disability-wise

h. Resource room for integrated

support in school

i. Transport/ attendant facility

j. Aid/Appliances/corrective surgery

k. Teacher Training

There has been a significant increase in

enrolments and facilities through these

schemes over the years. However IED and

IEDSS schemes face a few issues:

1. Enrolments have increased but

children find it difficult to cope with

the content taught in schools.

2. The children have difficulties

adjusting in class.

3. Evaluations are difficult.

4. Parents and teachers feel insecure

about the students.

5. The schemes are unable to reach out to

children on streets and in rural, far-off,

and remote areas.

6. Attitudinal barriers still persist.

7. Retention of children is tough.

8. Care for older children is difficult.

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The future plans of IED and IEDSS

include:

1. Early detection and intervention;

2. Handbook on Inclusive Education and

adaptive curriculum;

3. Monitoring;

4. Vocational and skill based

programmes – home-based as well as

in coordination with ITI centres;

5. Workshops, Counselling, Teacher

training;

6. Grievance redressal forum and parent

group;

7. Therapies including sensory training

and therapeutic equipment.

The action plan going forward will be

decided in a follow-up meeting on 5th

December, 2014, between the

government, special educators and

interested organisations. The different

stakeholders will work together on the

relevant SSA and RMSA projects.

Disability Certification & Educational

Concessions for children with

disabilities

The mother of an autistic 16 year old to

narrate her woeful tale of how she had to

take her son to the hospital, for a battery

of tests. She had to visit the hospital close

to 17 times, not to mention long waiting

periods in between, for a Disability

Certificate that came with an expiry date

and did not serve the final purpose of him

being able to sit for his examinations.

Apart from this, a few test materials were

available only in Hindi or Marathi.

Currently, there are many issues

regarding the Disability certification and

concession, which affects the self-esteem

of CWSN.

Many of the deviant behaviours we

see are from children who are

excluded.

Many children end up getting pushed

out of the mainstream system towards

the National Institute of Open

Schooling (NIOS).

Principals and parents are unaware of

disabilities and also of concessions

and provisions.

There’s a dearth of government

hospitals offering disability

certification, resulting in long waiting

periods. Also, due to multi-

department dependence, the process

is extremely cumbersome.

It was widely agreed that everyone’s

attitude towards disability needs to be

changed: moving from a pure ‘medical

disability model’ to a ‘social model’,

where society adapts to the disabilities

and difficulties of the child. Educational

concession and certification should also be

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rethought of, in this context – the child

should be provided an environment to

perform, rather than being branded

negatively. The existing processes should be

made simpler and

faster, with lesser

procedural

barriers. This is

in fact the

theme of Sol’s

Arc’s campaign,

which was

elaborated by

Ms Jinisha

Chedda from

Sol’s ARC.

One should

look at

accrediting

organisations for

certification

under the supervision of government – all

kinds of certification do not need the

intervention of medical doctors. Uniform

and better learning outcomes should be given

higher priority.

Dr Harish Shetty, renowned psychiatrist

and activist, who moderated the session

emphasised on inclusivity and the role

that society and government should play

in making sure that the child feels self-

assured and confident. We need to ensure

that the child can ‘stay’ in the system

happily, rather than be in a hurry to say a

‘bye’.

While, the roundtable

was discussing the

various solutions that

had been suggested,

Mr Shastri reminded

everyone that, “In the

Government, we have to

think about over 74,000

special kids. Solutions

should consider their

feasibility and macro-

impact.”

Dr Shetty summed up

the morning session in three points, “The

points that are emerging are

provisions/accommodation for

intellectually disabled, urgency for

increasing number of equipped and

certified centers, disability does not cause

loss of self-esteem it is the response from

system. Let’s see to it that children are not

pushed out of the system.”

“The self-esteem of a student is also based on

whether he/ she can get an autograph from all

teachers and whether a principal patted him/

her on the back. Currently, exclusion is

happening big time! We need to cross-sensitise

ourselves. SSC exam should cease to be just a

rote-ability tracking exam.”

~ Dr Harish Shetty

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S E S S I O N 2 : T E A C H T H E W A Y T H E Y L E A R N : I N N O V A T I O N S I N

P E D A G O G Y

The post-lunch session saw a presentation

chaired by Ms Sonali Saini, Founder

Chairperson Sol's Arc. The session

focussed on the need for making support

learning materials available to children

with disabilities. This can significantly

result in improved learning outcomes. The

issues in learning for inclusion are:

The pace of learning is too fast;

The adaptation of learning material is

dependent on the teacher’s skills and

abilities;

There is no standardisation of learning

milestones or accountability for

learning outcomes – most children with

special needs do not achieve even the

basic literacy skills by the end of their

schooling years;

Higher learning skills as well as

vocational skills that are required for

job opportunities and self-reliance are

unavailable.

