Contents

Send your responses to: Dr. Maninder Kaur Dwivedi Director Department of School Education & Literacy Ministry of Human Resource Development Shastri Bhawan New Delhi – 110 115

Addressing Discriminatory Practices through Inclusion

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Encouraging Participation of Children Through Inclusion

5-9

Peers Awareness Camp

10-14

Novel Initiatives by SSA Maharashtra for Social Inclusion

15-18

Parental Awareness and CWSN - SSA Kerala Experience

19-22

Promoting Equity through Social Inclusion

23-27

Promoting Social Inclusion of Children with Cerebral Palsy: The Experience of Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy

28-34

Report of the National Quarterly Workshop

35-46

Child-Teacher Acquaintance Programme

47-49

Inclusive State Convention in Assam

50-51

Celebration of World Disabled Day

52-54

Inclusive Excursion Trips

55-57

Building the Capacities of District IE Coordinators on Adopting a Rights Based Approach in the context of RTE

58-60

Or Dr. Anupriya Chadha Chief Consultant - Inclusive Education: SSA Ed. CIL (India) Limited Technical Support Group 5th Floor, Vijaya Building, Barakhamba Road New Delhi – 110 001 Typing Assistance Ms. Deepika Masand Designed and Printed at: Rave Scans Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi www.raveindiapress.com

Addressing Discriminatory Practices Through Inclusion Dr. Anupriya Chadha1 Inclusive education is a process of addressing and responding to the learning needs of all children using child-friendly, flexible and effective teaching-learning methods. Though there is a special focus on those who are vulnerable to marginalisation and exclusion, inclusion benefits all children. Better training and support of teachers is a critical part of the development towards inclusive education. SSA framework States that “the central focus is on strengthening the mainstream education system to institutionalize the gains in equitable education, and transform them to empowerment of the excluded and the disadvantaged communities and groups.” Inclusive education also promotes greater cooperation between teachers, learners, parents and communities. There is, for example strong evidence that better use of child-to-child cooperation contributes to the development of a more inclusive education in ways that will improve conditions for all learners.

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olistic development of a child can only take place if children of the same age and grade actively participate together in all activities. This also includes children belonging to the disadvantaged groups and weaker sections. Section 8 of the RTE Act says that the Local Authority will ensure that the child belonging to weaker section and the child belonging to disadvantaged group are not discriminated against and

specially appointed resource teachers and well sensitized peers. Further, 39899 very severe and profoundly disabled children have also been enrolled in schools with the help of specially trained volunteers and care givers. These children were given special training and then gradually mainstreamed in schools. Teachers and peers of general schools need to be sensitized on the management of children with special needs focusing more on how to deal with attitudinal barriers and how to adopt a pedagogically sound approach in teaching these children. Hence, all children have a right to be valued and have the same opportunities for participation. Thus, inclusive education is the most appropriate form of education for ALL children.

prevented from pursuing and completing elementary education on any grounds. Research worldwide has shown that inclusive education is the most effective means to combat discriminatory attitudes. Only inclusion has the potential to reduce fear and build friendship, respect and understanding among children. Under SSA - RTE, 26.46 lakh children with some form of disabilities or the other are pursuing elementary education in regular schools. These children are being provided appropriate support through trained teachers, Chief Consultant – TSG, SSA

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Special school tradition of teaching children is now gradually being replaced by inclusive education all over the world. SSA - RTE has also shown that with appropriate support and minor adaptations children with special educational needs can be educated in a regular school. In fact, integration of children with special needs into the society after they remain in special school for a long time is extremely difficult. Hence, early inclusion should be promoted so that the child’s mainstreaming in an inclusive society happens from a very early age. Traditionally children and young people with disability have experienced exclusion, discrimination and segregation from mainstream education. Some are placed in separate classes or schools. Most of them, however, are denied access to education of any sort. Disabled children, all over the world describing themselves as special school products, are demanding an end to segregation. A very critical aspect of inclusive education is social inclusion.

Ensuring social inclusion for CWSN is a greater challenge as compared to providing physical access as it requires an in-depth understanding of the various educational needs of CWSN and bringing about attitudinal changes at various levels and providing institutional support to sustain those attitudinal changes. A very important obstacle in the way of social inclusion is discrimination. CWSN are subjected to many forms of discrimination. In this context teachers and peers have a very important role to play. Special emphasis must be given to education of girls with disabilities. Social inclusion can be promoted through activities like

Enhancing Participation by Inclusion Inclusion means... •

Inclusion means young people and adults with disabilities and/or learning difficulties being included in mainstream society.

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Inclusive schools help the development of communities where all people are equally valued and have the same opportunities for participation.

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Inclusion is an on-going process, not a fixed state.

parental training, community mobilization, inclusive sports, inclusive excursion trips, inclusive cultural programmes/ debates, inclusive adventure camps/ trekking, inclusive tree plantation for green schools and celebration of World Disabled Day. Parents of children with disabilities should receive counseling and training on how to bring them up and teach them basic survival skills. Strong advocacy and awareness programmes should form a part of strategy to educate every child with special needs. A component on disability should be included in all the modules for parents, SMC and community. School development plans must be developed keeping in mind the needs of CWSN. Another group that plays a very crucial role in the context of CWSN is the peer group. Various programmes and curricular and co-curricular activities could also be

Ten Reasons for Inclusion Human Rights 1. All children have the right to learn together. 2. Children should not be devalued or discriminated against by being excluded or sent away because of their disability or learning difficulty. 3. Disabled children, describing themselves as special school products, are demanding an end to segregation. 4. There are no legitimate reasons to separate children for their education. Children belong together - with advantages and benefits for everyone. They do not need to be protected from each other. Good Education 5. Research shows children do better, academically and socially in integrated settings. 6. There is no teaching or care in a segregated school, which cannot take place in an ordinary school. 7. Given commitment and support, inclusive education is a more efficient use of educational resources. Good Social Sense 8. Segregation teaches children to be fearful, ignorant and breeds prejudice. 9. All children need an education that will help them develop relationships and prepare them for life in the mainstream. 10. Only inclusion has the potential to reduce fear and build friendship, respect and understanding Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education (CSIE) Bristol, United Kingdom

designed for peer sensitization like inclusive sports, tournaments, cultural programmes, inclusive exposure visits, etc. Inclusion means structuring school as community, where all children can learn. It is about membership and belonging to a community. It is a way to reach all children. It is a philosophy aimed to improve the quality of education for all children in a classroom. But there’s no recipe for becoming an inclusive teacher or an inclusive school. It’s not a mechanised format. Inclusion is just good teaching practices that endeavour to meet needs of children with challenges. An inclusive classroom looks different because the environment is created by whatever interactions the

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teachers and students have as a group. In an inclusive classroom, the students are actively engaged and a teacher is happy to be there. Students spend a lot of time in learning centres. It’s a classroom where learning takes place in small groups with peers helping and supporting each other. It’s a class that gives a lot of time for social interactions. The classroom is definitely student centered. Welcoming parents in school and class is another way of making them part of the team responsible for inclusive education. Parent education is another key for helping parents who may question the academic validity of inclusive education. Some parents may feel that their children may not make as much academic gains in an inclusive school. But research has shown that the opposite is true. Besides academic gains, social, interpersonal and personal gains are also evident. An inclusive classroom enriches educational and social environment for all children. Parents of a disabled child might feel that their child might be teased or labelled. But the reality is that all kids are teased at school. So, efforts should be made to take teasing as an acceptable behavior on the part of the students. Social inclusion requires: • Time - In inclusion time is needed to change attitudes, planning, training, collaboration, assessment, instruction, evaluation and to experience success. • Support - This means on-going assistance to teachers, parents, students and others involved • Training - This is required in planning, implementation and evaluation • Resources - This includes funding, physical space, specialised technology, equipment and material • Involvement - Cooperation from home, school, community, district, professional associations and parent / community organisations is very important for effective inclusion

Some of the students may be future parents of children with special needs. Having student as a part of inclusive school means that the future parents will see how inclusion works and it is not something which has to be fought for. Being included is the right of every child. Inclusive education as an approach seeks to address the learning needs of all children, youth and adult with specific focus on those, who are vulnerable to marginalization and exclusion. A working definition of inclusion is presented

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in the UNESCO Conceptual Paper, “Overcoming Exclusion through Inclusive Approaches in Education: A Challenge and a Vision” (2003), which says “Inclusion is seen as a process of addressing and responding to the diversity of needs of all learners through increasing participation in learning, cultures and communities, and reducing exclusion within education. It involves changes and modifications in content, approaches, structures and strategies, with a common vision which covers all children of the appropriate age range and a conviction that it is the responsibility of the regular system to educate all children.” The principle of inclusive education was adopted at the Salamanca World Conference on Special Needs Education (UNESCO, 1994) and was restated at the Dakar World Education Forum (2000). However, the challenges and barriers are manifold and acute. These include: • Denial of access to basic educational opportunities (majority of the children, youth and adults with disabilities being excluded from) either through nonenrolment or drop-out; • Absence or inadequacy of appropriate access and learning environment which is responsive to the individual needs; • Inappropriately designed, inflexible and contentheavy curricula; and • Untrained teachers, lacking necessary skills to work with children, who have a wide range of needs. Education of street children, children with disabilities, children in difficult circumstances and other disadvantaged groups of children can only be achieved through inclusion. Most of the current strategies and programmes have been insufficient or inappropriate regarding the rights and needs of children vulnerable to marginalisation and exclusion. Where such programmes do exist, they are planned and implemented segregated from the mainstream, as programmes for children identified as being ‘difficult’ or ‘different’. If positive and democratic changes in society are to happen, all children need to become sensitised towards discrimination and prejudice based on differences. The best way to achieve this is through an inclusive mainstream education system, which promotes acceptance, diversity and shared ownership.

Encouraging Participation of Children Through Inclusion

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nclusive education differs from ‘integration’ and ‘mainstreaming.’ The latter makes students with disabilities ready for regular school. Is a child with hearing impairment ready for inclusive education? In fact, is the school ready for such a child? Before answering this question, an incident that took place while integrating a hearing impaired student, Chitra into a regular school needs to be mentioned. This child and her parents went to a school for an interview. They had requested the special teacher to accompany as their child had been rejected by two schools earlier. The train journey to the school during the rush hour had messed up the child’s hair. Her mother told her to tie a hair band to give her hair a neat look. She rummaged through her bag but could not find it. She combed her hair and entered the school. During the interview, the Principal wanted to see the child’s notebooks. As the child pulled out her notebooks, out came the hair band along with the books. On seeing it, the child shouted, kakot klsaa ana gaava bar valsaa, “kakhet kalsa ani gaav bhar valsa” (marathi), which means, “A thing is just next to you, but is searched everywhere.” She also explained why she had used the proverb. The result-obviously, she got admission right away! Many more such incidents have been experienced by us. The reason why this happens is that apart from the regular curriculum prescribed in regular schools a lot of work is done to develop language, grammar and speech through various activities. This is the reason why these children can then easily move from special schools and adjust into regular schools. In the cities, many special schools are available for CWSN and these children benefit a lot through them. As for CWHI, it has been observed that, they can join a regular school only if they have a strong language base. In places where there are no special schools, and where the CWSN are not identified early and hence do not receive timely, suitable help and guidance, such children tag along with their siblings to regular balwadis, aanganwadis, near their 2

Shubhada Burde2

homes. If they are lucky then the teacher might notice their handicap and feel the need to investigate and take the help of the resource teacher specially appointed by the school with inclusive setup. If a child is diagnosed with a hearing loss before age 3, s/he must be fitted with suitable hearing aids. The child must be taught to listen and make maximum use of the aids. S/he must be encouraged to vocalise and talk. If the child is diagnosed after age 5 or 7 then s/he must be taught through signs. A CWHI who has not been diagnosed is normally considered to be dull, slow learner etc and is neglected in schools. S/he attends school, but shows no progress. As a result, s/he is never included in any activities of the school. It has been observed that if parents insist then these children are given silent roles of a tree/mountain etc in plays where they have to stand still at a place. In a dance too they are made to stand as Krishna and other students dance around him. Yes, these children take part in cultural activities but they do not get a chance to show their talents. They do have skills in art, craft, etc and these skills have to be tapped. So what can special resource teachers do to involve the CWHI in co-curricular activities of the school? How can the other non-disabled children as well as the school benefit? Let us find out through various activities. 1. Projects Objectives a. To reinforce what students have already learned b. To prepare them for upcoming (or complex or difficult) lessons c. To extend what they know by having them apply it to new situations d. To integrate their abilities by applying many different skills to a single task e. To develop motor control when cutting out magazine images

Principal, The Central School for the Deaf, Mumbai

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c. To promote individual creativity, exploration and expression. d. To support and extend the children’s spontaneous learning during these art and craft activities e.

To set up both direct and indirect learning objectives for art and craft activities, such as independence, perseverance, problem-solving and improvisation, creativity, spatial-visual observation, artistic interpretation, and visual representation of ideas activities.

f. To help children use art as an important means of creative expression and communication in meaningful and purposeful work, as much as a fun activity in itself. Apart from studies, CWHI take a keen interest in art and craft. They are ever ready to do any kind of work that involves drawing and painting. Hence active participation of these kids in this activity is beneficial to the group and the school as they will give their 100% and put their heart and soul into the work. During Ganpati festival, the children were asked to make/ draw ganpatis using different materials. One child with HI made modaks wrapping small pieces of chalk in yellow paper and made this ganpati. 3. Field Trips Objectivesf. To help students build vocabulary through brief oral presentations about the projects.

a. To reinforce and expand on concepts taught in the class

The new curriculum has a great scope for project work for every subject. Children are asked to make charts, models, and scrap books on various topics. The art, craft, colouring, cutting and sticking skills of the CWHI can be utilised for these projects specially group projects. This will give the CWHI a sense of achievement. It will build their self confidence and they will learn by doing. For example, Project - Our House.

b. To introduce new skills and concepts to kids

The children worked in a group. The HI student drew pictures, cut them and stuck them and produced excellent work with the group. 2. Craft/ Drawing/Painting Objectivesa.

