Title: Inclusive Education- Challenges and perspectives with special reference to India

Introduction Human Development goes beyond the economic wellbeing of the people of a nation at an individual level or collectively as a nation. The Millennium Declaration, adopted by 189 nations and signed by 147 heads of states, aims to free all men, women and children from the abjec t dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty1. The resolution (A/55/L.2) adopted by the UN General Assembly considers the following fundamental values to be essential: Freedom, Equality, Solidarity, tolerance, respect for nature and shared responsibility. Regarding equality, it was resolved that no individual (or nation) must be denied the opportunity to benefit from development. Under the heading Development and Poverty eradication, Point 20 of the resolution is to develop and implement strategies that give young people everywhere a real chance to find decent and productive work2 Human Development is a development paradigm that is about creating a society that includes people who are disadvantaged economically, socially, physically or mentally and provides them with opportunities to build capabilities that in turn help them lead productive lives in line with their intellectual capabilities and interests. As such, this indicator is more significant than economic indicators.Inclusive growth requires empowerment of the disadvantaged and such empowerment can be best achieved through education. The Human Development Index (HDI) is computed based on three parameters namely health, education and standard of living of a country. The education index is computed based on two indicators namely the composite enrolment ratio at the primary, secondary and tertiary level and the adult literacy ratio 3. As such, the impact of education as a parameter on the Human Development cannot be over emphasized. Education is one of the pillars on which rests the edifice of social sector reforms. However, the society will reap the benefits only if education is universalized and made inclusive. Inclusive education must bring into its fold students who are disadvantaged either economically, socially, physically or mentally. The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan has a separate section on children with special needs to bring th em under the ambit of inclusive education. It delineates the support systems that must be made available to challenged children so as to ensure primary education to all irrespective of the nature or extent of disability. However, according to the website of WHO, not even 1% of the total amount spent is towards inclusiveness of children with disability. The picture in the tertiary education sector is even more dismal. The XI th Plan recognises the need and has spelt out some schemes towards this end. The efforts have to be directed towards facilitating skill-enhancement, building self-esteem and confidence in such disadvantaged students so that they have an enriched life experience as positive and contributing citizens. While legislative interventions are tools to afford Equity to such sections, the desired results of inclusiveness will be reaped only on effective implementation and commitment of administrators towards this cause.
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Website of the Department for international development http://dfid.gov.uk/mdg accessed on Feb 28, 2009 http://un.org/millenium/declaration/ares552e.htm accessed on Feb 28, 2009 http:/hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/indices/hdi last accessed on Feb 28, 2009

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Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2187639

What is inclusiveness? The concept of inclusiveness hinges on the recognition of the need to make disadvantaged students responsible and contributing citizens of the society. It also emphasizes the role and responsibilities of a teacher in instilling self-confidence in such students as also in cultivating the right attitude among the other sighted students and peers. It is about rejecting segregation or exclusion of learners for whatever reason ability, gender, language, care status, family income, disability, sexuality, colour, religion or ethnic origin; maximising the participation of all learners in the community schools of their choice; making learning more meaningful and relevant for all, particularly those learners most vulnerable to exclusionary pressures; rethinking and restructuring policies, curricula, cultures and practices in schools and learning environments so that diverse learning needs can be met, whatever the origin or nature of those needs.4 "Inclusion involves all kinds of practices that are ultimately practices of good teaching. What good teachers do is to think thoughtfully about children and develop ways to reach all children. Ultimately good teaching is a relationship between two people; teachers get good results because they enter into that relationship. Inclusion is providing more options for children as ways to learn. Its structuring schools as community where all children can learn. But theres no recipe for becoming an inclusive teacher or an inclusive school. Its not a mechanized format." -- Dr. Chris Kliewer, Associate Professor of Special Education, University of Northern Iowa. "Inclusion is based on the belief that people/adults work in inclusive communities, work with people of different races, religions, aspirations, disabilities. In the same vein, children of all ages should learn and grow in environments that resemble the environments that they will eventually work in." -- Dr. Susan Etscheidt, Professor of Special Education, UNI. "When good inclusion is in place, the child who needs the inclusion does not stand out. The inclusive curriculum includes strong parental involvement, students making choices, and a lot of hands-on and heads-on involvement." -- Dr. Melissa Heston, Associate Professor of Education, University of Northern Iowa Thus inclusiveness is about creating an environment where each and every member of any type of community is an integral part of the society notwithstanding physical or mental capabilities, disabilities, economic status and man-made constructs like religion or caste. It aims at building capabilities and self-esteem in the citizens so that they lead lives that are fulfilling and beneficial to self and society. Statistics regarding disabled population in India Information on the total number of disabled people in India is collected at periodic intervals by National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO). The British discontinued collection of this information in 1931 and for about fifty years, even after independence, Population Census collection did not include information about disabled people since there was no clear definition of disability. In 1981, an attempt was made to collect limited information in this regard. Collection of all relevant details in a more comprehensive manner through enumeration was carried on for the first time in 2001. The 58th round of the NSS was conducted in 2002 and one of the areas of focus was collection of information on disabled people in India.

http:/www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/inclusive-classroom last accessed on Feb 28, 2009

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Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2187639