The roundtable discussing the move from ‘medical disability model’ to ‘social model’

”Today Inclusion is only physical

inclusion of children in class with no

onus for learning outcomes.”

~ Sonali Saini

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The roundtable participants opined on

other pedagogies and curricula for children

with special needs –

there were several

viewpoints, but many

agreed on using

‘textbooks’ as

powerful tools, but

only in the hands of a

well-trained teacher,

who has autonomy

and can personalise

learning experiences.

Ideally all teachers

should be ‘inclusive’ / special educators –

since special education, helps teachers to

“teach better, more attuned to the diverse

needs of children”. We should also

formalise M.Ed and B.Ed programmes in

inclusive and special needs education, so

that more teachers can be trained,

sensitised and more relevant research and

progress can be made.

Dr Suvarna Kharat, Project Coordinator,

RMSA emphasised that, “a R&D policy for

education could play a great role in further

improving the quality of research,

information and

generating

solutions to

problems in

education. This

will also improve

the synergy

between needs

and goals of the

government and

researchers.”

Dr Shakuntala Kale, Deputy Director,

MSCERT as well as Mr Shastri suggested

that inputs from the Government and

MSCERT should be considered and a pilot

study should be conducted after a joint

discussion on pedagogy adaptations, and

adoption at a large scale.

Mr Shastri suggesting that a pilot study be

conducted and follow-up core groups be formed,

for focused discussion and action.

L to R: Dr Suvarna Kharat ; Mrs Nisha Grover – addressing the participants

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S E S S I O N 3 : F R O M E X C L U S I O N A N D R E H A B I L I T A T I O N T O

I N C L U S I O N A N D E M P O W E R M E N T

Mrs Nisha Grover, President, National

Convention of Educators of the Deaf, India

emphasised on how a child’s fundamental

right to education is compromised due

to the fragmentation between MHRD and

Ministry of Social Justice and Welfare.

Applauding the openness and

approachability of the government, Mr

Sudheendra Kulkarni, Chairman, Observer

Research Foundation

Mumbai, remarked how

“today’s roundtable is a

testament of how proactive

and sensitive people can

become agents of change –

by making the right,

constructive noise.” He

encouraged the forum to

concretise the

recommendations and

lobby the government to

bring about change, both at

the Centre and at the State. He felt that

vocational and life-skills development is

key – and only by providing that to the

children can we ensure that they are self-

reliant and live in dignity.

The group agreed that the term

‘learning disabilities’ needs to be defined

better, and one also needs to remove the

term ‘mental retardation’ from everyone’s

vocabulary.

CASER is proud to announce the

success of its effort to get the

Government and the NGOs, experts

and researchers

working on education

for special children on

the same side. The

follow-up session on 5th

December is expected

to deliver some tangible

markers to guide this

coalescence of goals

and processes between

the Government of Maharashtra and

the civil society. ORF will strengthen

this process and play the role of a

guiding agent to reduce the dichotomy

between the government and the civil

society working on school education.

Mr Kulkarni encouraged all to

concretise the recommendations

and lobby the government.

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O B S E R V E R R E S E A R C H F O U N D A T I O N M U M B A I

Observer Research Foundation (ORF) is a leading non-partisan

Indian think-tank that seeks to influence public policy formulation. It

was established in New Delhi in 1990 by R.K. Mishra, a widely

respected public figure, who envisaged it as a broad-based intellectual platform

pulsating with ideas needed for India’s nation-building.

ORF has brought together leading Indian policy makers, academics, public figures,

social activists and business leaders to discuss various issues of national importance.

ORF scholars have made significant contributions toward improving government

policies. ORF has produced a large body of critically acclaimed publications.

Beginning 2010, ORF Mumbai has been established to pursue the Foundation’s vision

in India’s business and financial capital. Its research and advocacy is in six broad

areas: Education, Public Health, Inclusive Development, Urban Renewal, Youth

Development, and Promotion of India’s Priceless Artistic and Cultural Heritage.

ORF Mumbai’s mission statement is: Ideas and Action for a Better India.

ORF Mumbai has set up a few platforms for focused work on different initiatives –

Change Agents for School Education and Research, Change Agents for Higher

Education and Research (currently pursuing reforms in science and engineering

education), Mumbai Solar Mission, Mumbai Transport Forum, Placemaking, Mumbai

against Tuberculosis, Drive against Diabetes, Malaria, Dengue.

Recently, ORF Mumbai has set up the Mahatma Gandhi Centre for Cleanliness,

Sanitation and Community Health to work towards Swachh Bharat, Mission 2019 in

partnership with a community based organisation, Triratna Prerana Mandal.

Contact us at:

Observer Research Foundation Mumbai

NKM International House, 5th Floor,

178 Backbay Reclamation, Babubhai Chinai Marg,

Mumbai 400 020

aparna@orfonline.org

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