To create an expressive outlet

b. To teach new skills and reinforce learned concepts

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c. To offer students another method to learn concepts which are especially good for many tactile/kinesthetic students d. To refer to previous knowledge while teaching new concepts. (e.g. Remember when we saw...)

e. To allow students a different format in which to get to know each other and bond. Before going on a field trip, it is necessary to give the CWHI a clear background about the trip and its purpose– what they will see there, what they should observe, what rules should be obeyed. Form groups and make one CWHI a leader of the group and assign duties of noting down what the group observes, drawing sketches on the spot etc. CWHI learn faster by doing and observing. The above pictures are of a visit to a farm and a small scale industry. This visit gave the children a direct experience of ploughing, sowing, growing crops, the work of carpenters, how soaps are made and how oil is crushed from oilseeds. All the new concepts are in the textbooks and just by reading and explaining the children

would not have understood the topics. After the visit, the follow up done by way of charts, models helped the children understand the difficult concepts and then by going from known to unknown it were easy to explain large scale industries. 4. Dance/Drama Objectives – a)

To help children with their strength, posture and flexibility.

b)

To help shy children come out of their shells.

c) To improve balance, coordination, and rhythm through dancing and other movement activities (playing “Follow the Leader”).

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d) Develop motor skills (moving to music and participating in other creative movement activities).

constructively and participating in camp duties that benefit the whole school camp community

Children had a summer theme programme. Every child participated. Each one had a dialogue. The children showed confidence while speaking, a sense of achievement showed on their faces as the dialogues were decided by the children themselves e.g. “I am a cloud. I give you rain” I am ice-cream. You love to eat me in summer.” The older children were given the work of doing make up, making props, stage management, receiving and seating guests and even announcing the programme.

g) To encourage children to explore and engage in stimulating activity in the outdoors that fosters an enjoyment of learning and an appreciation of the natural world.

5. Picnics Objectivesa)

To boost students’ self-confidence and self belief

b)

To nurture a child’s identity and personality

c) To develop their social skills and sense of camaraderie d) To inculcate mental strength and moral values among children e)

To develop a sense of excitement

f) To ensure that the children take responsibility for themselves and others by using their time

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h) To develop children’s self esteem by encouraging them to overcome personal and group challenges that have positive learning outcomes. i)

To develop the team building and team coordination spirit

j) To provide opportunities for leadership and personal growth. One hearing impaired student was the monitor. He was given the responsibility of making the children stand in a line, be an escort to two younger children etc. He did the duties assigned very well. Picnics give an opportunity to the teacher to observe as to how a child behaves out of school. The teacher gave some children the responsibilities of organizing games, helping the younger kids, serving food, helping pack and unpack bags etc.

6. Exhibitions and Sale Objectivesa. To provide a forum for children to pursue their natural curiosity and inventiveness b.

To develop critical thinking

c.

To appreciate the role of science and technology in opening new avenues in the area of agriculture, fertilizer, food

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Know your environment drive- A walk around the school to know all the important buildings and facilities available.

For this, children with hearing impairment can be involved in making charts, giving demos etc. 9. Making the Best out of Waste Objective- To develop an understanding of the principle of reduce, reuse and recycle. Students can be explained:

d. To apply mathematical modelling to visualize and solve problems pertaining to day to day life.

a. The need for waste management.

7. Competitions and Sports

c. To differentiate between the terms reduce, reuse and recycle.

Objectives – a) To attain sports skills and increasing health and fitness. b) To develop leadership skills c)

To develop self-discipline and self-confidence

d) To have respect for authority e)

To develop competitiveness, cooperativeness, sportsmanship

f)

To instill the value of dedication and self-discipline

g)

To have fun, play safely, and learn the fundamentals. CWHI can and should take part in various competitions like elocution, essay, handwriting, art and craft, cartooning, etc.

b. The meaning of the terms reduce, reuse and recycle.

Reduce - Make less garbage. For example, instead of using plastic bags use cloth or paper bags. Reuse - Use an item more than once. For example, when you get a gift, carefully remove the gift wrapped paper, store and reuse it.

8. Various Drives Organized by Schools Cleanliness drive - This begins from school. In this a CWHI can be assigned the work of planning, assigning duties and implementing the work along with a class mate. This helps the child to interact well with his peers and gain confidence. Health drive - This has been done – Eating salads- For each day a particular salad was decided and the children had to bring it for lunch and one child had to talk about the vegetable and its importance. The result was that children started eating salads regularly. Other drives that can be done are: •

Clean teeth drive- Dental check up and brushing techniques were taught.

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Hand washing day- A demo of how to wash hands can be organized and the importance of washing hands explained through a story.

Recycle - Turn an item into another useful item. For example, old newspapers can be used to make paper bags; old boxes can be decorated and used as gift boxes, old cloth pieces can be used to make mats/ cards. Children are good at this and take a keen interest in these activities. All the 9 activities mentioned above have been tried and tested and the hearing impaired children actively participated in them. These activities helped instill all the moral values, and develop good interaction with the hearing class mates. CWHI have also participated in plays and dance ballets with hearing/nondisabled children and interacted with them very well. Given a chance these children can mix and be one with their hearing peers.

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Peers Awareness Camp Dr. Avinav Kumar 3

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he total 6-14 year child population of the state of Jharkhand is 7044634 and the population of CWSN in the age group of 6-14 is 86270, which constitutes 1.22% of general population of children in the age group of 6-14. As per Census 2001, the percentage of population of CWSN is 1.71%. Hence there is a gap in the State’s house hold data and the Census data. For effective inclusion of CWSN, the state has taken up certain activities which are extremely useful to fulfill the objective and process of initiating, continuing and sustaining inclusion. Some of these activities are household survey, establishment of vibrant Resource Rooms at block level, engagement of care givers for home based education, appointing resource teachers and technicians, parental counselling and community mobilization, peer directed activities, etc..

State In-charge-Inclusive Education, Jharkhand

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The focus of this article would be on peer awareness camps as an effective mode of social inclusion of CWSN. Conceptualization of Peer Awareness Camps In the year 2009-10, some schools were selected and observed randomly. Discussions were also held with teachers and school children keeping in view education of CWSN. The teachers expressed a lot of concern for CWSN and their peers, which was a very important support system for the retention of CWSN. The feeder area of schools was also visited and some parents of CWSN were also contacted. The first response of parents was that they are not sending their children to schools because of non cooperation. They felt that normal children did not allow CWSN to even sit near them. Similarly, some parents of general children said that they had instructed their chil-

dren to not to play or sit with CWSN because of their disability. In this way it was observed that there was a huge gap and it was decided to hold another action research on peer sensitization to ensure enrollment, retention and quality education of CWSN. This research again proved that if peers are appropriately sensitized and if they start accepting CWSN in a school, it would definitely go in favour of CWSN. Objective of the Camps Thus, it was decided to conduct peer awareness camps to make peers more friendly and supportive towards CWSN, and to develop them as agents of social change who can break the ice by dispelling some myths that exist around CWSN. It was also decided to start these camps in schools on a pilot basis. The objectives of these camps are as follows• •

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To enhance inclusion of CWSN in all aspects.

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VEC/Teachers will start thinking about the needs and requirements of CWSN in the school.

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To help CWSN and their parents lead a respected life in the school and society.

On the basis of the above objectives, one module named “EHSAS was designed.” In this module some activities were on awareness about disability. The module is designed in a way to provide better understanding of disability among the children. It also aimed at giving right direction to the children on: •

How to support CWSN

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How to behave with CWSN

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How to make CWSN confident

Peers will support the CWSN not only in schools, but outside also.

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How to include CWSN

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How to appreciate CWSN

CWSN will be regular in schools with the help of peers.

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How to understand CWSN

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The module is designed in such a way that it creates awareness through fun in a participatory manner with the help of exercises conducted at school level. There are six activities of 3 hours each and they are conducted only at the school level with the help of trained master trainers. Two trainers go to one school in a day. Cascading model of training was followed. At first, training was conducted for three resource teachers at the state level from each of the twenty four districts. This was followed by training at the district level and then a block level training was conducted. Services of some educated youth were hired at the block level to implement these activities at the school level. The resource teachers of the concerned block supervised the entire process. The following activities were used in the camp:

Contents of the Activities Hum Sab Ek Hain This activity aimed at helping children in understanding equality which means that all children are equal and all tasks can be performed jointly or individually with the help of others. In this exercise, children play in a circle. Some children play this game as if they are deprived of an essential part of body. This is done by putting cotton in ears, folding eyes with clothes, closed hands, moving with the help of crutches, sitting on wheel chairs, etc. The monitor selects the number of children who play this game. One monitor starts this game and children move in a circular motion and when monitor says any number like 5, the children have to hold the hands of 5 participants. A child who remains alone is requested to come back to his / her seat. In this way the game continues till the end and children really enjoy this activity.

1.

Hum sab ek hain

We all are equal

2.

Saath chalne ka maza

Joy of walking together

3.

Sparsh ka ehsas

A feel of touch

4.

Bolte sanket

Symbols speak

5.

Hum saath-saath hain We are together

This exercise helps the children in relating to the difficulties faced by CWSN and also helps them understand that how CWSN can be included in games and other such activities of the school.

6.

Pechano apne aap ko

Saath Chalne Ka Maja

Know Yourself

This exercise is focused on understanding nature and level of support required by CWSN. One of the reasons for retention of CWSN in schools is the level of support required by them for coming to schools. Lack of transport and escort facilities also sometimes confine CWSN to their homes. Peer support in this regard is very important as peers can play an important role in bringing CWSN to schools. This togetherness can build confidence among the children and also helps to break myths revolving around disability.

All six activities had their specific importance to ensure better participation of CWSN at school level and even beyond it. The use of exercises resulted in the active participation of CWSN in day to day activities along with their peers without any disparity and discrimination.

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The exercise is played by a group of children who are provided with pre-developed cards containing 5 master cards having pictures of two CWSN, with one of them seated in the wheel chair and another one walking with the help of crutches. 3 cards of non- disabled children showing them in running position are placed before the team. The remaining children are divided into 5 groups and then cards are distributed among them. They are asked to discuss in the group and to place the most appropriate card before the displayed card. This is repeated many times to bring about a behavioural change in the non- disabled children towards CWSN.

This exercise gives an opportunity to the children to think how they can help CWSN whom they find on roads or in their neighbourhood in making them comfortable in their movements. This exercise is very important as it can be easily implemented at the school level. Sparsh Ka Ehsas This exercise is aimed at focusing on touch and feel. In this exercise an effort is made to understand through Sparsh so that sensitization can take place through actual touch. In this activity, some items are kept in a box not visible to others. One side remains open so that one child can touch any one item and other children ask him/ her about the item touched. The other group can ask some points like – is this item related to food? Or is this item related to play or reading etc? Any item like a comb, chalk, pencil, soft toys, duster, etc can be used in this activity. This game is again highly interesting and children enjoy it. It can be played in groups and groups can be interchanged. All children can participate in the game. Ques-

tions like how one felt when one touched the items can also be asked. Bolte Sanket This exercise is basically focused on how to do activities through symbols. This game can also be played in groups. In this game, children do mono acting of any activity which they have to do as per the pre- developed card picked up by him /her. The other group recognizes it and in this way game continues. The monitor of the game prepares some cards and this card contains some pictures or words. It is kept before the group and one by one a child comes and picks up a card without looking at the written words or pictures. The child looks at the word/ picture on the card and then mimics accordingly. The other group has to recognize it and in this way game continues. This game is designed in such manner that a child can relate to certain issues while acting.

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Hum Saath Saath Hain This activity is on developing an attitude of unity. This activity is closely concerned with understanding the importance of togetherness and cooperation. This is focused on helping any individual in problem. This is an important aspect to develop one’s self esteem as well as that of the others. In this activity, monitor of the game prepares one story in which helping others remains the key focus. The whole group is divided into 5 groups or more. All groups are provided one teddy bear, comb, etc to act as per instructions. The monitor then starts reading a story and the children have to act as per the story with doll and other accessories. The story is like,” One day Prabhakar came to school and tried to sit in the classroom floor as the school has no bench-desk. He finally managed to sit. In the mean time, the class teacher came and instructed the class to open the books at chapter-12 and also instructed it to write the answers in their note books. Prabhakar was in a fix; he was not able to take out his pen from the bag. He felt very bad. He failed to do as per the instructions and the teacher and the peers did not care. At the time of Tiffin, Prabhakar was not able to open the tap for washing hands and he went for the midday meal. Here also he had to face a lot of problems. He was not able to stand in the queue for a long time. He took the plate but was unable to hold it tightly after the meal was served, but somehow with great difficulty he managed to eat his meal with great struggle. Prabhakar wants to be in school, but he needs support in the classroom and during school activities, during meal time, during assembly and also an escort for coming to the school. This story itself says a lot about inclusive education and it gives a right direction to the children to think about their special classmates. The children also start to think as to how and where can they help CWSN so that they can perform more comfortably. Pechano Apne Aap Ko This exercise is very important and meaningful. In this activity children recognize themselves in a structured picture. This activity is basically based on projective approach, in which one identifies oneself in a readymade situation. In this game the monitor of the game prepares a set of pictures and distributes them among the children, who sit in a circle. The children have to imagine themselves

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in the picture. After this game, discussion can be held with children on why they performed a certain activity or what they imagined, etc. After the completion of this activity, post test or evaluation of understanding is done with the help of pictorial charts. This helps to recapitulate the whole exercise in a quick manner. This activity requires readymade material before starting the game, which can be developed through material development training workshops. Effectiveness observed The above activities were taken up on a pilot basis in 100 schools and the impact was very encouraging. Material was developed through a series of workshops. In the year 2010-11, the activities were developed into a module with the help of professionals. After the finalization of module, master training programme started at all levels and finally 23000 schools were covered in the same year. The remaining target of 20000 schools will be covered in the current financial year. As far as the effectiveness of these activities is concerned, in the year 2010-11, 55695 CWSN were enrolled in schools, this number increased to 64378 in 2011-12. Peers are now actively helping the CWSN inside as well as outside the schools. It has also helped to improve the self concept and self esteem of CWSN. The most dramatic change was observed during MDM. Now there is no queue for the CWSN and they are served first. In one school, tri-cycles are parked along with other cycles, thus giving a flavor of inclusiveness. This has successfully broken the ice, the myths and negative instructions by the parents of non- disabled children like not to play with CWSN, not to sit near them, not take MDM with them, etc. Parents of CWSN are satisfied with these changes. The average attendance of CWSN has also increased. However, Inclusive Education is most challenging and it demands long and continuous effort to make schools inclusive. Activities like inclusive sports organized at block, district and state level to celebrate the World Disability Day also helps to realize the hidden talent and skills of CWSN. Last but not the least, peer awareness is one of the strongest mediums to include special children in the schools as well as in the society. It gives full opportunity to CWSN to explore their potential and this is one of the most important objectives of inclusive education.