Data from two most recent surveys that may be referred to regarding disabled persons in India: one is the Economic Census that was conducted last in 2001 and the 58th round of the NSSO that was conducted in 2002. Table: 1 The Census of 2001 provides the following information on the people with disabilities in India: States/UTs-wise Disabled Population by Type of Disability and Residence in Census 2001 Sl. State/UT Visual Speech Hearing Locomotor Mental Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 India * 1 Andhra Pradesh 2 Arunachal Pradesh 3 Assam 4 Bihar 5 Chhattisgarh 6 Goa 7 Gujarat 8 Haryana 9 Himachal Pradesh 10 Jammu & Kashmir 11 Jharkhand 12 Karnataka 13 Kerala 14 Madhya Pradesh 15 Maharashtra 16 Manipur * 17 Meghalaya 18 Mizoram 19 Nagaland 20 Orissa 21 Punjab 22 Rajasthan 23 Sikkim 24 Tamil Nadu 25 Tripura 26 Uttar Pradesh 27 Uttarakhand 28 West Bengal Union Territories 29 A & N Islands 30 Chandigarh 31 D & N Haveli 32 Daman & Diu 33 Delhi 10634881 581587 23079 282056 1005605 160131 4393 494624 201358 64122 208713 186216 440875 334622 63614 580930 11713 13381 6257 9968 514104 170853 753962 10790 964063 27505 1852071 85668 862073 3321 8422 2346 1898 10712 1640868 138974 2429 56974 130471 30438 1868 66534 24920 12762 16956 39683 90717 67066 75825 113043 2769 3431 2006 4398 68673 22756 73147 3174 124479 5105 255951 16749 170022 652 882 295 189 15505 1261722 73373 3072 51825 73970 34093 1000 70321 27682 15239 14157 28233 49861 79713 85354 92390 2994 3668 2421 5245 84115 17348 75235 3432 72636 5699 128303 15990 131579 545 607 337 120 8741 6105477 415848 3474 91970 512246 151611 4910 310765 151485 46512 37965 138323 266559 237707 495878 56945 6177 5127 2476 4258 250851 149758 400577 2172 353798 13970 930580 56474 412658 1870 3828 795 690 64885 2263821 155199 1261 47475 165319 43614 3578 103221 49595 17315 24879 55922 92631 141686 115257 213274 4723 3196 2851 2630 103592 63808 109058 799 127521 6661 286464 19888 270842 669 1799 275 274 26043 21906769 1364981 33315 530300 1887611 419887 15749 1045465 455040 155950 302670 448377 940643 860794 1408528 1569582 28376 28803 16011 26499 1021335 424523 1411979 20367 1642497 58940 3453369 194769 1847174 7057 15538 4048 3171 235886

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34 Lakshadweep 35 Pondicherry

603 10646

207 1818

147 2277

505 8830

216 2286

1678 25857

Note: * India and Manipur figures exclude three sub-divisions that were cancelled due to technical and administrative reasons Source : Census of India, 2001, The first Report on Disability Registrar General of India, Govt. of India, New Delhi.

According to the Census compilation, the disabled with visually impairment formed 48.55% (10634881/21906769) of the total disabled people in India. Table 2: Table showing the number of persons with disability as per NSSOs survey
NSSO 2002 Locomotor Disability Hearing Disability Speech Disability Blindness Mental Illness Mental Retardation Low vision Any disability Total 10634000 3061700 2154500 2013400 1101000 994700 813300 18491000 % 58 17 12 11 6 5 4 100 Male Number 6633900 1613300 1291100 928700 664500 625800 369300 10891300 % 36 9 7 5 4 3 2 59 Female Number 4000100 1448400 863400 1084700 436500 368900 444000 7599700 % 22 8 5 6 2 2 2 41

Source: NSSO 58th round (Jul-Dec 2002)

i.

ii. iii.

According to the NSSOs 58th survey, the number of persons with disability is 1.85 crore And the disabled with visually impairment formed 17% (2013400/18491000) of the total disabled people in India. Reasons for differences in the statistical information provided by the surveys: The Census and the NSS have different sampling design. While the Census is an enumeration of the entire population of India, the NSS follows the stratified sampling method that is nationally representative. In both cases, disability is self-reported. Reporting disability would therefore depend on an individuals understanding and will to report. The definition of overall disability, types of disability and extent of disability is not uniform. All these factors have contributed to differences in estimates. According to the Census of 2001, there are 219 lakhs persons with disabilities that form 2.13 % of the total population of the country. The International Labour Organisation posts this figure at 700 lakhs. The World Health Organisations website estimates this figure to be between 400 and 800 lakhs. According to reports of the WHO and the United Nations, people with disabilities comprise approximately 10% of any national population. Peter Coleridge (2000 - page 6), reports that the author of the WHO now estimate that the proportion is more likely to be 4% of the population in developing countries and 7% in developed countries. Robert L Metts (2000 Page 6) reports that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) which earlier accepted the figure of 10% now projects the global ratio be 5.2%. Though this indicates an international trend towards a lowering of previous estimates some still estimate disabled proportion to be 10% or more. (Disability Issues, Trends and Recommendations for the World Bank, Robert L. Metts, February, 2000). Page 4 of 20

A.

1. 2. 3. 4.

5. 6.

7.

The Finance Commission of India has taken the figure to be 400 lakhs for budgeting purposes.5 While one appreciates the complexities involved in compiling the disability statistics, it is very vital to have information on the incidence and extent of prevalence of the various types of disability. This information is a pre requisite as it will facilitate policy framing and making suitable provisions for services. Extent of Inclusiveness of Disabled students in Higher Education in India Quantitative information: With such varying figures of persons with disabilities, and no data regarding the proportion of this section studying in the primary, secondary and tertiary level, the extent of disability and such other details, it is a challenge to estimate the total number of students with disabilities in various stages of education. A research study on Status of Mainstream Education of Disabled Students in India was conducted by the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Persons with Disability (NCPEDP), India in August 2004. This is a trust registered in 1996 with representation from Non Government Organisations, industry and Media. Some relevant findings as reported by the NCPEDP are given below: 322 Universities time were sent the questionnaires seeking information on the disabled students studying in the universities. 119 universities (36.9 %) representing approximately 7280 institutes and colleges responded. Except the North Eastern part of India, all other regions were adequately represented. The total number of disabled students was only 1635 of which 76.3% were males and 23.7% were females. According to a UGC report quoted by NCPEDP, it is estimated that 6% of Indias youth population is in Universities and colleges. There is no reliable information on the percentage of disabled youth in higher education institutes. Since 2 % to 8 % of the population in India is estimated to be disabled, we may assume that the same percentage of youth is also disabled and 6 % of this population should be studying in institutes of higher education. Accordingly, based on the most conservative estimate of the NSSO, (and the lowest of all estimates mentioned above), the proportion of disabled youth in the country should be 60% of 185,00,000 i.e 111,00,000. As applicable to the normal youth, 6% of the disabled youth population should be studying in institutes of higher education i.e 6% of 111,00,000. This figure is equal to 666000. However, extrapolating the figures obtained by the study, the total number of disabled persons studying in colleges and Universities should be 1635*100/37 = 4419. The ratio of the current enrolment of disabled students to what it should be is 100*4419/6,66,000 = 0.66 %. This indicates that Indias higher education is not accessible to 99.34% of the disabled youth who should be studying in universities as per the norms for normal youth. The picture could be far worse than this since the estimates for persons with disability in India ranges from 185 lakhs to 800 lakhs at the higher end according to WHOs estimates. The total percentage of disabled students vis-a-vis total number of students in the Universities could be worked out only for 52 of 119 Universities, as the question regarding the total number of students and male/female ratio in the University was not included in the original questionnaire and was sent later. Only 52 Universities could respond to this question within the time limit. The Table below shows that only 0.1% (male 0.07%, female 0.03 %) of the total number of students in 52 Universities, was students with disabilities. While this corroborates the percentage
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Persons with disabilities in India- a compilation by Mahesh Chandrashekar, June 2006, http://www.geocities.com/mahesh_mobility/pwd-india.htm accessed on Feb 28, 2009

