The Hindu Business Line : Promoting inclusive education

I spent a better part of my school days struggling to just get through my work, but never seemed to keep pace with the rest of the class. The self-doubt and lack of confidence that came with not being good enough stayed with me till I went abroad for my art course, where I discovered I was dyslexic," says artist Ayesha Seth.

There are many others in India who go through similar experiences while at school, enduring everything from teachers' intolerance of their inability to learn, scorn from their peer group and parental pressure to perform.

Dyslexia is a little known and even lesser acknowledged phenomenon in the Indian educational set-up and there are other disabilities that children go through too, without the system or even the parents ever knowing about it.

The constant pressure to perform and the labelling of a differently-abled child as someone who is slow or just not good enough dents his/her confidence, often resulting in a lifelong inferiority complex and inability to cope with situations.

Timely detection and intervention can help and this is where the Community for the Promotion of Inclusive Education (CPIE), an initiative by a group of Pune-based teachers, special educators and parents, hopes to make a difference.

"Everybody has the right to education and by refusing to acknowledge the needs and requirements of differently-abled children, we are doing them and our future generations a huge disservice," says Madhavi Kapur, Principal of R.B. Academy, a school which has integrated children with a variety of learning and physical challenges into its mainstream.

"Dyslexia, for instance, is not a disability. Dyslexic children just perceive things differently and process information differently. It is a proven thing that these kids, while they may not perform very well at school, are gifted with other abilities, think out of the box and are very creative. It is time we take a fresh look at how our schools, our education system and even parents treat differently-abled kids."

Madhavi and a group of other school principals here hope to have a sustained nationwide campaign, which will give differently-abled children a better chance to be integrated with the mainstream education system.

One of the biggest hurdles facing the group is the shocking ignorance about such conditions amongst the teaching community and very often, their lack of sensitivity in dealing with differently-abled children.

"How many of us know that the SSC board actually allows a dyslexic child extra time to finish his examination paper or that he can ask for a writer," asks Anita, a teacher and mother of a dyslexic child.

"I know of schools which refuse to even admit a differently-abled kid, because they just do not want him/her to mar their overall academic record."

The CPIE hosted `Dyslocation - The Experience of Dyslexics', an art show by Ayesha, recently to sensitise people on this issue. "I was at once happy and surprised by the number of representatives from schools in rural areas, who attended the event after reading about it in newspapers," says Madhavi. And she adds, "Many of them are now determined to be more sensitive in their schools about such issues."

The CPIE wants to "create a national platform for inclusive education professionals to share their experiences and expertise and spread the message of inclusion so that it becomes a norm rather than an exception," says Madhavi. It will work towards presenting inclusion as a possible and positive alternative to segregated education.

A parents' support group has been formed and it will work as a pressure group, lobbying to influence boards of education and institutions of higher learning. The CPIE hopes to resolve common difficulties in inclusive classrooms, share ideas and resources, and develop staff skills to deal with the new, ideal set-up.

"Inclusive education is a planned and systematic effort and it involves giving need-based support — counselling, evaluation, modifications in curriculum and remedial teaching. We have made a small beginning, and the goal will be achieved only when the word is spread across the country and there is pressure on the authorities concerned, to take notice and action," says Madhavi.

Picture by S. Subramanium

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