Novel Initiatives by SSA Maharashtra for Social Inclusion Ajay Kakade4

S

arva Shiksha Abhiyan has been launched by the Govt. of India for imparting quality education to all children in the age group of 6 to 14, including children with special needs. There are different programs under SSA for educating special needs children. The RTE Act promises new stimulus to the education of CWSN, irrespective of the kind, category and degree of disability, for education in an enabling inclusive environment. The key focal areas for inclusive education of CWSN are identification of ‘hidden’ CWSN, development of human resource for support services, and infrastructure and material support for inclusive education. Every child with special needs should be provided support to participate in the schooling process in the neighbourhood schools. The Special Training provision under SSA would be utilised for school readiness programmes for children with disabilities. This training may be residential, non residential or even home based, as per their specific requirements. All entitlements and incentives provided to children in the 6-14 age group under RTE will also apply to CWSN, with requisite modifications: Braille books, large print educational material, etc., instead of text books, or transportation from home to school and back would be from the respective mainstream financial sources. Besides entitlements guaranteed to other children, CWSN may need specific assistive devices, for which the allocations

earmarked for inclusive education will be utilised. The core essential support services for enabling children with disabilities to access and be retained in schools would be category specific and made available as per the needs of the child. The support services should include resource room support and reform of physical infrastructure to ensure development of schools as inclusive spaces for education of all children. Some of the activities being undertaken by the State for CWSN are as follows: Therapy Centers During medical assessment camps 58000 children with disabilities (Orthopaedic impairment, Mental retardation, Autism, Multiple disability, Cerebral palsy, Learning disabilities) are found having problems in Muscle and Joints, contractions and deformities due to neuro muscular motor problems. These children are found with delayed development and having problems with moving and

State IE Coordinator - Maharashtra

4

15

hence, these children require therapeutical interventions for releasing the contracture and preventing deformities. If timely therapy is not provided, the child’s enrollment in school is delayed. This results in poor attendance, poor retention and deprivation of education. It is therefore necessary to have therapy services for these children at block level. The state has taken initiative and developed therapy centres in 12 districts of Maharashtra. These therapy centers are well equipped and have therapists, special equipment, assessment formats, etc. Educational Supported Services The ultimate aim of SSA is to provide every child with the fundamental right to education, increase enrollment in school, retain and reduce the dropout rate. Hence, the children with special need require supportive educational services. Therefore the educational options are classified as 1) Home based education, 2) Inclusive education, 3) Pre-

school education programme, 4) Hostel facilities, 5) Early intervention program and 6) Pre - vocational training. These children require strong academic support to bring the desirable outcomes. Therefore, their classification is done as per their current level of functioning. There is constant demand from the resource teachers and field officers to provide them escort, transportation, technological support, reader, writer, stationery, Braille books, CDs, speech trainer, loop induction system, low vision kit, large print books, TLM, etc. Resource Room The unique characteristics, interest and attitudes of children and diversity in learning styles demand differential teaching methods to be used by a teacher in the classroom to facilitate learning. In order to meet the diversity, there is

16

a need to develop an inclusive resource room for all. NCF 2005 also emphasizes the need of inclusive supportive curriculum keeping in view the diversity of learners. An inclusive education not for CWSN but all aims at providing quality education that will enable all children to learn effectively and participate equally in the class. It also provides to children the dignity and confidence to learn. As per functional ability of learners calls for broadbased concept to accommodate diversity of teaching approaches and use of TLMs, diversity in learning styles demands differential teaching methods. The RTE Act 2009 has mandated entry of diverse learners in the existing classrooms. For example, learners with & without special needs have a right to inclusive learning environment. This calls for appropriate modification. Within the context of facilitating entry and retention of learners with & without special needs, flexible approaches become necessary. This refers to introducing creative strategies to introduce learning environments along with systemic changes in teacher preparation. Diversity among learners demands appropriate mechanisms that facilitate optimal learning through curriculum adaptations that include need based teaching strategies, inclusive TLMs and flexibility in evaluation methodology in every possible manner to maximize learning to provide opportunities in such a way, where all children can learn including children with disabilities. But according to a child’s needs, it is a process of making necessary changes in learning content such as modification, substitution/replacement, omission as a last resort and compensation etc. without changing the learning purpose. In learning content, learning friendly environment, appropriate learning approach, adaptation in learning aid and evaluation should be needed. Therefore, Effective Teaching and Learning for Teacher Education stands out as a key factor in bringing out changes towards quality in inclusive schools. Classroom teacher has to assume a greater responsibility in the implementation of quality education practice. Hence, in this context, the teacher education programmes need to be given practical exposure which reflects the relevant teacher learning strategies. All teachers need to deliver the above theme very practically without any lacuna. For this purpose following infrastructure should be required for capacity building of the teachers/parents/community members/ students/ administrators within the blocks.

The resource room includes:

Message on Inclusive Enrollment Drive

•

Academic Lab

• Every child comes to school on first day

•

Low Vision Lab

• Every child gets admission in school

•

Sound Proof Room

• Every child gets basic facility as envisaged in RTE

•

Therapeutic Room

•

ICT Room and a classroom

• Parent should demand services for their children • Proper understanding of the role and responsibility of parents and SMCs.

The following activities are conducted in a resource room: •

Identifying learning needs of children, functional assessment in terms of identifying the strengths and weaknesses, developing a teaching plan for an inclusive classroom

•

Provision of a barrier - free classroom arrangement (use of space, seating, mode of access to information in class using various techniques- large print, Braille, signs, tactile maps, etc)

•

•

Use of teaching techniques like multi- sensory, cooperative learning, peer teaching, co- teaching with a resource teacher, etc Development of inclusive TLM (tactile, 3-D, multisensory approach, models, visual and auditory aids,

tactile aids, etc). Adaptations in terms of size, length, content, time, presentation of activities, number of learning objectives expected to learn, given time to complete a task or activity. The State has also conducted various other programmes such as: •

Inclusion of children of poor families by providing guidance and counselling

•

Providing residential facilities for imparting school readiness skills to CWSN

•

Pre vocational education

•

Conducting summer and winter camps at remote areas

•

Community awareness

17

The Zilla Parishad - Sangli has organized a plantation programme at Taluka level. These plantation drives are conducted on the birthday of the special needs children and on special days like Hellen Keller Day, Louis Braille Day, etc. On this day groups of non- disabled and specially abled are formed and inclusive tree plantation programmes are conducted. The key objective of this activity is to give message related to environment such as:

letter to every parent to bring their child on the first day of the school. This message was given to every village /ward through regular teachers, resource teachers, head master, CRCCs. The invitation letter was distributed through a door to door campaign and signature of parents taken after they received this invitation. This also helped to know the exact number of CWSN that had to be reached out. The invitation letter was given to the parents by local community leader, Zilla Parishad Chairman, Block Education Officers, District Education Officers, Education Minister of the state, Collector, etc for creating awareness in society.

•

Eco friendly school

The advantages of this drive were as follows:

•

Clean and green environment

•

Proper utilization of human resources

•

Providing an equitable opportunity to CWSN

•

Increase in awareness among the parents

•

Changing the attitude of peers and others in school towards CWSN

•

Increase in enrollment

•

Students should maintain a clean environment in school

•

Building of confidence among parents and children

•

Awareness among the educational administrators

•

Holistic development of children.

•

Each planted tree was given the name of the child who planted it. Another message was that along with the growth of the tree, the growth of the child must be there. This message was given to the students and they were eager and happy with the cause. The children were also educated about the importance of clean environment through tree plantation. The children promised to plant trees on the occasion of their respective birthdays. Children also learnt the lesson of creativity. This activity has gradually been adopted by the talukas of other districts also.

dentification of services to be provided through home visits

•

Child specific information

•

Identification of effective and non effective districts, blocks, clusters and schools

•

Actual requirement of schools and teachers

•

Types of parent training needed

•

Types of teacher training needed

•

Approach of resource teacher to cover the all CWSN

Inclusive Enrollment Drives

•

Help plan therapy services for CWSN

•

Identify drop outs/never enrolled children

•

Organizing inclusive exposure tours / visits

•

Therapeutical services

•

Inclusive tree plantation

Another initiative that has been taken by the state to provide free and compulsory education to every child within neighborhood school is that of the inclusive enrollment drive. For this, an action plan was prepared during summer vacation in the month of June. It was decided that before the school started, every parent will bring their child to school. Those who missed on the admission on the selected day would get spot admission for their child on the same day. A letter giving these instructions was circulated to all districts and talukas. Before the school started it was decided give an invitation

18

• Give direction to administrators and teachers on how to provide the required services and support to children. Initiatives such as inclusive enrollment drives and inclusive tree plantation are some of the novel steps taken by MPSP to increase awareness of CWSN in the society and community at large. These activities have also increased the enrollment and retention of CWSN and helped them gain confidence in themselves through quality and equitable inclusive education.

Parental Awareness and CWSN SSA Kerala Experience Ahammed Kutty. E.5

By conducting awareness camps, street plays, seminars, cultural programmes and field trips, SSA Kerala has been able to mould a new generation committed to the education of CWSN. A link is being maintained so that all benefits and privileges for CWSN reach them. Some of the programmes being conducted for increasing parental awareness and social inclusion are the Activity Camp, Kalikkottam, Kalajatha, Nilavu, etc. Strings of Joy at ‘Kalikkoottam’ Activity Camp

T

he State of Kerala has identified around 1.24 lakh CWSN children. To provide these children with education and to meet their special needs a number of activities have been initiated for the past ten years. Medical camps, Treatment and Therapies, Aids and Appliances, Adapted Curriculum, Barrier free environment, Home-based education, Remedial teaching, Sayanthanavedi, Field trips, Sahavasa camps, Autism centres, Community awareness programmes, etc are a host of activities undertaken by SSA Kerala. In this relentless pursuit for mainstreaming CWSN, many innovative programmes were also implemented to garner the support of society especially the parents to address the various physical, emotional, social and educational needs of CWSN and their families. 5

The State level activity camp ‘Kalikoottam’ was a customisation of education and value based learning to suit the needs of CWSN. The Kalikoottam Activity Camp organized by the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Kerala for differently abled children came in for special attention both on account of its theme and people’s participation. The activities of the camp were devised targeting CWSN, non- disabled children, resource teachers, and parents. Many activity corners were set up which included ‘Educational Garden’, ‘Count your Friends’, ‘Painting House’, ‘Cinema Talkies’, ‘Rhythms’ and ‘Playhouse’. The camp demonstrated that it is possible for SEN children to attain educational excellence by traversing a maze of appropriate activities. The camp was energized with the music performances of students who outlived their disabilities. Some children painted while some enthralled the camp with their magic show. An awareness workshop for parents was also conducted as part of the camp. The camp witnessed active participation from students and their parents.

State Programme Officer – Kerala

19

The Kalikkottam activity camp was conducted in all the 14 districts and programmes such as ‘Kaivalyam’, ‘Kalikoottam’, ‘Changathikoottam’, ‘Kalipanthal’, and ‘Sahapatana’ Camp were parts of it. While ‘Kaivalyam’ was conducted at the Kozhikode BRC, ‘Kalikoottam’ was hosted at Kodungalloor BRC. ‘Changathi-koottam’ was organized by SSA Alappuzha and ‘Kalipanthal’ by Payyannur BRC. ‘Sahapatana’ Camp was organized by SSA Kollam. A whole range of activities including painting, magic shows, games, songs, science, magic and craft formed parts of the camps. Other activities like ‘Growing Tree’, ‘Count your Friends’, ‘Thalamelam’, ‘Play Corner’, ‘Silver Screen’, ‘Sing and Dance’, ‘Dhundubi’, ‘Make-up’, ‘Kalivattam’, ‘Nirakkoottu’ and ‘My Computer’ were also parts of this camp. The camps had representatives from Panchayats and SSA officials.

abilities of the children and were successful in gaining the attention of the society. ‘Nilavu’-A Kalajatha to spread the Message of Inclusive Education with respect to RTE The Kalajatha called ‘Nilavu’ was flagged off from the State Capital to spread the message of Inclusive Education in the context of the Right to Education Bill. The various activities taken up by SSA for mainstreaming children with special needs were also part of this theme. The musical theatre revolves round the back drop of a village affected by Endosulphan in Kerala. The poignant narration of the plight of children and their lives was soul stirring. The activities of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan to realize the aim of education for all was well demonstrated. Nilavu touched chords and awakened the society to its responsibilities. Parents, elected representatives, regional cultural representatives welcomed NILAVU spreading the message of responsible living. Strength and Solace for the Weak

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan gives leadership to several programmes aimed at enabling the special needs’ children to overcome their disabilities and to make productive contribution to the society. Excellent examples of such activities were witnessed in these camps, which had the objectives of promoting the creative and interactive

20

Mustafa, an eighth-standardstudent and Sharif, a student of the seventh standard, have not had enough of studying at school. Both of them cannot take a step out of their homes. Day-by-day, they are experiencing weakness in their muscles as they are afflicted by a very rare condition called Muscular Dystrophy. Nishad, a student of AMLP school in Chelambra Perunthodipadam is able to study as his school is situated close to his house. The Parappangadi BRC in Malappuram district organized a get-together for such students, as seldom leave the confines of their homes, and their parents. The BRC also provided leadership in forming an association of such students, the first ever in the State. It is called the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Kerala (M’DAK’). After formally enrolling students with muscular weakness in schools, the Resource Teachers under the BRC provide home-based learning to the students. They also bring these children to schools with the help of peers.