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arrived at in point 4 above, it also reveals the dismal state of adherence to the 3% reservation for disabled students as mandated by the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995. Table 3 Table showing the number of disabled students in India Total Total Total Total Total Number of number of number of number of number of Students Disabled Male Male Female students Students Disabled students students 713167 694 496209 489 216958 100% 0.1% 69.5% 0.07% 30.4%
Source: Survey conducted by NCPEDP

Total number of Female Disabled students 205 0.03%

B. Information on the level of Awareness and Qualitative support: In the same study, some other observations made by the NCPEDP are given below: 1. Out of 119 universities who sent responses, 101 universities were aware of the Persons with Disabilities Act 1995, 15 universities reported that they were not aware of such an Act (this includes some renowned names such as TIFR- Mumbai), 3 did not respond. 2. Out of these 119 universities, 112 admitted to following the 3% reservation for disabled students though 18 of them had not even a single disabled student. Six Universities did not follow the reservation policy, though except one, the remaining five knew about the provision. One university responded that the provision was not Applicable to them. 3. Out of these 119 universities, only fifty percent of the Universities were aware of the UGC schemes such as Teacher Preparation in Special Education (TePSE)/ Higher Education for Persons with Special Needs (HEPSN). 4. Only six universities availed of the grant for setting up special disability centres and five had availed grants for providing special equipments to their students. 5. Out of these 119 universities, 52 admitted that they did not provide any special equipment and 32 universities responded that this was not applicable to them! 6. Out of these 119 universities, 47 universities had scholarships for physically disabled and 29 others offered financial assistance. 7. Some of the concessions made available to disabled students were: Bus concessions, hostel accommodation (but not necessarily with accessible hostels /washrooms) The Interventions that provide equity towards Equality: The following laws have been enacted in the interest of disabled people in India. 1. The Mental Health Act of India, 1987 to protect the rights of persons with intellectual and psychological impediments as they are most vulnerable and are discriminated both outside and within the families 2. Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992 - society to regulate and standardize training policies and programmes in the field of rehabilitation of persons with disabilities 3. Persons with Disabilities, Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation Act, 1995 4. National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mentally Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999 for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Page 6 of 20

5. In February 2006, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment have released the National Policy for Persons with Disabilities which says The National Policy recognizes that persons with disabilities are valuable human resource for the country and seeks to create an environment that provides them equal opportunities, protection of their rights and full participation in society.6 Four core values of human rights law are of particular importance in the context of disability: the dignity of each individual, who is deemed to be of inestimable value because of his/her inherent self-worth, and not because s/he is economically or otherwise useful; the concept of autonomy or self-determination, which is based on the presumption of a capacity for self-directed action and behaviour, and requires that the person be placed at the centre of all decisions affecting him/her; the inherent equality of all regardless of difference and the ethic of solidarity, which requires society to sustain the freedom of the person with appropriate social supports.7 Inclusive Education in India: Perspectives To understand how visually impaired students are being included and accommodated in academic institutions, the researcher interviewed: 1) Ten visually impaired students (all male as there were no female students available for the interview) studying various programmes in the different colleges of Pune. 2) Professionals including lawyers, teachers, media persons, IT professionals, Chartered Accountants who were all visually impaired. 3) The Director of one Disability unit set up in a college in Mumbai (XRCVC) 4) The founders of an NGO called Nivant Andha Mukti Vikasalay, which provides academic, financial and emotional support to visually impaired students. 5) Sharing experiences of two visually impaired students of the institute that the researcher is associated with. 1) Interview of ten visually impaired students studying in Pune, India The programmes that the students pursued were: B.A in Sociology (1), B.A. LL.B (1), B.Com (2), GNIIT (1), Political Science (1), B A in Economics (2), MCM (1), D.Ed (1). They had all congregated at a get-together organized by a group of students of one college in Pune and spearheaded by two visually impaired students. Responses from the ten visually impaired students 1. Answering the question on whether they got the admission under any reservation, all of them replied in the affirmative. They were offered seats under the 3 % reservation quota. 2. When they were asked about the type of accommodation that they received, the opinions expressed by them are given below: a. In the first instance we are treated sympathetically sometimes condescendingly. b. We need empathy, not sympathy. Sympathy is not an accommodation. It does not facilitate overcoming obstacles. c. Fellow class mates help us to identify and overcome any infrastructure barriers that are present.

