By Akangjungla
With the anticipated number of around 240 million children with disabilities worldwide, the need to push for inclusive education has been pushed to the forefront. Right done so, as it remains a reality that ‘children with special needs/disabilities are often overlooked in policymaking, limiting their access to education and their ability to participate in social, economic and political life.’ The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, quotes, “Worldwide, these children are among the most likely to be out of school. They face persistent barriers to education stemming from discrimination, stigma and the routine failure of decision makers to incorporate disability in school services.” To address and overcome these challenges, it is essential to advocate for inclusive education in every possible way. The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund describes that ‘inclusive education means all children in the same classrooms, in the same schools. It means real learning opportunities for groups who have traditionally been excluded – not only children with disabilities, but speakers of minority languages too.’
The primary goal of Inclusive Education is to ascertain that no child or student is excluded, including all persons with disabilities. The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of the United Nations has produced a ‘General Comment’ on education that explains what Inclusive Education means and sets out in detail what governments must do to make sure it happens. UNESCO (2009) defined Inclusive Education as a process aimed to offering quality education for all while respecting diversity and the different needs and abilities, characteristics and learning expectations of the students and communities, eliminating all forms of discrimination. Through the involvement and attention from global unions, Inclusive Education has gained the acceptance as a process to reform education systems for ensuring quality education for all children in the same schools.
Inclusive education for children with special needs is an essential component under Samagra Shiksha, Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education, GoI. From the year 2018-19, Samagra Shiksha lays emphasis on improving quality of education for all students, including Children with Special Needs (CWSN). Towards attaining inclusive education for children with special needs, the Nagaland Education Mission Society (NEMS), Samagra Shiksha, Nagaland under the Learning Enhancement Package 2022-23 is finding ways to train and empower the District Inclusive Education Coordinators and Inclusive Education Resource Persons. The chairman of Nagaland Board of School Education has mentioned that the policies of the government opened up avenues for integrated education, now referred as Inclusive Education to provide education to every child in need. The Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act 2016 defines inclusive education as a system of education wherein students with and without disabilities learn together and let system of teaching and learning is suitably adopted to meet the learning needs of different types of students with disabilities. In inclusive education, all students regardless of any challenges are placed in age appropriate general education. It is heartening to note that few institutions in Nagaland have exclusively dedicated to provide services to children with special needs. To cover a wider spectrum and practically address of the needs of the children, perhaps, there is the need in the State to create wider awareness on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act, 2016 and most importantly built the ‘capacity of education systems by training teachers, administrators and communities, and providing technical assistance.’
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