‘Let’s Learn Together’ Handbooks SSA- Kerala has developed six handbooks on six different areas. These have been brought out under the series titled, ‘Let’s learn together’. Each handbook is aimed at providing guidelines for different kinds of special needs. ‘Swaram’ is meant for those with hearing disabilities, ‘Chalanam’ for those with loco-motor deficiencies. ‘Mazhavillu’ is aimed at those who have problems with sight. ‘Bodhi’ is meant for those with mental disabilities and ‘Sahayi’ is for those afflicted with autism. ‘Prateeksha’ provides guidelines on educating those with cerebral palsy. Sayanthanavedi - A Commune of Parents SSA Kerala has formulated an innovative get together of parents, resource teachers, experts from various fields including speech therapists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, psychologists, anganawadi teachers, local authority members, regional social groups and other activists. This committed group meets periodically in the evenings to address the various physical, emotional, social and educational needs of CWSN and their families. This

unique get together is termed ‘Sayanthanavedi’. In every CRC at least one get together is organized each month. They are also convened in other congenial places. This ensures the support of society to the parents of the CWSN in bringing CWSN up. It also ensures to all CWSN their benefits and rights. Seminars, cultural programmes and awareness camps are also organized to provide platform to exhibit the innate talents of CWSN. Parental Awareness at Panchayat Level Every year SSA Kerala convenes seminars at CRC level for parents of CWSN. The seminar divided in three sessions addresses the day to day problems faced by parents in mainstreaming CWSN. The first session revolves round the importance of involving CWSN in the activities in the family, class room, school etc. Stress is laid on the importance of education and medical care. The second session focuses on early detection and cure and the responsibility of society in mainstreaming CWSN. The third session sketches rehabilitation of CWSN. In the seminar, parents of CWSN actively share

21

their reservations and problems. Doctors, counsellors, resource teachers, etc attend the seminar and give special attention to clear their doubts and anxieties.

BRCC on the various inputs and facilities provided for SEN children. This teacher is responsible for the conduct of this special PTA in every school in a BRC.

Centre for Research and Development of Autistic Children

Other Innovative Activities

Autism is a condition where the individuals live in a world of their own isolated and excluded. The children show lack of response to any natural impulse. To help these children suffering from this baffling disorder, SSA, Kerala has started seven special centres. The timings in the autism centre are so regulated that the children can be accompanied by their parents ensuring maximum care and individual attention. SSA Kerala provides therapy centres at BRC level. An amount of Rs. one lakh is allotted for equipping these therapy centres with modern aids. Children accompanied by the parents undergo therapy at the units under the supervision of a therapist. School PTA SSA in its endeavour to ensure quality education for SEN children has made provision for a special PTA, exclusively for the parents of SEN children and non- disabled. One teacher of each school is made responsible for the welfare of SEN children. This teacher is briefed in detail by the

22

On seeing other children of Nalilamkandam happily go to school, Shilpa would wail loudly and say, “I too want to go to school.” Her family, caught up in the vicious circle of leading a day-to-day life, could not do anything but listen helplessly. Shilpa, a victim of Endosulfan tragedy, can neither stand up nor walk. She is afflicted with a degenerative condition called osteoporosis that is characterized by the crumbling of bones. ‘Sanatham’ is a programme developed and implemented by Nalilamkandam GUP School, to provide solace and comfort to children like Shilpa. The school PTA has come forward to meet the complete educational expenses of two such children. They also distribute uniform and other learning aids, besides making special facilities available in schools. As part of taking complete responsibility of these children, the school has set up an example by giving them Rs. 5,000/- each. The above are some of the activities undertaken by SSAKerala for bringing about social inclusion of CWSN with other children by providing a child friendly environment.

Promoting Equity through Social Inclusion

E

ducation is the fundamental right of all children and Universalisation of education is meaningful only when all the children in the age group of 6-14 are in school and receive equitable quality education. In this context children with special needs need to have different programmes to enrol and to be retained them in the schools. Equity is an issue that can only be addressed through inclusive education. The goal also is to reduce the gap in enrolment, retention, completion rates and achievement levels of children with respect to gender and socially disadvantaged groups. It is also necessary to provide education to children with special needs at par with other children. Objectives of the IE Programme The main objectives of the IE programme of the state are to: • Provide school access to all the children with special needs. • Give necessary support services to the children with special needs in the context of education which is their fundamental right and an important aspect of universalisation of elementary education. • Promote all round development of CWSN through social inclusion activities. • Empower the teachers and parents to manage CWSN in the process of education. • Engage resource persons and establish resource centers at block level to handle the children with special needs. • Impart quality education to CWSN. Some of the major activities conducted by the State under IE include: Functional Assessment Camps All the districts have conducted functional assessment camps at block level. 68874 children from 202 blocks have attended these medical camps with their parents.

S.K. Padmanabha6

Providing Aids and Appliances After functional assessment, required aids and appliances were provided to the 24821 children identified in the camps, through ALIMCO, Manovikasa, DDRC and Skanda etc. Teachers’ Training 5-day Training All the districts have conducted short term 5-day training for 84124 teachers under Teachers Training and Inclusive Education component. In 2010-11, 10100 teachers have undergone this training. Multi category Training for IERTs State conducted 10-day Multi-category Training for IERTs and Special Teachers, 297 IERTs were deputed to National Association for the Blind Bengaluru, 309 IERTs to Manovikasa Hubli and 362 Special Teachers to Sevain-Action. Awareness Programme The awareness programmes were conducted at block level and cluster levels. The state conducted an inclusive Kalamela by involving the children with special needs and normal children. The theme was to create awareness among normal children and the community that education is the fundamental right of all children. World Disabled Day was celebrated at cluster, block and districts levels in the month of December 2010. Parents Training The districts have conducted 2-day training for 100595 HBE parents and counseling sessions at cluster level to educate CWSN parents regarding the effective management of their children and activities to be adopted. Parents are also trained in the efficient use of equipments supplied to CWSN children. Strengthening of Resource Center at Block Level The resource centers were established at block level during 2006-07 and the strengthening of Resource Centers at

State IE Coordinator, Karnataka

6

23

Block level during 07-08, 08– 09 and 09 - 10 has been done. Resource centers are provided with Refraction Kit, Braille kit, MR Kit, Audio meter with Hearing aid repair Kit, Ortho repair tool kit, Physiotherapy equipments, Reading materials, TL materials, etc. 30 centers have been strengthened during the year 2010-11. These resource centers are also used for HBE parents training, Physiotherapy of HBE children and repair of aids & appliances already given in previous years and training centers for teachers. It has also to function as study centre for 90-day foundation course offered by RCI.

and assistive devices. The appointed volunteers were given training under inclusive education component as their salaries are provided by Inclusive Education component. Volunteers visit these children and teach them life skills. It is felt that inclusive education under SSA has improved the conditions of home based CWSN to a noticeable extent. To achieve universal enrolment all these children are being enrolled in the nearby schools. 14739 children are benefited under this programme. 4913 volunteers are working and have been given 10-day training in the year 2010-11.

Home Based Education

Activities like corrective surgery, inclusive exposure visits and adventure camps have been planned by Karnataka SSA for 2010-11 and 2011-12. These activities have been implemented successfully by the state. The following table shows the brief progress in Inclusive Education by Karnataka SSA.

Home Based Education Programme is taken up under the intervention of ‘Inclusive Education’ and ‘OOSC’ component. Under inclusive education, these children have been provided with the facility of medical assessment

24

District wise Progress in IE in 2010-11 Sl.

District

No

No. of

No. of

No. of

No. of

No. of

No. of

Total

No. of

%

CWSN

CWSN

CWSN

CWSN

NGOs

RTs

no. of

Schools

schools

identified

enrolled

covered

provided

involved

appointed schools

made

made

in schools

through

aids and

Barrier

barrier

HBE

appliances

Free

free

provided 1

Bagalkot

5741

4936

805

677

1

30

1333

1087

81.55

2

Bangalore (rural)

1841

1530

311

127

2

20

1142

814

71.28

3

Bangalore (urban)

5215

4797

418

1641

3

45

1446

1033

71.44

4

Belgaum

8508

7429

1079

2432

2

70

3326

3012

90.56

5

Bellary

4596

4105

491

198

2

31

1394

1164

83.50

6

Bidar

6647

5861

786

959

2

25

1308

1059

80.96

7

Bijapur

6758

6211

547

2512

2

28

1910

1881

98.48

8

Chamarajanagar

1969

1658

311

233

2

25

810

583

71.98

9

Chikkaballapura

2446

2150

296

308

1

30

1596

697

43.67

10

Chikkamagalore

3125

2811

314

793

1

32

1545

590

38.19

11

Chitradurga

4888

4673

215

905

2

30

1734

1602

92.39

12

Dakshina Kannada

3768

3120

648

639

3

35

956

933

97.59

13

Davanagere

4723

4410

313

2074

2

35

1399

1399

100.00

14

Dharwad

3793

3137

656

1138

2

32

790

640

81.01

15

Gadag

3241

2906

335

585

1

30

633

508

80.25

16

Gulbarga

4783

4087

696

787

3

36

1839

1839

100.00

17

Hasan

3507

3114

393

790

1

38

2631

856

32.54

18

Haveri

3356

2797

559

1066

1

35

1202

794

66.06

19

Kodagu

1195

981

214

214

1

15

427

377

88.29

20

Kolar

2084

1742

342

479

1

30

1902

1832

96.32

21

Koppal

4841

4412

429

678

1

12

984

830

84.35

22

Mandya

4152

3465

687

235

1

40

1838

1522

82.81

23

Mysore

6782

6347

435

806

2

45

2008

1888

94.02

24

Raichur

3991

3617

374

549

2

25

1525

915

60.00

25

Ramanagara

1975

1710

265

317

1

20

1424

611

42.91

26

Shimoga

4097

3552

545

1424

2

35

1942

1169

60.20

27

Tumkur

4832

4073

759

541

2

50

3603

2251

62.48

28

Udupi

5277

4856

421

382

1

25

629

618

98.25

29

Uttarkannada

4775

4193

582

1127

2

55

2176

1454

66.82

30

Yadgiri

2345

1832

513

205

1

9

948

935

98.63

Total

125251

110512

14739

24821

50

968

46400

34893

75.20

25

Corrective Surgery During medical assessment camp, some CWSN whose disability can be corrected through corrective surgery were identified. 2400 Children in the state have undergone corrective surgery. A budget of 12.920 lakhs has been provided for conducting corrective surgeries. Inclusive Exposure Visits SSA Karnataka organized exposure visit for CWSN along with their peers. These children were taken to banks, post offices, places of amusement, historical places, etc. These visits had been within the districts. 200 children from each district comprising 150 CWSN and 50 nondisabled children were sent for these exposure visits with IE teachers. Each batch consisted of 40 children along with 04 IE teachers, who were entrusted with the task of supervising these visits. A total 6000 children, 4500 CWSN and 1500 non- disabled children participated in this activity. Adventure Camps for CWSN The State now plans to conduct inclusive Adventure Camps, comprising disabled and non- disabled children at district level. This camp is first of its kind in the

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state for CWSN. There are 34 educational districts in the state. Adventure camps will be organised at every district headquarters. 50 children would be selected from each district, thus making a total of 1500 children. It is planned to execute this activity in collaboration with General Thimmaiah National Adventure Academy, under the Department of Youth and Sports, Government of Karnataka. The duration of this camp would be 3-days for 50 children in each camp. All kinds of CWSN will participate in these camps along with their non- disabled peers. This has the aim of giving children ample opportunity to participate in adventure activities such as hiking, trekking, para sailing, swimming, wall climbing etc. This camp mainly aims at inclusion of CWSN and their mainstreaming. Aims and Objectives of the Adventure Camps •

These camps aim at inculcating the spirit of adventurous team spirit and confidence amongst CWSN, especially those with low vision, totally blind, hearing impaired, speech impaired and learning disabled children.

•

These camps also create awareness of the natural resources including flora and fauna.

•

Provide an opportunity to children to work in groups

•

One of the main objectives of this activity is to bring all-round personality development among CWSN, who are studying in class 5th, 6th 7th and 8th.

•

Give children a sense of adventure and thrill and create a sense of co-operation among them.

•

Dispelling stereotypical attitudes towards CWSN.

• Building cooperation and supportive attitudes among children •

Give an opportunity to children to admire and appreciate the beauty of nature

These exposure visits and adventure camps are not just mere sight - seeing and doing fun activities. They play a vital role in providing qualitative learning experiences to children. Children learn to live and learn together through hands on experience. Hence SSA Karnataka came up with the idea of conducting Inclusive Exposure visits and adventure camps for the CWSN under IE intervention to promote holistic development of all children.

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Promoting Social Inclusion of Children with Cerebral Palsy: The Experience of Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy Dr. Reena Sen7

W

hat do we remember most about the school years? Is it history, geography or mathematics? Is it language, chemistry or physics? Not really. Some teachers certainly stand out in our memory – either because they were exceptionally skilled, sensitive or fun or because they were exceptionally poorly informed, insensitive or dull. But, regardless of the number of years that pass, what remain clear as crystal in our memory are the images of friends, whispered conversations in class, the eager wait for the break and the few minutes before morning assembly and after classes just before going home. As clear as the memories of times spent with friends in school are also the memories around school friends-outings, excursions, birthday parties, films, festivals and visits to places of interest. Executive Director and Trustee, Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy – Kolkata

7

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The irony lies in the fact that whenever we speak about inclusive education for children with disabilities, most of the discourse is focused on academic issues, on curricular modifications and sometimes even about how to accommodate children with disabilities in co-curricular activities like sports, drama, art and craft. But we hardly ever hear about social networks, strategies for facilitating group membership and forging relationships. The second irony lies in the fact that a lot of what is written in this article is in the context of children with cerebral palsy, most of whom are unable to walk and many of whom communicate with little or no speech, attending our special school. These children represent the entire continuum of physical and intellectual capacities. While

some are clever or even exceptionally bright, others have profound intellectual disability; some have a moderate degree of physical disability, others have disabilities that are very severe. Children with severe physical and intellectual disabilities are with us for obvious reasons as the alternative would be ‘home based education’; the children who are following an academic curriculum leading to the Open Basic Education and National Open School are with us as they are unable to gain access to the local mainstream school due to architectural or curricular barriers. Some were in regular mainstream schools but have come back for a range of reasons - they were not able to write, speak clearly or because they were teased and bullied. One child continues to be ‘included’ – she stays home but goes to school three times a year to appear for examinations. Mainstream teachers and special educators are more

comfortable with ‘single’ disability conditions thus cerebral palsy, a condition that leads to multiple disabilities is still a relatively unknown entity. Training courses also prepare special educators to work with one category of disability. Thus, the outcomes of SSA’s recent Inclusive Education

Regional Trainer Training on a range of disabilities - in which cerebral palsy was included and our senior trainers were involved - are of great significance as these will indicate whether there is an impact on the quality of educational experiences for students with cerebral palsy and other multiple disabilities in SSA schools. Disability activists in Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy (IICP) have varying but largely pragmatic views about social inclusion. They play important roles in selfadvocacy and empowerment training and have studied in mainstream schools and colleges for a part or the whole of their formal education. One of the disability activists in IICP Jeeja Ghosh has two Master’s Degrees – one in Social Work and one in Disability Studies. She studied in a reputed girls’ school for classes 11 and 12 and then went to universities in Kolkata, Delhi and the UK. She said, “Social Inclusion to me is being accepted for what I am.