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Website of Ministry of Social Justice and empowerment http://www.socialjustice.nic.in accessed on Jan 31, 2009 http://www.geocities.com/mahesh_mobility/pwd_india.htm accessed on Feb 28, 2009

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d. The college follows the Maharashtra State Governments directive regarding examinations when visually impaired students are permitted scribes to read out the question paper and write the answers dictated by them. e. They are also allowed extra time at the rate of 20 minutes for every one-hour. 3. When they were asked about whether they are provided alternative questions if the questions were mathematical, many of them had not faced the problem since they had chosen subjects that were theoretical. The student studying for economics did face a problem answering question with graphs. However, no alternative question is given. 4. When they were asked whether they are happy with the programmes that they were pursuing, on student pursuing MCM answered saying that we do not have too many programmes to choose from because we have not done mathematics after class VII. So we are permitted to take only those programmes that do not require mathematics as a pre-requisite. I first did my B.A in Economics, and now I am doing my MCM since to take the entrance test of the student MCA would require knowledge of at least Std. XII mathematics. 5. When they were asked if they have enjoyed their college life/ university life as much as sighted students have, their answer was as follows: a. Four students said No since they had to struggle to keep pace with academics and that did not give them time to enjoy as their sighted counterparts. b. Three said yes and added that apart from the fact that they could not participate in all the activities or watch the fun, they enjoyed college life with their friends and through their eyes. c. One said, yes and may be more than the others. According to him, he was lucky as he had the support of his family and friends. He also added that his family could afford to provide him with the assistive technologies that made it simpler for him. d. Two said Dont know. We are definitely enjoying ourselves, but dont know what we are missing and so we cannot comment. 6. When they were asked about what the government can do to bring them into the mainstream society, their observations were: a. The government should allow visually disabled students, who wish to study mathematics, to study the same level of mathematics as normal, sighted students are studying. We are not mentally challenged. With a little accommodation, we can learn mathematics. b. There must be scholarships offered to visually impaired students as most of them do not have the financial capability to pursue higher education. c. Teachers must be able to adapt the methods of teaching when there are disabled students in class. 7. When asked them whether they are confident about facing the challenges in their career and life, the essence of their observations conveyed the following: a. We are primarily worried about whether we will get employment on our merit and capability or as a corporate Social Responsibility initiative. We would like employers to be aware that we can be as productive as the sighted employees provided we are given the right kind of responsibilities b. We are now learning to handle mobility issues on our own so that we can handle lifes challenges independently. We only pray that we have empathetic colleagues and employers. 8. When asked about any special training that educational institutes can design for visually impaired students, their responses were: a. Increase in General awareness b. Personality development c. Motivational Workshops Page 8 of 20

d. Interaction with achievers who are visually impaired 2) Interview of Professionals including lawyers, teachers, media persons, IT professionals, Chartered Accountants who were all visually impaired. In all these interviews, only four questions were asked and interestingly, the answers were all the same, almost as if given after consulting each other. The researcher has paraphrased the responses from all the interviewees and given the answers below. Responses from professionals: i. Do you think disabled people (in particularly visually impaired) are provided with the support system to bring them into the mainstream society? They answered in the negative. They believed that India has a long way to go since a majority of visually impaired population is from the economically weaker section. To bring them to the mainstream is the collective responsibility of the society and the visually impaired people themselves. The areas that need immediate attention is access physical access through barrier free infrastructure, educational access through suitable interventions and employment access through empowerment of the visually impaired population and enhancing their suitability for productive employment. Today the disabled population in India is an invisible population. ii. If not, how have you all come to the position that you are in? They were all of the opinion that they had achieved whatever they had, despite the system. They acknowledged the support of the family and friends. They added that while some concessions were given they were very inconsistent, sporadic and insignificant. They hastened to add that they do not blame anybody since this is not willful negligence but lack of awareness and in the worst case may be due to indifference. iii. Is it because we do not have sufficient laws to ensure this? They strongly believed that it was not just lack legal provisions and support. Like all other laws, they added, it suffers from lack of effective implementation. The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act (PWD Act) was passed in 1995. It took six long years to start the process of implementation. After six years, in 2001, committees were formed to study and recommend implementation strategies. These committees do not have any blind persons who may understand the complexities of the issues that need to be addressed. For example, they pointed out that there is no gender perspective in the PWD Act and has no equity provided to women with disability. The National policy of Persons with Disability has been drafted and waits being passed. In the meanwhile, the International convention of rights of Persons with disabilities has been ratified by the National Federation of the Blind. Even if the government is able to implement the laws that are in place, it will bring a greater proportion of disabled people into the mainstream of education and employment. iv. What should we as a society do to work towards an inclusive society? a) They were of the opinion that the first thing that should done is to create awareness about the needs of disabled people among the society, educational institutions and employers. There is this misconception that disabled people cannot contribute meaningfully in whatever they do. With accommodation for the nature of disability, they can contribute substantially in their chosen area of work. The respondents pointed out that they were lawyers, Chartered Accountants, IT professionals, Radio reporters and teachers not because the government enforced conducive laws but because they were contributing in the respective areas. There is a need to educate people about the fact that disabled people have physical or mental challenges and would therefore be able to contribute differently. Page 9 of 20

b) Teachers play a crucial role in building the capabilities and self confidence in the visually impaired students. They must demonstrate empathy, willingness to help and provide accommodations. In doing this care must be exercised to ensure that set standards that such students can attain and help them attain it instead of setting low standards under the garb of accommodation. c) With respect to education, small accommodations in classrooms, examinations, access of study material will go a long way in supporting visually handicapped students. d) Start celebrating the World Disabled Day and the World White Stick Day. e) Make barrier free buildings and transport facilities f) Economic subsidies for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. g) Personality development workshops to enhance their communication skills and confidence. h) Most importantly, the disabled people should have the self motivation, determination and will power to empower themselves to be eligible for education and employment and not depend on concessions or charity. i) In a nutshell, appreciate that the problem is not in the disability, but in the attitude. 3) Interview with the Director of one Disability unit set up in a college in Mumbai, India The objective of the interview with the Director of this centre was to understand the objectives of the centre and the nature of support that they provide to the visually impaired students. This centre was set up in the year 2004 and formally inaugurated in 2006 as a full fledged centre to provide assistance to the visually impaired students. The centre The director of the centre is now primarily into advocacy through which they advise visually impaired students of their rights regarding examinations etc. The centre has a digital library and the assistive technology that supports visually impaired students. The Director is also actively involved in resolving copyright issues that come up with providing soft copies of books and journals since buying e-books and e-journals involve prohibitive costs. He has also been speaking to publishers requesting them to provide the e-copy of the book against an undertaking that the e-books will not be used for commercial purposes. The centre is also working to propagate Braille education and literacy. 4) Interview with the founders of an NGO called Nivant in Pune, India, which provides academic, financial and emotional support to visually impaired students. This NGO was founded by sheer chance when the lady visited a blind school to donate funds to the school. The plight of the little blind children who had been abandoned disturbed her after which she decided to start Nivant a centre for the visually challenged. She has about 150 students studying in courses ranging from Std XII to postgraduation programmes who are provided with the support to pursue their education. She is of the firm opinion that the education system must: a) Allow students to choose to study mathematics at any level if they are intellectually capable of the same so that we are able to build not only capabilities but also confidence in such students. b) The Maharashtra State Board does not offer alternative questions if graphs or diagrams are required in the answers. Instead, the Board, grants them the marks gratis. This does not help the students. Instead, alternative questions allow them to earn their marks. Moreover, a student learns not to be dependent on concessions based on disability. c) The focus must be on empowerment through reasonable accommodation. This not only empowers but also builds the self esteem of the students. d) Financial assistance must be made available to students who are from economically weaker sections of the society. Page 10 of 20