It also involves two people or more and feeling at ease in each other’s company. It’s a two way process.” In Jeeja’s initial days in college, many students did not speak to her, but once she initiated the interaction, they were much more forthcoming. Another disability activist in IICP,

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Saswati Acharya is a trained special educator. She spoke about her childhood experiences in a co-educational school when one of the boys repeatedly used to tease her and call her names, and even tried to knock her off her wheelchair. However, she was determined not to report him to the teacher and refrained from doing so even when he pushed her and she had a serious fall. He was amazed and a little ashamed. After this, things got progressively better and gradually, she was accepted by the others. She advised that children need to be made sensitive to the idea of ‘If you can’t be a friend, that is fine, but don’t be cruel!’ Sayom Deb Mukherjee also from IICP is studying for an Honours Degree in Elective English from IGNOU and assists IICP advocacy group, ANKUR. He has rather bitter memories of mainstream school that led to his coming back to IICP’s special school. He felt

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increased access and visibility leads to greater awareness about the capabilities of persons with disabilities, in spite of limitations. All three activists strongly proposed that persons with disability have to learn that they a huge role to play in social inclusion and must meet others “halfway” in establishing social connections. They emphasized that children and adults with disability and family members must make an effort to be sociable and participate in social gatherings. Jeeja spoke about her childhood in a Kolkata high-rise building with many flats. “Obviously there were many children of my age group and every evening, they would all get together downstairs to play in a paved area. In the beginning no one wanted to include me in their games. But my mother held my hand and continued to stand close by where they could see us.

Gradually, they started talking and then, I was invited to join them. Eventually I became a member of the ‘gang’, so much so that when the group used to jump over the wall to go to the neighbouring Ballygunge Military Camp, the other children would insist I come too and literally push me over the wall!”

in somewhat of a contradictory move - changed the status of SAIEDs a couple of years ago; the new rule enables a SAIED to register only those with disability. This has been a nail in the coffin of a very successful endeavour for inclusive education both in terms of academic inclusion and social networks.

My colleagues with disability advised, “While friendship cannot be enforced, compassion, fellow feeling and the willingness to make adaptations to the environment are qualities that will foster more inclusive environments.” In subsequent paragraphs the focus is on all the activities and programmes IICP organizes for natural and spontaneous social interactions between children with cerebral palsy and their typically developing peers and for greater empathy and knowledge about persons with disability. These are steps towards changing perceptions about disability thus enabling the foundation of closer connections between people.

IICP, in its role as a State Nodal Agency Centre (SNAC) of the National Trust (NT), works for social inclusion of persons with disability. Along with a huge network of organizations registered with the NT, IICP organized an award winning campaign in West Bengal of ‘Badhte Kadam’ last year. The highlight of this campaign were the community carnivals (melas) in which the community at large participated and were informed about disability and ‘exposed’ to the talents of children and adults with disability through cultural programmes. A similar but larger programme involving all 18 districts of the state will be organized during November-December 2011.

Participate in competitions and contests in mainstream schools. Two students from IICP participated in an elocution contest for children from schools – mainstream and special - organized by Andrew Yule and Co. three years in a row and each year have come away with a trophy for their skill and competence in public speaking. School concerts and dance programmes include typically developing children. These include children of members of staff and those who attend the afternoon play school, Jugnu, for children aged between 2 - 6 years from neighbouring slums.

Community Based Services in the urban slums of Kolkata and the rural areas of the state prioritise mainstreaming of disability in all community development initiatives. IICP’s Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) team works very closely with IICP’s advocacy group, ANKUR in conducting awareness programmes aiming to change negative attitudes towards persons with disability. Children and adults with disabilities are an integral part of the family and community and expect to be treated with respect and dignity. This is the main message ANKUR members try to promote as an advocacy group through street plays and by sharing personal experiences.

Policy of reverse inclusion- In the pre-primary class, IICP has eight typically developing children along with thirteen children of the same age range with cerebral palsy. It will be interesting to study whether spontaneous interactions in natural classroom contexts lead to natural and spontaneous bonds of friendship and camaraderie. On the other ‘end’ of the academic ladder so to say, as a Special Accredited Institution for the Educationally Disadvantaged (SAIED), we have an Inclusive Open School. Students registered for the NOS Secondary Examinations included students with hearing impairment, LD, cerebral palsy and orthopaedic disabilities and others without disabilities who resumed studies after dropping out or not coping with the ‘mainstream’ system. Unfortunately, the National Institute of Open Schooling-

The CBR team works closely with the local schools to support teachers so that they feel empowered to include children with disabilities in their classrooms. In the slums located in the 36 Kolkata Municipal Corporation wards where IICP’s CBR team works, social inclusion in the true sense is a huge task in the context of children with cerebral palsy. It is even more challenging due to the hardships of life in an urban slum and the degree of care required by a child or adult who has moderate to severe disabilities. Thus, inclusion needs to be initiated and facilitated within the family; this depends on the relationships among all the family members and the extent of their understanding and support for each other and the person with disability. Next, comes the extended family and neighbors and alongside, community resource ‘centres’ such as the

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hospital, places of worship and the school. Last but not least – inclusion must be advocated and facilitated in the community at large. The difficulties faced by children with disability are very traumatic for parents but equally so for children themselves. In the context of a slum, negative attitudes and discriminatory behaviours cannot be concealed. A bright child realizes s/he is segregated in the family, among the siblings, in the peer groups and is aware

that s/he has no friends to share feelings of insecurity. Additionally, there is little or no awareness amongst other children, community members, medical professionals and teachers and hardly anyone has the skills of handling children with conditions such as cerebral palsy. One can imagine the kind of mental agony a child with cerebral palsy undergoes when people treat him or her with apprehension or distaste. A case study from one of the urban slum sites follows. Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy’s CBR team forged linkages with Ramakrishna Sishu Govt. Sponsored Free Primary School. This school was established in August

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1991 and is located in the neighbourhood of one of the slums where IICP works in partnership with an NGO working for health and education. Initially the IICP team approached the school to inform the authorities about inclusive education but teachers felt that they had limitations of infrastructure and would thus be unable to teach children with disabilities. Regular interaction with teachers was established by the NGO field staff and the IICP team and with a lot of

encouragement and positive feedback, the teachers were supported and motivated to start thinking about bringing in children with disabilities into the school. They also realized the need to complement their growing confidence with the right attitude and enhanced knowledge. The IICP team motivated a teacher to go for a three-month foundation course in special education. Post-training, she was helped to create an environment suitable for children with disability in the school. The first child with disability in the school had a locomotor impairment. He has completed Class IV from this school and moved to National High School where he is studying in Class VIII. He is receiving a stipend from the Government

of West Bengal and is happily accepted by peers and teachers. The number of children with disability in the school has gradually increased and at present there are eight students with disability (cerebral palsy, myopathy, hearing impairment, intellectual disability) out of a total 45 students. The school regularly involves students with disability in ‘integrated’ sports and cultural programmes for students from different schools in the community. The teachers are highly motivated and the overall quality of teaching has improved. The work has been recognized by the Department of School Education, Government of West Bengal. The impact of this is that the school was renovated and now has facilities for drinking water, a toilet, electricity and fans. The teachers have proved that team work pays rich dividends - the school is the recipient of a special award by Government of West Bengal for the most suitable integrated educational approach. ANKUR, IICP’s Advocacy Group has specific initiatives for social inclusion. It emphasizes that inclusion is not just about removing physical barriers. It is about accepting persons with their unique attributes and limitations. One of the major tasks that ANKUR has taken up is creating awareness among different groups in society ranging from corporate houses, mainstream educational institutions, in the community at large and among the various service providers like in transport, banks and post offices. Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) Week: This is usually observed in the month of October. The main aim is to highlight the abilities of children and adults who may not be able to communicate in the conventional way but have the ability of self -expression through other modes such as gestures, signs and the use of technology. This technology can be ‘lotech’ alphabet, word or picture boards or hi-tech voice output devices. ANKUR members visit mainstream schools and colleges and demonstrate how AAC can be used effectively to break barriers in communications for those who have little or no speech. The results have been encouraging for us. Some of the neighbouring mainstream schools informed that they have started admitting student with disabilities after we visited them. They have thanked us for showing them the path for inclusion of children and adults with little or no speech.

Friendship Day: ANKUR as a disabled rights group believes that people with disabilities have the right to enjoy and gain access to all amenities in society, irrespective of their nature or severity of their impairments. ANKUR advocates that while persons with disability claim rights as equal citizens, they need to be conscious that they also have to give something back to society. Friendship Day is one occasion where ANKUR endeavours to extend hands to reach all friends. This year ANKUR invited students from neighbouring schools. Friendly sit and draw, quiz and extempore speaking competitions were organized where students from IICP’s special school also participated. The jovial and relaxed ambience promoted an atmosphere of friendship. Orientation for Metro Railway Personnel: Social Inclusion implies visibility. Transportation is crucial in enabling persons with disability to participate in society and in order to sensitize those coordinating transportation regarding the needs of people with disability, ANKUR conducted orientation training sessions on disability and attitude for Kolkata’s Metro Railway staff members. A total of 76 participants attended the training sessions. The feedback was encouraging as many of the participants said that this interactive training actually helped to change their perceptions about disability. However, there are a few issues that still need to be addressed. The first is options and choices. A young woman with hearing impairment once remarked after years of “being included” that she felt most comfortable with her hearing impaired friends with who she could comfortably communicate using sign language. She thus chose to spend time with her ‘disabled’ friends. Another young friend said he was tired of having to prove he was ‘as good as the rest’ and preferred the company of his friends who used wheelchairs and understood bouts of fatigue and frustration. If we have options and choices about the friends we wish to have, do we have the right to monitor and direct the friendships of persons with disability and rob them of choices and options? It’s up to the person to choose the company s/he chooses to keep. As they say, “Whose life is it anyway?” The second is that social networks and joint activities may be facilitated but friendships come from within and this fact needs to be recognized and respected. At ‘Samanyay’, a seminar on Inclusive Education in Kolkata, organized recently by The Heritage, an inclusive school, a speaker,

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the Principal of an inclusive school and parent of a young man with disability, addressed the difference between notions of ‘care and concern’ and ‘friendship’. She mentioned how these notions are blurred in childhood but as a child mature to an adolescent, the parameters of sensitivity and concern do not necessarily overlap with friendship. This, she surmised, need to be recognized. In order to enable adolescents with disabilities to sublimate feelings of segregation and loneliness, it is sensible to have a large range of leisure and vocational options available to adults with disability to spend quality time in the company of others including other adolescents and young adults with disability.

clearly. Many so called ‘able bodied’ persons face rejection so it is not the latter, per se, that is of relevance. What is of prime importance is that coupled with all the other discriminatory factors in society, adults with disability are most vulnerable. Also, educators must remember that when children become adults, the person with a disability is less likely to move on, work, have a partner/spouse and perhaps, their own children whereas others do; the resulting sense of isolation, heartbreak and sadness may turn into severe depression. Therefore, there is a need for continued links with other adults with disability who are in a position to understand and also know, and support from family and professionals.

The third is to consider adolescence as a period of crisis along with the search for individual identity. The story of a young man with speech and severe physical disabilities is relevant here. He had been in mainstream education from infancy to adulthood and everyone recognized his place in the ‘gang’ of friends. He was a ‘buddy’ and there was no question that his disability did not make an iota of difference to the social relationships in the group. In this social milieu, it is perhaps not difficult to gauge the degree of devastation caused by the rejection of his friend when he expressed his romantic love for her – the girl loved him as a friend but did not want a romantic relationship with a man in a wheelchair who did not speak

There is a need to move beyond the Peter Pan ‘syndrome’ that leads to all discourse about disability being limited to childhood. Lack of opportunities given to adults to take charge of their own lives and make decisions, and their passive acceptance of the lack of consultation in matters concerning themselves is an area of grave concern. There is a need to recognize the fact that like all others there is a life for persons with disability after childhood. In the same way, all of us who believe we are stakeholders in enabling persons with disability to live with dignity and with full enjoyment of human and constitutional rights must think about issues related to social inclusion beyond childhood and after school.

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A Report of the National Quarterly Workshop on “Adopting a Rights Based Approach through Inclusive Education in SSA” construction of resource room, upgrading BRCs to RCI study centre, manpower related issues like hiring of RTs, volunteers, care-givers, multi-category training of RTs and volunteers, etc. • Share some of the best practices by NGOs for CWSN • Showcase best practices adopted by States on IE like making KGBVs inclusive by AP - SSA • Discuss focal elements of the IE plan for 2012-13 • To observe some practices for CWSN in the field. State-Specific Education

Progress in

Inclusive

A detailed review was undertaken of the following state specific progress and issues in IE: 1. Andaman & Nicobar Islands

The national workshop on “Adopting a Rights Based Approach through Inclusive Education in SSA” was held in New Delhi from 21st - 22nd November 2011. The workshop was devoted to state presentations, technical presentations and review of the progress in IE. 60 participants from 31 States/UTs participated in the workshop. The states/UTs of A&N Islands, D&N Haveli, Lakshadweep and Tamil Nadu did not attend the workshop. The workshop started with Dr. Maninder Kaur Dwivedi, Director, MHRD apprising the participants of the objectives, status and issues in IE. This was followed by a detailed progress review of each state and each state preparing a road map in IE for 2011-12.