e) Counsellors must be appointed to provide emotional support to these students as they transition from one stage to another. Experience Sharing As a founder principal and an administrator of one of Indias premier institutes of higher education, the researcher shares her experiences with two visually impaired students studying in the institute. The names of the candidates have been changed to maintain their privacy. Aman Iqbal: Family background: Aman is from a middle class family studying in the second year of the three year graduate programme. The younger of two sons in his family, has been progressively losing his eyesight due to Retinits pigmentosia a genetic disorder that has affected his older brother too. Aman now suffers 75% visual impairment, while his older brother has lost his eyesight completely. Academic performance: He had scored 75% in his Class X examination conducted by West Bengal State Board and 63% in his Class XII examination conducted by Central Board of Secondary Education. He went to schools for normal students as the extent of impairment in the beginning allowed this. With time, he has learnt to cope with the requirements even though the extent of impairment kept increasing. Both the Boards provided accommodation by providing alternative questions where answers included graphs or were based on diagrams/ maps. Admission to undergraduate programme: As an eligibility criterion for admission to the undergraduate programme, he took the entrance test where he was permitted a scribe. The examination had sections to test quantitative aptitude, analytical and logical reasoning, English and awareness of current affairs. While the latter two sections did not pose any problems, the first two sections were difficult where there were questions on data interpretation based on graphs or diagrams. Since alternative questions were not allowed, such questions were totally omitted and hence the marks scored were much less than it might have been with alternate questions provided. However, the university followed the reservation policy and hence he secured admission in this quota. His experience in the institute: He took some time to adjust to his new environment and staying away from home in a hostel. He had to take that extra step to make friend as students were not sure about how a student with visual impairment would cope with the academic rigour of the programme, not to mention, other challenges. Initially, students did not want to share a room with him in the hostel as they were wary about cleanliness and hygiene issues that might arise out of sharing facilities. But with time, he has a large circle of friends in the institute. He is happy going to the institute everyday and looks forward to participating and organizing events in college. The only area he is forced to keep out of is sports. He has participated in Hindi Drama, Youth Activism Day, Personality Contest where he went up to the final round and is part of the team organizing the farewell for the graduating batch this year. His plans for the future: He plans to pursue his Masters in Business Administration, work for a few years and then start of on his own. He does not wish to join his father in his family business. He wants to start a business of his own and is confident that he would be able to successfully run it. The challenges he faced in this institute: He faced two major challenges: 1. Making friends who understood him and accepted him with his disability Initially, only one student who took pity on his state became his friend. Slowly, he was able to impress upon this one friend and through him on others that he did not want sympathy, only empathy. This was done with continued dialogue and understanding each others view points. He Page 11 of 20

recalls a stage where no student was willing to share a room with him saying that he did not keep the toilets clean after use etc. This was addressed by the head of the institution by counseling both students of how a solution can be arrived at instead of excluding him from the hostel community. Once the mutual understanding became stronger, such issues were addressed through dialogue where the normal students themselves came out with solutions. Today, Aman has a huge circle of friends who include him in experiencing campus life to the fullest. His best excursion till date was the one week trip that he made to Kanha National wildlife Park with his friends and faculty. 2. Coping with the challenges of the programme Regarding the challenges of the academic rigour, his teachers and friends help him overcome his difficulties by giving him extra time outside class. Soft copies of all teaching material are made available in the institutes reprographic centre. The library started scanning books for their reference in the library. The institute is also setting up a digital library that would address their need for study and reference material. Regarding the evaluation, the University also allows them to give the examination using a computer and the soft copy of the question paper is given to them. Training that they would like before they step out into the world: He is confident that with his degree he would have the necessary employability but believes that as a nation, the awareness about the disabled and their needs is quite low. Only when the nation is sensitized, will the disable be able to hold their own in society. Those who have so far achieved have done so despite the system and not because of the system. Rasik Agarwal Family background: Rasik is also from a large joint family and belong to the middle class. He therefore has five dads and five moms. He had lost sight in one eye and went to a normal school upto class 8. He was warned not to play games as he ran a risk of losing sight in the other eye should there be an accident. But his love for sports tempted to play basket ball. An accident where the ball hit his forehead led to loss of sight in the other eye too. He underwent 8 surgeries before he resigned to the situation. He continued studying at home with the help of private tuitions till class XII. Academic performance: He had scored 74% in his Class X and 73% in his Class XII examination conducted by National Institute Open School. He had not taken subjects like mathematics or accountancy and chose only those subjects that would not require drawing, graphs or maps. While his family was very supportive, they did not want him to leave the confines of his home. Only when he threatened to stop studying if they did not let him join a college/ institute did they concede to his request. He then underwent mobility training for one year before he ventured out to seek admission for the undergraduate programme of our institute. Rasik is studying in the first year of the undergraduate programme in Business Administration in our institute. Admission to undergraduate programme: As an eligibility criterion for admission to the undergraduate programme, he took the entrance test where he was permitted a scribe. The examination had sections to test quantitative aptitude, analytical and logical reasoning, English and awareness of current affairs. While the latter two sections did not pose any problems, the first two sections were difficult where there were questions on data interpretation based on graphs or diagrams. Since alternative questions were not allowed, such questions were totally omitted and hence the marks scored were much less than it might have been with alternate

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questions provided. However, the university followed the reservation policy and hence he secured admission in this quota. His experience in the institute: He took very little time to adjust to his new environment and staying away from home in a hostel. Aman had already paved the way and students understood the challenges and needs of visually impaired students better. He has a large circle of about 80 to 100 friends in the institute. He is happy going to the institute everyday and looks forward to participating and organizing events in college. The only area he is forced to keep out of is sports. But his love for sports drives him to be involved in the organizing of such sporting activities. He was the master mind of the theme Open your Eyes for the presentation on Youth Activism Day of the institute. This was the prize-winning presentation that has been taken up by the institute for propagation during this academic year. He has also led the team that organized a get-together for visually impaired people in the state. The objective was to share good practices and also be inspired by achievers who are visually impaired. He was also in the team editing music for the Personality Contest. He is in the team organizing the event Paryaga and event to sensitise the students about the environmental issues. He is very comfortable doing table work and loves his friends who never make him feel inadequate. His plans for the future: He wishes to be professionally qualified and achieve enough to be able to represent the visually impaired in the United Nations in the World Blind Federation. He wants to work for the upliftment of the visually impaired. The challenges he faced in this institute: He faces only one challenge: Coping with the challenges of the programme He feels that he is not really able to learn much from a class room session. He observes that all teachers are willing to help but are not trained to help and therefore do not know how to help. So he depends heavily on his friends who help him after college hours. The institute is however creating a cultutre of inclusiveness and therefore soft copies of all teaching material are made available in the institutes reprographic centre. The library started scanning books for their reference in the library. The institute is also setting up a digital library that would address their need for study and reference material. Regarding the evaluation, the University also allows them to give the examination using a computer and the soft copy of the question paper is given to them. Training that they would like before they step out into the world : He is gaining confidence because of being among normal students and identifying his strengths and constraints. He likes being treated on par with all others when required to do community and not being given undue concessions. He is also training himself to talk to total strangers which he was not confident of doing. The sheer competitiveness among studens eggs him to come out with his best. He is confident that with reasonable accommodation he would have the necessary employability and the life skills to face the challenges of life. He is also working on developing his own personality by participating in event, organizing events and learning from other students. He is learning to be conscious of the extra bit that he needs to do to overcome the challenges of his disability without looking out for pity He wishes that the universities provide a culture of inclusiveness to all these who are disadvantaged. He believes that the benefit of legal interventions can be reaped only with effective implementation and this is the responsibility of Universities. The universities can also provide reasonable accommodation by requiring all institutes to have learning resources and question papers in the electronic format, allowing them to take examinations on computers. His

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wish list also has teacher-training to make their expertise available to them. The last request he makes is to make higher education available and affordable by offering scholarships. Inclusive education - Challenges: 1. Overcoming Discrimination of the physically challenged Despite the laws, Indias ability to include disabled people in mainstream education and employment has been far from effective and extremely dismal. Three major type of discrimination have been identified: attitudinal, environmental and institutional8. The same is true of India too. Disabled persons are socially ostracized by non-disabled people due to their attitudes of fear and ignorance. They may harbour false perceptions of such people or may be excluded from society because of generally low expectations of what persons with disabilities can achieve. Given the Indian culture, women face double discrimination- first on account of their disability and then because of their gender. Environmental exclusion takes place because public services, buildings, and transport services are designed with total disregard to the accessneeds for persons with disabilities in mind. Institutional exclusion takes place when the law explicitly or by omission discriminates against the rights of persons with disabilities, making them in some way second-class citizens without the right to vote, to own land, to attend school, to marry and have children. As a result, persons with disabilities are hardly involved in decisions affecting their lives or the lives of others in their family/ society. People with disabilities have less/no access to resources and have even less control over their lives. 2. Constraint of Resources For inclusive education to be implemented effectively, the demand on resources will climb significantly.

A Financial Resources a. The Government of Indias spending on Education will have to increase at least to the much sought-after but elusive 6% of GDP. India is among the countries that have a low Education for All Index (EDI) of less than .800 and is ranked 105 out of 129 countries.9 All countries with a high EDI (above .950) has government spending ranging from 5.4% to 7.7% (with the exception of Germany with 4.6%)10 b. Every institution would be required to make financial provisions for facilities that would facilitate mobility (like lifts, ramps, barrier free classrooms, toilets etc). c. There would be a need to create learning resources that are accessible to persons with disability. This could be in the form of digital library, Braille literature and additional visual resources for students with hearing disability etc. d. Financial resources would also be required to train faculty in teaching persons with disabilities. This could be done through workshops and Faculty Development programmes.
8

Disability, Equality and Human Rights A training manual for development and humanitarian organizations Alison Harris with Sue Enfield, Oxfam GB, 2003 accessed on Jan 31, 2009
9

Educational Statistics at a glance 2005 06, Government of India, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Higher Education, 2006, pg.35, Table 27, source EFA Global Monitoring Report 2008 to, by UNESCO accessed on Feb 28, 2009 10 Educational Statistics at a glance 2005 06, Government of India, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Higher Education, 2006, pg.36, Table 28, source Global Education Digest 2007 by UNESCO accessed on Feb 28, 2009