• 466 CWSN identified (0.83%) and 462 enrolled. 4 CWSN being covered through home based education. • Coverage of CWSN is 100%. • 0 CWSN given aids and appliances. • 150 (4.4%) teachers provided 3-6 day training on IE. • 27 RTs appointed. • 0 volunteers appointed. • No Braille books given. • 10 (6.62%) schools made barrier free. • 5 (3.3%) disabled friendly toilets made.

The main objectives of the workshop were: • Discuss the key sanctions for IE in 2011-12 like

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2. Andhra Pradesh

3. Arunachal Pradesh

• 188525 CWSN identified (1.79%) and 159373 enrolled. 2546 CWSN covered through AIE and 17235 CWSN covered through home-based education.

• 17641 CWSN identified (4.96%) and 16558 enrolled. 1083 CWSN covered through home-based education.

• Coverage of CWSN is 95.03%. • 253487 (84.04%) CWSN provided aids and appliances. • 41 NGOs involved in the IE programme. • 2.20 lakh (94.05%) teachers provided 3-6 day training on IE. • 638 (0.3%) trained through 90-day training. • 1390 RTs appointed. • 702 volunteers appointed, out of 776 sanctioned in 2011-12.

• Coverage of CWSN is 100%. • 5665 (43.39%) CWSN provided assistive devices. • No NGOs involved in the IE programme. • 921 (7.07%) teachers provided 3-6 day training on IE. • 83 (0.6%) teachers trained through 90-day training. • 92 resource teachers appointed. • 204 volunteers appointed. • 557 (15.43%) schools made barrier free. • 0 schools have disabled friendly toilets.

• 48793 (61.05%) schools made barrier free.

• No Braille books provided this year.

• 2050 (2.61%) schools have disabled friendly toilets (DFTs).

4. Assam

• 100% VIC provided Braille books in 2011-12.

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• 99003 CWSN have been identified (1.82%) and 71318 enrolled in schools. 7102 CWSN have been enrolled in EGS and 20529 are being covered through home-based

education. Coverage of CWSN is 99.95%.

• 1144 RTs appointed.

• 45243 (78.46%) CWSN have been provided aids and appliances.

• 810 volunteers appointed.

• 91924 (49.44%) teachers have been given 3-6 day training on IE.

• 3247 (7.86%) schools have DFTs.

• 167267 teachers have been given training through the mass teacher training programmes and 5880 (3.2%) teachers trained through RCI foundation course.

• 37535 (90.83%) schools have been provided with ramps. • No Braille books provided this year against the target of 12560. In process as reported. 6. Chhattisgarh

• 2528 volunteers appointed.

• 55764 CWSN have been identified (1.31%) and 54935 enrolled in schools. 370 CWSN have been enrolled in EGS and 459 CWSN being covered through home based education.

• 200 (17.4%) VIC provided Braille books in 2011-12.

• Coverage of CWSN is 100%.

• 6712 (17.44%) disabled friendly toilets made.

• 39684 (57.89%) CWSN provided aids and appliances.

5. Bihar

• 1-day orientation programme has been organised for 87560 teachers.

• 32421 (84.25%) equipped with ramps and handrails. • 290 resource teachers appointed.

• 313500 CWSN have been identified (1.51%) and 256784 enrolled in schools. • Coverage of CWSN is 87.11%.

• 3-6 day training given to 54399 (40.49%) teachers. • 2476 (1.8%) teachers have undergone three-month foundation course by RCI.

• 111034 (65.91%) CWSN provided aids and appliances.

• 68 resource teachers are appointed.

• One day orientation programme has been organised for 179499 teachers.

• 105 volunteers appointed. • 18257 (41.08%) schools have been provided with ramps.

• 3-6 day training given to (139557) teachers.

• 136 (0.30%) disabled friendly toilets constructed.

• 8072 teachers have undergone three-month foundation course by RCI.

• 100% VIC provided Braille books.

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7. Chandigarh • 3349 CWSN identified (2.64%) and 3176 enrolled. • Coverage of CWSN is 100%. • 11 resource teachers appointed. • 23 volunteers appointed. • 6 NGOs involved. • The UT has started teacher training on IE and 523 (18.10%) teachers have been given 3 day training. • 360 (12.5%) teachers given 90-day training on IE. • 37 (33.33%) schools made barrier free. • 42 (40.00%) schools have disabled friendly toilets. • 100% VIC provided Braille books.

• 2162 (77.41%) schools have been provided ramps and handrails. • 950 (34.0%) schools have disabled friendly toilets made through DoE. • 927 (1.8%) teachers given 90-day training on IE. • 268 resource teachers appointed. • 80 volunteers appointed. 11. Goa • 1647 CWSN identified (1.09%) and 940 enrolled. • Coverage of CWSN is 57.44%. • 59 (6.15%) CWSN provided aids and appliances.

8. Dadra & Nagar Haveli • 232 CWSN identified (0.46%) and 193 enrolled. • Coverage of CWSN is 83.62%. • 62 (100.00%) CWSN provided assistive devices. • 0 RTs and volunteers appointed. • 18 (6.67%) schools made barrier free. • 0 disabled friendly toilets constructed. • No target for Braille books. 9. Daman & Diu • 1031 CWSN identified (3.85%) and 975 enrolled. 56 CWSN being covered through home based education.

• 1257 (20.09%) teachers provided 3-6 day training.

• Coverage of CWSN is 100%.

• 95 (1.5%) teachers have been given 90-day training.

• 71 CWSN provided assistive devices. • 2 RTs appointed. 0 volunteers.

• 632 (37.82%) schools have been provided ramps and handrails. 0 DFTs constructed

• 34 (40%) schools made barrier free.

• 13 NGOs involved.

• 0 DFTs in school.

• 7 resource teachers appointed.

• Target for Braille books is 42.

• 11 volunteers appointed. • 30 VIC (56.6%) provided Braille books in 2011-12.

10. Delhi • 13568 CWSN identified (0.72%) and 12068 enrolled.

12. Gujarat

• 88.94% CWSN covered.

• 107924 CWSN identified (1.41%) and 89415 enrolled.

• 47792 general teachers have been provided the 1-day mass teacher training.

• 1313 CWSN covered through EGS/AIE.

• 1182 (2.23%) teachers provided 3-6 day training.

• 67845 (34.89%) general teachers have been provided orientation to IE issues through 3-6 day training.

• 7503 CWSN provided aids and appliances.

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• Coverage of CWSN is 87.54%.

• 161162 CWSN (82.16%) provided aids and appliances.

• 205 (1.36%) schools have DFTs.

• 4969 (2.6%) teachers have been given 90-day training.

• 146 resource teachers appointed.

• 32848 (98.85%) schools have been provided ramps and handrails.

• 0 volunteers appointed.

• 571 (1.72%) disabled friendly toilets made. • 700 resource teachers appointed. • 87 volunteers appointed. • 0 VIC provided Braille books this year against the target of 3963. Braille books in process reported. 13. Haryana • 33191 CWSN identified (0.70%) and 32309 enrolled in schools. • Coverage of CWSN is 97.34%. • 66000 general teachers have been provided 1-day mass teacher training. • 44058 (81.77%) CWSN provided aids and appliances. • 42850 (66.36%) teachers have been given 3-6 day training. • 1501 (2.3%) teachers have been given 90-day training. • 11312 (76.54%) schools have been provided ramps and handrails. • 650 (4.40%) schools with DFTs. • 241 resource teachers appointed. • 21 volunteers in place. Reduced from 100. • No Braille books provided thus far in this year. In process. 14. Himachal Pradesh • 19242 CWSN identified (2.19%) and 16683 enrolled in schools. • 2559 CWSN provided home based education. • Coverage of CWSN is 100%. • 45319 general teachers have been provided orientation to IE issues in the 1-day mass teacher training. • 1412 (2.9%) teachers given 90-day training. • 13198 (58.26%) CWSN provided aids and appliances. • 32716 (67.49%) teachers have been given 3-6 day training. • 8190 (54.34%) schools have been provided ramps and handrails.

• Target for Braille books achieved for this year. 15. Jammu & Kashmir • 24781 CWSN identified (1.22%) and 20550 enrolled in schools. • 48 CWSN provided home based education. • Coverage of CWSN is 83.12%. • 41797 general teachers have been provided orientation to IE issues in the 1-day mass teacher training. • 451 (0.6%) teachers given 90-day training. • 6101 (49.59%) CWSN provided aids and appliances. • 1067 (1.35%) teachers have been given 3-6 day training. • 2830 (13.04%) schools have been provided ramps and handrails. 0 DFTs in schools. • No resource teachers and volunteers appointed. • No VIC provided Braille books against the target of 157. 16. Jharkhand • 80343 CWSN have been identified (1.13%) and 55695 are enrolled in schools. 4127 covered through homebased education and 5305 in EGS/AIE centres. • Coverage of CWSN is 81.06%. • 50998 (64.04%) aids and appliances have been provided. • The State has provided 3-6 day training on IE to 17052 (12.55%) teachers. 42260 teachers have been given a 1-day orientation to IE in the mass teacher-training programme. • 960 (0.7%) resource persons have been trained through the RCI foundation course. • 317 resource teachers appointed. • 768 volunteers appointed. • 14583 (36.62%) schools made barrier free. • 120 (0.30%) disabled friendly toilets made. • No VIC provided Braille books against the target of 4077. In process as reported.

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17. Karnataka

• No RTs and volunteers appointed.

• 125251 CWSN identified (1.57%) and 110512 enrolled and 14739 covered through home-based education.

• 38 (88.37%) schools made barrier free.

• 100% Coverage of CWSN. • 95585 (89.75%) CWSN provided aids and appliances. • 89534 teachers oriented to IE through the 20-day refresher training. • 69846 (30.52%) teachers oriented to IE for 3-6 days.

• 0 DFTs in school. 20. Madhya Pradesh • 90931 CWSN identified (0.58%) and 87691 enrolled. 2157 CWSN are enrolled in EGS and 1083 provided home-based education.

• 45922 (20.1%) teachers provided training through RCI foundation course.

• Coverage of CWSN is 100%.

• 971 resource teachers appointed. • 7256 volunteers appointed.

• 75204 teachers oriented to IE through the 20-day refresher training.

• 35273 (76.02%) schools made barrier-free.

• 18264 (6.49%) teachers oriented to IE for 3-6 days.

• 2720 (5.9%) schools have DFTs. • 67.5% VIC provided Braille Books.

• 21810 (7.7%) teachers provided training through RCI foundation course.

18. Kerala

• 0 volunteers appointed

• 124854 CWSN identified (3.79%) and 118099 enrolled in schools. 1248 CWSN enrolled in EGS and 1441 provided home-based education.

• 63814 (57.15%) schools made barrier free.

• Coverage of CWSN is 96.74%. • 26 NGOs involved. • 36693 (77.41%) CWSN provided aids and appliances.

• 109108 (60.94%) CWSN provided aids and appliances.

• 162 resource teachers appointed. • 0 disabled friendly toilets made. • 100% target achieved for Braille books. 21. Maharashtra

• 79955 teachers oriented to IE through the 20-day refresher training.

• 410377 CWSN identified (2.58%) and 397179 enrolled. 3050 CWSN covered through EGS and 10148 through home-based education.

• 33363 (26.09%) teachers oriented to IE for 6-days.

• Coverage of CWSN is 100%.

• 1465 resource teachers appointed. 0 volunteers in place.

• 108 NGOs involved.

• No teachers training provided training through RCI foundation course.

• 312068 (92.89%) CWSN provided aids and appliances.

• 10255 (74.08%) schools made barrier-free • 2090 (15.10%) schools have DFTs.

• 7760 (1.8%) teachers provided training through RCI foundation course.

• No VIC provided Braille books against the target of 149.

• 3711 resource teachers appointed.

• 380000 (86.79%) teachers oriented to IE.

• 600 volunteers appointed. 19. Lakshadweep

• 34701 (38.62%) disabled friendly toilets made.

• 333 CWSN identified (3.18%) and 273 enrolled. 60 CWSN being covered through home based education.

• 86365 (96.13%) schools made barrier free.

• Coverage of CWSN is 100%. • 32.98% teachers given 3-6 day training. • No CWSN provided assistive devices.

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• 72.5% VIC provided Braille books.

22. Manipur

• 2600 (19.15%) teachers provided 3-day orientation.

• 7816 CWSN identified (1.65%) and 4492 enrolled. 200 CWSN covered through home-based education.

• 415 (3.1%) teachers provided training through 90-day foundation course.

• 69.73% coverage of CWSN.

• 3798 (99.40%) CWSN provided assistive devices.

• 2 NGOs involved.

• 1550 (62.80%) schools made barrier free.

• 3062 teachers trained through mass teacher training.

• 0 disabled friendly toilets made.

• 1210 (9%) teachers provided 3-day orientation.

• 35 resource teachers appointed.

• 2642 (19.7%) teachers provided training through 90-day foundation course.

• 178 volunteers appointed.

• 1845 (73.59%) CWSN provided assistive devices. • 1024 (29.34%) schools made barrier free. • 1502 (43.03%) disabled friendly toilets made. • 28 resource teachers appointed. 0 volunteers appointed. • No VIC provided Braille books against the target of 200. 23. Meghalaya • 10246 CWSN identified (1.52%) and 8100 enrolled. 557 CWSN covered through home-based education. • 98.48% coverage of CWSN. • 31 NGOs involved. • 6829 teachers trained through mass teacher training. • 7292 (27.14%) teachers provided 3-day orientation. • 824 (3.1%) teachers provided training through 90-day foundation course. • 5634 (40.47%) CWSN provided assistive devices. • 1835 (14.92%) schools made barrier free. • 140 (1.1%) disabled friendly toilets made. • 37 resource teachers appointed. • 41 volunteers appointed. • No VIC provided Braille books against the target of 305. 24. Mizoram • 6769 CWSN identified (3.23%) and 6674 enrolled. 95 CWSN covered through home-based education.