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B Faculty a. The number of faculty required will go up manifold since quality education can be imparted only if the teacher- student ratio is favourable. Particularly, when education is to be inclusive, the teacher would have to keep in mind not only the different intellectual levels of a class, but also the disabled students with special needs. b. This would, on one hand create more jobs but on the other require more investment in teacher training institutes and thereafter increase the cost per student in each institute. 3. Need for Political will Laws and Statutes may provide the necessary institutional support for implementation of inclusiveness. But it will remain in letter if other stakeholders do not support this by practicing it in spirit. There must be effective monitoring of educational institutions to ensure inclusiveness of the disabled students. Unless a concerted effort is made to bring persons with disability into the mainstream as contributing citizens, India would soon face another challenge of the consequences of negative effects of exclusion. In this context, administrators, teachers, the disabled students themselves and their parents have their roles to play. The role of administrators in inclusive education Administrators provide the necessary impetus to make inclusiveness happen. The will to make the disabled students included actually starts with the administrator. He / She must create the environment that echoes this sentiment. As a policy and as a decision, an administrator will have to plan and implement the following: i. Raising of funds for assistive technologies and special equipments. ii. Ensure teacher training programmes to help teachers understand and appreciate the special needs of disabled students. iii. Appoint visiting counselors who could guide disabled students of their career options and emotional support during trying times. iv. Provide barrier-free infrastructure in order to address the mobility issue of the disabled students. v. Providing study material and text books in the soft-copy format so as to be able to use assistive software. Library resources must take care of the learning needs of visually challenged so that they are also able utilize the e-books or e-magazines. vi. Create awareness among the faculty and the normal students that disabled people are different only to the extent of disability. Such disabled people have gone ahead to scale great heights in their chosen field. vii. Personality development by providing opportunities to organize events, participate in intra and inter-college competitions and above all have lots of friends and feel part of the mainstream education Role of teachers in inclusive education Inclusive schools don't ask "how does this student have to change in order to be a fourth grader?" but rather, "How do we have to change in order to offer full membership to our students with disabilities11 INTASC Core Standard Competencies (Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium) and the Council for Exceptional Children have identified competencies that a teacher needs to acquire in order to be a competent, inclusive teacher. Some of them are listed below:
11

Website of the Council on Exceptional Children http://www.cec.sped.org Jan 31, 2009

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Ability to solve problems of every type of student and be able to help the students take advantage of the skills they possess to achieve the objective of the curriculum. ii. Ability to take advantage of students individual interests and use their internal motivation for developing needed skills. iii. Ability to set high but alternative expectations that are suitable for the students; this means developing alternative assessments. iv. Ability to determine how to modify assignments for students; how to design classroom activities with so many levels that all students have a part. This teaching skill can apply not just at the elementary or secondary level, but at the college level as well. It will mean more activity-based teaching rather than seat-based teaching. v. Ability to learn how to value all kinds of skills that students bring to a class, not just the academic skills. In doing this, teachers will make it explicit that in their classrooms they value all skills, even if that is not a clear value of a w hole school. vi. Ability to provide daily success for all students. Teachers have to work to counteract the message all students get when certain students are continually taken out of class for special work. Other competencies that will help general education teachers in an inclusive environment include: i. a realization that every child in the class is their responsibility. Teachers need to find out how to work with each child rather than assuming someone else will tell them how to educate a child. ii. knowing a variety of instructional strategies and how to use them effectively. This includes the ability to adapt materials and rewrite objectives for a child's needs. iii. working as a team with parents and special education teachers to learn what skills a child needs and to provide the best teaching approach. iv. viewing each child in the class as an opportunity to become a better teacher rather than a problem to be coped with or have someone else fix. v. flexibility and a high tolerance for ambiguity. At the grass root level, even if all teachers start including visually impaired students among others in their classroom interactions, it would go a long way. Some of the following would seem very insignificant but have yielded tremendous positive results: 1. Reserve seats in the front row for these students so that they can hear the teacher clearly. 2. When graphs are drawn on the board or power-point presentations are made, the teacher is required to verbally explain what is being drawn or shown. 3. When assignments are given to students, the teacher may explain the requirement of such assignments individually to the visually impaired students. 4. Care may be taken to ensure that the assignments are within the performance reach of students in the context of the visual impairment. 5. As far as possible, soft copies of all power point presentations may be given to visually impaired students so that they may use assistive technologies to understand them better. 6. All study material and text books may be scanned using a simple scanner as word document and be made available to them. 7. They may be permitted to give their examinations on a computer and the soft copy of the question paper may be given to them just before the examination. 8. They may be involved in class room activity such as role-plays, group discussions, seeking their opinions on issues that are being discussed so that they feel included and not abnormal. Page 16 of 20

i.

9. Care is also to be taken to ensure that they do not feel special. They would be required to submit assignments on the given dates, to follow instructions and be pulled up if they do not. 10. They may be involved in the organizing team of any event and be assigned the responsibility that does not require mobility. Any desk assignment may be given to them. They must be made to feel part of the college in every sense of the word. Role of visually impaired students themselves and their parents: It cannot be denied that parents play a very important role in shaping up the personalities of disabled students. When it is a case of visual impairment, they tend to become, quite understandably, very protective and concerned about mobility issues. But considering that such students need to be trained not only to take up challenges of their career but also of their life (given their disability), the sooner they are trained to become independent, the better equipped and confident they are. 1. The first step towards this is to accept the situation and be positively motivated. To quote a visually impaired student I love sports so much that I lost eyesight in the second eye too because of playing basket ball when I was asked not to. But instead of pitying myself that I cannot do this, I follow sports keenly and enjoy talking about it. I may not be able to play the game, but I would like to be part of the organizing team. 2. At every point, emphatically demonstrate the will to take up the challenge with reasonable accommodation rather than seek pity and undue concessions. This will not only make them emotionally stronger but also build their capabilities, confidence and self esteem. 3. Continually communicate with friends, teachers and administrators. This will help them understand issues in perspective and accordingly provide the necessary reasonable accommodation. Conclusion The Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) is drawing up comprehensive vision to facilitate India's transformation into an economically strong, technologically significant and ethically sound global leader by circa 2022. The theme is India@75: The emerging Agenda is based on three core principles: a. Aspiration must always exceed present resources, requiring a big stretch b. Progression towards the vision must be a process of discovery, of 'folding in the future' c. There must be innovation, and development of 'next practices.' Developed by Prof C K Prahalad, Paul and Ruth McCracken distinguished University Professors, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, USA, the vision sees 6 Big Opportunities for India i. Convert demographic dividend into a global leadership advantage ii. Produce at least 30 Fortune 100 firms. iii. Generate over 10% of world trade iv. Become the crucible for global innovations v. Nurture a vibrant renaissance of world-class contemporary art, science, research and education vi. Set the benchmark for a global model of harmony and prosperity through diversity. Recommendations: If India has to cash in on the first of the six opportunities mentioned above, she has to address issues of inclusive education at various levels encompassing those who are economically Page 17 of 20

i.