• 92.9% VIC provided Braille books in 2011-12. 25. Nagaland • 5862 CWSN identified (1.40%) and 4194 enrolled. • 100% coverage of CWSN. • 1862 (14.4%) teachers provided 3-day orientation. • 13 NGOs involved. • 235 (1.8%) teachers provided training through 90-day foundation course. • 989 (25.46%) CWSN provided assistive devices. • 1084 (50.56%) schools made barrier free. 0 DFTs. • 74 resource teacher appointed. • 87 volunteers appointed. • No VIC provided Braille books against the target of 50. 26. Orissa • 123101 CWSN identified (1.83%) and 115856 enrolled. 2777 through home-based education. • Coverage of CWSN is 96.37%. • 86 NGOs involved. • 158501 (81.64%) CWSN provided aids and appliances. • 71585 (38.02%) teachers oriented through 3-6 day training. • 8207 (4.4%) teachers provided training through RCI foundation course. • 572 resource teachers appointed.

• 100% coverage of CWSN.

• 2845 volunteers appointed.

• 8 NGOs involved.

• 50246 (72.60%) schools made barrier free.

• 4416 teachers trained through mass teacher training.

• 1541 (2.22%) disabled friendly toilets made. • 66.3% VIC provided Braille books in 2011-12.

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27. Punjab

• 97722 (72.89%) CWSN provided aids and appliances.

• 115685 CWSN identified (2.59%), 91452 enrolled. 12649 CWSN covered through EGS and 11584 through homebased education.

• 153686 (55.08%) teachers given 3-6 day tng.

• Coverage of CWSN is 100%.

• 423 resource teachers appointed.

• 358 (0.47%) teachers provided 3-day orientation. • 78 NGOs involved. • 970 (1.3%) teachers provided training through 90-day foundation course. • 94517 (67.58%) CWSN provided assistive devices. • 19124 (94.07%) schools made barrier free. • 1913 (9.41%) disabled friendly toilets made. • 1520 volunteers appointed. • 480 resource teachers appointed. • 58.0% VIC provided Braille books in 2011-12. 28. Puducherry • 2996 CWSN identified (2.69%). Out of these, 2859 enrolled in schools and 110 covered through homebased education. • Coverage of CWSN is 100%. • 11 resource teachers appointed. 24 volunteers appointed. • A total of 1900 (72.98%) aids and appliances have been provided to CWSN. • 1186 (28.34%) general teachers have been trained through 3-6 day training.

• 4736 (1.7%) teachers provided training through RCI foundation course. • 445 volunteers appointed. • 63215 (80.57%) schools made barrier free. • 1253 (1.60%) schools have DFTs. • All VIC provided Braille books in 2011-12. 30. Sikkim • 1045 CWSN identified (0.93%) and 747 enrolled. 103 CWSN provided home based education. • Coverage of CWSN is 81.34%. • 57 (42.22%) CWSN provided aids and appliances. • 9 resource teachers appointed. • 22 volunteers appointed. • 150 (2.5%) teachers provided training through 90-day foundation course. No other teacher training conducted. • 122(15.66%) schools made barrier free. • 8 (1.03%) disabled friendly toilets made. • No VIC provided Braille books against the target of 69. 31. Tamil Nadu

• 120 (2.9%) teachers provided training through 90-day foundation course.

• 130109 CWSN identified (1.33%) and 93289 enrolled in schools and 9232 in EGS. 27588 CWSN provided homebased education.

• 343 (79.77%) schools provided with ramps and handrails.

• Coverage of CWSN is 100%.

• 60 (13.94%) schools have DFTs.

• 117401 (77.20%) CWSN provided aids and appliances.

• No VIC provided Braille books against the target of 50. In process as reported.

• 203411 teachers oriented to IE for 1-day.

29. Rajasthan

• 1917 resource teachers appointed. 537 volunteers appointed.

• 249551 CWSN identified (2.28%) and 234321 enrolled. 1013 CWSN covered through EGS and 4583 through home-based education. • Coverage of CWSN is 96.14%. • 49 NGOs involved.

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• 26726 (74.69%) schools made barrier-free. 1304 (2.9%) schools have DFTs.

• 1140 (0.5%) teachers provided training through 90-day foundation course. • 31.0% VIC provided Braille books in 2011-12.

32. Tripura

34. Uttrakhand

• 3183 CWSN identified (0.48%) and 2737 enrolled in schools. 446 CWSN provided home-based education.

• A total of 22390 CWSN have been screened (1.26%) and 19348 have been enrolled and 1786 being provided home-based education.

• Coverage of CWSN is 100%. • 1848 (34.51%) CWSN provided aids and appliances. • 5478 (18.08%) teachers oriented through 3-6 day training. • 40 (0.92%) schools made barrier-free. • 80 (1.85%) disabled friendly toilets made. • 149 (0.5%) teachers provided training through 90-day foundation course. • 5 resource teacher appointed. • 80 volunteers appointed. • No VIC provided Braille books against the target of 45. 33. Uttar Pradesh • 397511 CWSN identified (1.00%) and 363438 enrolled in schools and 6996 in EGS. • Coverage of CWSN is 93.19%. • 266535 (78.55%) CWSN provided aids and appliances. • 141995 (30.01%) teachers oriented to IE through 3-6 day training. • 830 (0.2%) teachers provided 90 day foundation course. • 121535 (84.96%) schools made barrier-free. • 0 DFTs constructed. • 2652 resource teachers appointed. • 0 volunteers appointed. • Braille books in process. Target is 9173.

• Coverage of CWSN is 94.39%. • 22656 (51.71%) CWSN provided aids and appliances. • 34795 (72.62%) teachers have been provided intensive training on IE. • 1257 (2.6%) teachers provided RCI foundation course. • 183 resource teachers appointed. • 1800 volunteers appointed. • 10174 (56.89%) schools have been provided with ramps. • 130 (0.73%) disabled friendly toilets made. • No VIC provided Braille books against the target of 236. 35. West Bengal • A total of 239843 CWSN have been screened (1.52%) and 193316 have been enrolled in the schools and 15833 in EGS. 24336 being provided home-based education. • Coverage of CWSN is 97.35%. • 104261 (78.70%) CWSN provided aids and appliances. • 149116 (50.41%) teachers have been provided intensive training on IE. • 1357 (0.5%) teachers provided RCI foundation course. • 1509 resource teachers appointed. • 937 volunteers appointed. • 44332 (86.13%) schools have been provided with ramps. • 1368 (2.66%) disabled friendly toilets made. • 26.5% VIC provided Braille books in 2011-12.

Technical Presentations Reaching out to Children with Cerebral Palsy The first presentation of the Workshop was by Dr. Reena Sen, Executive Director, Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy, Kolkata. She started her presentation by mentioning about the Persons With Disabilities Act, 1995 as it exists. She apprised the participants of the following ground realities: • Most students with a moderate to severe disability are still in special schools • Handwriting and performance on written tasks is a significant factor in exclusion

• Regular teachers may be well meaning but lack training and skills • Many schools take in CWSN without special educators so the process and outcomes are far from satisfactory • Attitudinal barriers and lack of awareness are the largest obstacles to successful inclusion. Inclusion in the proposed law talks about adequate curriculum modifications and reform in assessment and evaluation, examination concessions like suitable scribes,

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of the suggestions provided by her are as follows: • Parents are motivated to send their children to schools, but we need to empower them to ensure that their child can study in regular school • Plan adequate capacity building of parents through various activities and programs in co-ordination with local panchayats and NGOs. • Need to plan out HBE to SBE program so that the children benefit from the regular school. • 55% of HBE children can be included in regular schools provided with adequate support services extra time and free education with access to equal, high quality facilities. Dr. Sen then gave a detailed presentation on the work been done by IICP and its involvement with SSA. Mainstreaming CWSN from Home Based Education to School Based Education The next presentation was by Manjula Nanjundaiah, Deputy Director, Seva-in-Action, Karnataka. Ms. Manjula started her presentation by stating the following:

• Competent agencies to be selected to assess and provide appropriate aids & appliances in coordination with health authorities • Accessible toilets and toilet training for children with locomotor disabilities (spina bifida, muscular dystrophy and multiple disability) are required • Capacity building of volunteers and IERTs for deciding the right placement of CWSNs

• Sharing of SIA’s experience of Inclusive Resource Room for High Support group • SPD initiated the concept of HBE to SBE and had video conference with IERTs of all Districts of Karnataka • Screening of HBE children for mainstreaming started immediately by IERTs across State • SPD requested SIA to do a pilot project in one district and submit the report within 10 days. Thus, the pilot project was taken up in the district of Ramnagara. It was realized that many children with special needs have been in home based education for a number of years. The number of CWSN in HBE programme was increasing and not many were being mainstreamed into regular schools. A 1 day workshop with DyPC, Dist. IE Coordinator, IERTs, VRWs was conducted and SIA’s field staff. 22 HBE children were screened with the screening form by SIA’s staff in 4 blocks of the district. As per SSA resource teachers, only 27 CWSN out of 240 covered through HBE can be main-streamed from HBE to SBE in the district. With SIA’s intervention, it was seen that 116 (55.00%) children could be mainstreamed from HBE to SBE in the district. Disability wise data was shared with the participants. Ms. Manjula ended her presentation by stating the findings of this pilot project and raised certain pertinent issues. Some

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• Need to develop positive attitudes of regular teachers and HMs regarding inclusion of CWSN, especially those with intellectual disabilities and locomotor disabilities. • Use of technology and appropriate provision of aids & appliances should be provided on time to facilitate inclusion. Road Map on IE for 2012-13: The above session was followed by each state/ UT developing a road map on IE clearly indicating the activities that would be taken up for CWSN in 2012-13. Inclusive KGBVs This presentation by AP-SA was on the strategy formulated by AP-SSA on making KGBVs inclusive for CWSN girls. CWSN girls discontinue their schooling at the time of

school transition and there are no separate residential schools for CWSN (girls) to meet the demand. Thus, AP SSA took out a G.O stating that Two KGBVs per district would be for the hearing impaired and the visually impaired girls. 50% of total seats would be reserved in these KGBVs for CWSN girls and only those KGBVs would be selected which are conveniently located for easy access. Further additional services like two lady resident Special Educators, two resource rooms, barrier-free environment and orienting the KGBV to inclusive adaptations would also be provided.

• Involvement of trained optometrists/ ophthalmologists in assessment in every state

Inclusion of Low Vision Children: Experience from West Bengal This presentation was by P.N. Prasannakumar, Area Director, Sightsavers North East India Area. The content of his presentation focused on the background, goal and objectives of the programme, districts covered by Vivekanada Mission Asharam (VMA), aapproach/strategy, achievements up to October 2011 and key learnings. Sightsavers supported VMA to setup low vision clinic by • Training of one ophthalmologist on low vision at LVP • Training of two optometrists • Infrastructure support for low vision clinics. • Exposure visit for ophthalmologist to Hong Kong society • International low vision expert visit to set up the clinic. The objectives were to ensure at least 10000 visually challenged students to get their eyes examined by an optometrist and an ophthalmologist and to ensure that at least 4000 students accessed low vision services along with low vision devices free of cost by the year 2011. Sightsavers also gave training to the special educators on the assessment of children with blindness and low vision. The progress and the process of this project were shared in detail. The learning was: • The Government of West- Bengal is mobilized and interested in taking this collaboration ahead which acts as a huge opportunity for doing required interventions. • There is greater awareness among various stakeholders like people, local doctors, donors through continuous awareness programmes and Vision 20-20 which creates a greater space to intervene and reach out to more children. • Such partnership brings greater success and reach. The next steps for SSA should be: • State Level Planning by SSA for assessment of children with visual impairment

• Collaboration with agencies for providing low vision devices • Training of teachers of low vision and identification of visually impaired children For Visually Impaired

For Hearing Impaired

• Orientation and mobility

• Use of special equipments

• Activity of daily living

• Speech and language development

• Sensory training

• Auditory training

• Braille reading and writing • Communication skills • Use of special equipment • Activities of daily living • Social skills development

• Social skills development

• Organizing assessment camps for such children annually. Visits to the Pre- Integration Camps: The participants also visited two pre-integration camps for children with special needs in the districts of Ghaziabad and Modi Nagar on 22nd November 2011. These camps were being held for children with hearing impairment and for children with visual impairment. Both the camps are being run in a Government SSA School. The camps in Ghaziabad had one class for the totally blind and the other one for children with low vision. The other 3 classes in this camp were for the hearing impaired children. In all there were 5 classes in these 2 pre-integration camps. These camps are being held with the following objecives: • To develop skills of readiness for successful integration in regular schools • To equip with required skills the students with severe disabilities to be able to use special equipment independently • To develop adequate the three ‘Rs skills as well as academic competencies required for immediate inclusion in the regular classroom appropriate to the child’s grade level • To develop sense of independence, self-confidence and motivation for personal growth • To orient the children with various environments, not only for school inclusion, but also community and social inclusion.

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appropriate skills. These bridge courses should be continued if CWSN have to be mainstreamed in regular schools. Key Recommendations of the Workshop

The main components of these camps are:



The following key recommendations emerged from the workshop:

•

The focus of the year 2012-13 had to be on strengthening identification mechanisms for CWSN, infrastructure development, manpower development and material support to CWSN, all aiming at school preparedness in IE.

• Individualized as well group instruction by special teachers • Training in plus curriculum and ensuring total independence in handling special equipment

•

A continuum of support services is required for enabling children with disabilities to access, and be retained in, schools. These include transportation from home to school, reform of physical infrastructure to ensure development of schools as inclusive spaces for education of all children.

•

More efforts need to be put in by the states to enroll more CWSN from the home based education programmes as key thrust of SSA will be on inclusive education to children with special needs in general schools.

•

Systemic convergence with School Health Programme must be ensured for medical and surgical interventions. Convergence with Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment should ensure that support for assistive devices under Assistance to Disabled Persons for Purchase/ Fitting of Aids/ Appliances Scheme (ADIP) will continue.