ii.

iii.

iv.

v. vi.

vii. viii.

ix. x.

disadvantaged, socially disadvantaged and also those who have disability of any nature. Unfortunately, inclusiveness of disabled students has not received the importance that it should and is not even included in the scheme of inclusiveness in the annual report published by the University Grants Commission nor are there any statistics of disabled students available in the Selected Education Statistics compiled by the Ministry of HRD. Thus the existence of the disabled population as an invisible population must change with immediate effect. The progress of any society will be sustainable only if every section of the society has been included in the exercise. The same is also true of education. If education is a liberating force, this force is as important, if not more, for the disadvantaged as it is for the rest of the society. Keeping this in mind, the researcher recommends that the following steps be taken at the highest policy framing level. Education must be allotted the much elusive 6% of the GDP that is being planned by 2011 2012. The need for the expenditure on education is only going to increase and is to be treated as an investment in Indias future. The maximum that has been allotted so far is approximately 4 %. It has now become a commitment that India needs to make to her people and not a debatable option. Steps must be taken by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and the Ministry of Human Resource Development to collect and collate statistics regarding disabled people in India and those studying at various levels. This is important to understand the prevalence of disability and nature of accommodation that needs to be provided for with respect to education and employment facilities. Every university must submit disabled students statistics every year giving information about the number of students admitted to the various programmes, the total number of disabled students admitted in that academic year, nature of disability and total number of disabled students on roll with details of the disability. This will allow the University Grants Commission (UGC) to collate the information and study the impact of the implementation of the provisions on the extent of implementation. The Ministry of Human Resource Development through the UGC must make it mandatory for every institute of higher education to admit the requisite number of disabled students (inter alia visually impaired) and ensure compliance. To address the issue of not having sufficient applications, institutes should be required to advertise the fact that there is a reservation for disabled category in all admission notices. Clear guidelines may be given to all universities about the nature of accommodation that might be extended for different types of disability. While formulating these guidelines, proper representation of every type of disability must be ensured. The UGC may have a help line for both the disabled and the universities to address queries regarding eligibility or implementation of the guidelines. Disabled students, (inter alia visually impaired) may be given reasonable accommodation during the entrance test. For example, visually impaired students may be permitted to take the test on computers installed with assistive software. Implementation of accommodation permitted may be ensured. For example, they may be permitted extra time at the rate of twenty minutes for every one hour of examination. The same accommodation may also be provided at the time of examinations conducted during the academic programme. They may be permitted to take the examinations on computers installed with assistive software. This is not just desirable but necessary because visually impaired students who take the help of scribe to give their examinations do not ever learn to Page 18 of 20

xi. xii.

xiii.

xiv.

xv.

xvi.

write on their own, construct sentences and communicate in writing. This being an important competency to be built in visually challenged, must be insisted upon. A merit-cum means scholarship must be made available to students to ensure that they do not turn down the seat because of lack of funds. All institutions, including self-financing institutions must be required to create a fund either from its own funds or through sponsors so that the tuition fees of economically backward, disabled students are fully subsidized. To ensure that visually challenged students are not deprived of the opportunity of pursuing a career of their choice, necessary amendments must be passed to permit them to learn mathematics in school at the difficulty level of their sighted classmates, should they so desire. All teacher education programmes must include a compulsory course on Teaching students w ith special needs. This will sensitize them to the accommodations required by visually challenged students as also other disabled students. It must be made mandatory for all in-service teachers of schools and colleges to undergo a training session on Teaching methods for students with special needs. This could be part of the mandatory refreshers course that university and college teachers are required to attend. To ensure compliance of all the above points, every institute/ university must be required to submit a Compliance Report to the UGC every year. Penalty for non-compliance could be linked to UGC approvals, AICTE approvals or NAAC accreditation. The Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) believes that Prof. Prahalad's vision is both inspiring and achievable. Adopting a bottom-up approach, the CII is drawing up a comprehensive action plan for defining and carrying forward the India@75 vision at the national and state levels. In this context, Inclusive education delivered in letter and spirit becomes a Key Result Area which India as a nation cannot afford to ignore.

References 1. Department of International Development http://www.dfid.gov.uk/mdg 2. http://www.un.org/millenium/declaration/ares552e.htm 3. Disability, Equality and Human Rights A training manual for development and humanitarian organizations Alison Harris with Sue Enfield, Oxfam GB, 2003 4. Abstract of Selected Education Statistics 2005 06 5. Persons With Disabilities in India a compilation Mahesh Chandrasekar July 2006 http://www.geocities.com/mahesh_mobility/pwd_india.htm 6. Nehru Memorial lecture, University of Mumbai, Mumbai, Chairman Sukhdeo Thorat, University Grants Commission, New Delhi, November 2006 7. The Council on Exceptional Children www.cec.sped.org 8. Biwalko Millenium Framework for action - Towards an Inclusive, Barrier free and Rights Based Society for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/inclusive-classsroom 9. http://www.unescap.org 10. http://www.hdr.undp.org Human Development Indices 11. http://www.punarbhava.in 12. http://www.education.nic.in (Ministry of Human Resource Development) Page 19 of 20

13. http://www.mospi.nic.in/nsso (Ministry of Statistics and Programme implementation) 14. http://www.socialjustice.nic.in (Ministry of Social Justice and empowerment) 15. http://www.ugc.ac.in 16. http://www.xrcvc.org 17. http://www.socialjustice.nic.in 18. http://www.eyeway.org 19. Educational Statistics at a glance 2005 06, Government of India, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Higher Education, 2006, pg.35, Table 27, source EFA Global Monitoring Report 2008 to, by UNESCO 20. Educational Statistics at a glance 2005 06, Government of India, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Higher Education, 2006, pg.36, Table 28, source Global Education Digest 2007 by UNESCO

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