•

In the case of CWSN, giving space to each child to learn at his/her own pace should be the utmost priority. Greater attention should be given to the curricular needs of differently abled with appropriate modification in conventional curriculum models.

•

Resource support to CWSN needs to be strengthened through engagement of special educators, volunteers, care - givers, etc for regular and effective academic support to the CWSN.

•

Upgradation of BRCs by augmentation of training facilities keeping in mind the needs of CWSN and by placing adequate number of special educators will continue.

•

Training of teachers on adopting inclusive teaching techniques for addressing specific learning needs of CWSN should be the focal area of attention.

• Development of disability specific compensatory skills • Academic readiness • Development of skills for integration and • Intensive child centered training. The hearing impaired children ranged from moderately to severely deaf. The following skills were being taught to the visually and hearing impaired children: The following observations were also made: •

All the children were wearing identity cards.

•

The camps were of 10 months duration which period was enough to teach CWSN appropriate skills

•

All the camps had a time- table. They ran from 9.30 a.m. - 4.30 p.m.

•

All the camps were very well equipped with TLM.

•

In the Modinagar camp, the teacher had also put signs and labels in Braille on all entrances, doorways, items, etc which is a very good practice.

•

The camps were very well equipped with food and the food was cooked in a very neat and a clean environment.

•

Donations were mainly seen in the form of warm clothes and school bags given out to the children.

•

There was a separate speech therapy room in each of the camps.

•

The children were taught the same curriculum as in regular schools.

•

Story- telling was also being used as a teaching technique in these camps.



On the whole, the children seemed very happy in the bridge course and were found to be learning

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Child-Teacher Acquaintance Programme An interface between Pre and Post - Mainstream Activity for CWSN B D V Prasada Murty8 “Man is by nature a social animal…” said, Aristotle, the great philosopher. Man cannot live without the support of the society. Members of the society are functionally related to each other and thus no one can exist without depending on the society. The crux of any society lies in its inclusive growth. Through inclusion, man learns the set of roles expected by the society which are supposed to be performed by him in the society he lives.

Among children this process of socialization takes place without much of his effort. But in case of children with special needs, by virtue of their intellectual or multisensory challenges, they need support to acquire and imbibe socialization skills. This transformation should ideally take place during the formative years of childhood and that too through formal schooling system. This is the spirit behind Inclusive Education for Children with Special Needs. SSA Andhra Pradesh has been implementing several interventions to benefit the children with special needs thorough pre and post-mainstream processes. In these processes, the resource teacher (special educator) and the school teacher, besides parents and community, play a very important role in helping the child with special needs to be mainstreamed in regular education. The special educator understands the functional, intellectual, behavioral, academic and communication needs of the child to prepare him/her

to acquire the expected skills to be performed by him/her in his/her social peer group. This process, initially, will take place with the child either under Home Based Education program or in the Special Training Centers for children with special needs, as per the need and suitability of the child. Child – Teacher Acquaintance Programme Once after the required skills are achieved by the child to a satisfactory level, s/he will be admitted by the resource teacher in the nearby formal school. Before the child is introduced to school environment, s/he is familiarized with his/her class teacher through a ritual program which is called ‘Child – Teacher Acquaintance Programme’ which is organized at Mandal point (erstwhile Block) every year during the first week of August, a few days after schools re-open. For this occasion, the Mandal Educational Officer and the Resource Teacher invite the children and their parents and the class teachers of the school in which the child is formally admitted as per his/her age to attend regularly thereafter. During the meeting interactions take place with the respective child and teacher on one-to-one basis. These interactions are moderated by the concerned Resource Teacher of the child. During interactions, the prospective teacher of the child is explained the child’s academic strengths, child specific management tips, areas of additional attention required from the teacher once the child is mainstreamed in school. The parents are explained the support they have to extend to the teacher to help their child. After the completion of this programme, the child is mainstreamed in school. This programme has received praises from various sections of society and yielded good results under the Inclusive Education program intervention of SSA. The major advantages of this program are • As a forward linkage to the post HBE and Special Training Center activity, this program ensures the child’s and the teacher smooth transition into school • The regular teacher is explained the hidden strengths and weaknesses of the child by the resource teacher

State IE Coordinator, AP RVM (SSA)

8

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July 2004, for setting up residential schools at upper primary level for girls belonging predominantly to the SC, ST, OBC and minority communities. The scheme is being implemented in educationally backward blocks of the country where the female rural literacy is below the national average and gender gap in literacy is above the national average. The scheme provides for a minimum reservation of 75% of the seats for girls belonging to SC, ST, OBC or minority communities and priority for the remaining 25%, is accorded to girls from families below poverty line.

•

The teacher is oriented to the classroom management of CWSN

•

Hands on experience with the child helps teacher to understand the needs of the child and this brings about an attitudinal change

•

The myth about the child’s incompetence to be effectively mainstreamed in regular school is dispelled among the teachers

With the RTE Act, 2009 coming into force with effect from 1st April 2010, and the SSA Framework of Implementation being revised to correspond to the RTE Act, the KGBV component of SSA would also be implemented in the overall context of child rights and child entitlements and in harmony with the spirit and stipulations of the Act. KGBVs can be opened in Educationally Backward Blocks (EBBs), previously defined on a composite criteria of blocks with a rural female literacy rate below the national average (46.13%: Census 2001) and gender gap in literacy higher than the national average (21.59%: Census 2001). Within these blocks, priority was given to areas with: •

Concentration of tribal population, and/or a large number of girls out of school;

•

Confidence levels of the child and parents go up

•

•

The drop-out rate of the mainstreamed CWSN in those regular schools is reduced where the childteacher acquaintance programs have been conducted.

Concentration of SC, ST, OBC and minority populations, and/or a large number of girls out of school;

•

Areas with low female literacy; or

•

Areas with a large number of small and scattered habitations that do not qualify for a school.

School Continuation Programme One of the major concerns of the government is to ensure that every child would complete her or his elementary education. However, before completion of elementary education, drop-outs normally occur during the school transition period, when the child, after completion of primary school education, has to go to neighbouring village to attend next higher school to continue his/ her schooling. Girl children and their parents face a lot of problems in this regard. Particularly, this is more so in the case of girls with physical impairments who also have to face a lot of stigma. In order to achieve sustainable results of school retention and school continuation in case of girl children with special needs who have completed their primary school level after they have been mainstreamed to regular school education, Andhra Pradesh Rajiv Vidya Mission (SSA) has taken a decision that educational facilities would be provided to the Hearing impaired and Visually challenged girls in the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas in the districts. Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) is a scheme launched in

48

The criteria of the eligible blocks were revised with effect from 1st April, 2008 to include the following: •

EBBs with rural female literacy below 30%; and

•

Towns/cities having minority concentration (as per the list identified by Ministry of Minority Affairs) with female literacy rate below the national average (53.67%: Census 2001).

In 2010-11 opening of KGBVs has been extended to all EBBs with rural female literacy below the national average as per Census 2001. The objective of KGBV is to ensure access and quality education to girls from disadvantaged groups by setting up residential schools at upper primary level. Initially, KGBVs shall be opened in rented or other available government buildings. Once land has been identified, suitable buildings shall be constructed. The unit cost of new KGBVs hostel

buildings has been revised since October 2010 to conform to the State PWD Schedule of Rates (SOR). The minimum area for KGBV hostel buildings shall be calculated based on basic amenities and requirements as indicated below:

especially, adolescent girls who are unable to go to regular schools •

In view of the targeted nature of the scheme, 75% girls from SC, ST, OBC or minority communities would be accorded priority for enrolment in such residential schools and only thereafter, 25% girls from families below poverty line

•

Established NGOs and other non-profit making bodies will be involved in the running of the schools, wherever possible. These residential schools can also be adopted by the corporate groups.

• For 50 children the carpet area of the building would be approximately 80 sq.ft/ child • For 100 children the carpet area of the building would be approximately 60 sq.ft/ child. Such residential schools will be set up only in those EBBs that do not have residential schools at upper primary level for girls under any other scheme of Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment and Ministry of Tribal Affairs. This shall be ensured by the district level authority of SSA at the time of actual district level planning of KGBV initiatives by coordinating with the other Departments/Ministries. The components of the scheme mainly includes setting up of residential schools where there are a minimum of 50 girls predominantly from the SC, ST and minority communities available to study in the school at the elementary level. The number can be more than 50 depending on the number of eligible girls. Three possible models for such a school have been identified. The other components of the Scheme are as follows: •

To provide necessary infrastructure for these schools

•

To prepare and procure necessary teaching learning material and aids for the schools

•

To put in place appropriate systems to provide necessary academic support and for evaluation and monitoring

•

To motivate and prepare the girls and their families to send them to residential school

•

At the primary level the emphasis will be on the slightly older girls who are out of school and were unable to complete primary schools (10+). However, in difficult areas (migratory populations, scattered habitations that do not qualify for primary/ upper primary schools) younger girls can also be targeted

•

At the upper primary level, emphasis will be on girls,

In every district, where the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas are existing, two centers have been identified and designated to provide inclusive education to the girl children with special needs. These centers are conveniently selected for easy access by girl children with special needs by locating them in or around the district headquarters. One center is designated for hearing impaired girls and one center for visually impaired girls. In each center 20 seats have been earmarked for such girls. The teachers in these centers have been given special training in teaching methodologies, besides sufficient sensitization inputs. Two special educators have also been posted to provide constant resource support. The special educators live with the children in the same hostel. Necessary infrastructural medications are being made to provide easy access and comfort for free mobility of girls with special needs. CWSN-friendly toilets and suitable ramps with rails have been provided in these Inclusive Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas. Separate resource rooms have also been provided in the center where the special educator provides remedial classes to the special need girls. So far, out of 23 districts in Andhra Pradesh state, Inclusive Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas have been made functional in 18 districts. These KGBVs have started admitting the girl children with special needs. Lot of publicity about the program is being given for optimal utilization of this opportunity by girls with special needs. This intervention is receiving a lot of appreciation from the parents of girls with disabilities.

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Inclusive State Convention in Assam “Education Ends Exclusion”

Ritu Prasad9

I

nclusive Education is an important strategic pillar of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, to ensure equity. The basic idea is that all children should have access to elementary education without any barriers - be it social, gender or disability. The scope of Inclusive model is not limited only to education, but also to social and moral development of the children. Only inclusion has the potential to reduce fear and build friendship, respect and understanding. Co- scholastic area is as important as the scholastic area for the upbringing of children in all respects. Children, given a scope, can exhibit and fine tune their hidden talent through different trades of co-scholastic activities. Thus, it is important to provide a platform to the children in this area too for their all-round development. With this view, SSA Assam, since its inception, has been conducting a large number of activities to provide such a platform and to create a friendly environment for all categories of children. The “Rangmela” and the “Convention of Children with Special Needs” are two such efforts of SSA, Assam and these are conducted every year. They begin at the bottom of the pyramid - starting from school, to CRC, Block, District and state level. They have received immense response from all sections especially from the talented children of the state. Through these programmes, children having quality in different co-scholastic areas are identified and given recognition at respective levels through a distinguished public personality. It helps in building up confidence. These children are also given exposure and an opportunity to interact with prominent personalities of the state to enhance their knowledge and skills. Till the year 2011, these two programmes were organized separately. From this year onward, both the programmes were organized together at state level in February/March for 3 days at the state headquarters in Guwahati, in order to bring integration and prevent discriminatory practices between normal children and children with special needs (CWSN). Each district was represented by CWSN, staff and parents. The children participate in various cultural programmes and competitions. Against this backdrop, the state level Rangmela and Convention of Children with Special Needs were organized from 3rd to 5th March, 2011 at Shrimanta Sankardeva State Consultant (IE), SSA Assam

9

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Kalashetra, Panjabari, and Guwahati. Both general and CWSN children stayed and participated together in different competitions and cultural programmes to bring about a sense of inclusion among them. The major objectives of the Convention were: 1. Inclusive participation of children 2. Competition among children on various events 3. Interaction with distinguished personality. The criteria for participation in the competitions were also developed. These are as follows: •

Altogether 13 children, (8 normal children from district best team of Rangmela, 2010-11 and five children with Special Need) from each district were to participate in the state level Programme.

•

Children up to Class-VII could participate in the Programme.

•

The time and specific rules of the events were to be announced at the time of competitions.

•

No separate category for Upper Primary and Lower Primary students in any competitions was allowed.

•

Each child was allowed to participate in no more than three events.

•

Two participants from each district (one normal and the other from CWSN) were allowed to participate in the competitions like on the spot Drawing, Recitation, Slogan writing and Solo folk-dance competitions.

•

In the group cultural competition, the district’s group was required to include at least seven participants, out of which at least 3 were to be from the CWSN. In this competition, the district group was allowed to participate in one event only out of the events like “Group Song” and “One Act Play.”

•

Children who had attended in the state level convention of CWSN and Rangmela on earlier occasions were given less preference for selection in the district team.

•

Focus of all the competitions was in consonance with the theme of the Programme.

•

The decisions of the judges will be treated as binding and final.

The second day of the convention, 4th March, began with a morning assembly followed by a cultural procession, in which each district held a banner /flag card with district name, and of a specific colour representing their district. After the inauguration, the day was marked by various competitions. Events of the competition were On the Spot Drawing, Recitation, Slogan Writing, ’Go as you like’,

Cultural competitions (Group dance/Group song/One Act Play and Solo folk-dance).

The convention was jointly organized by the Inclusive Education and Community Mobilisation component of SSA. The selected participants from district level were invited to take part in the convention at the state level. Mobilisation components from all districts accompanied the participants to the state capital. 8 general students and 5 CWSN from each district represented their district. Two Volunteers, one male and one female, acted as escort for children from each district. The 3 day convention commenced on 3rd March, 2011, with the arrival of the participants from all the 23 districts of the state. They were welcomed by the officials of IE and CM component of State Mission Office. The participants were briefed about the rules regulations, schedule and events of the convention. Both the general and the Children with Special Needs stayed together, ate together and shared their experiences with each other. Thus, the spirit of inclusion began from the very first day of their arrival for the Convention.

The 3rd and the final day provided an opportunity to the participants to interact with eminent personalities from different backgrounds as education, music, disability sector and others to enhance their knowledge and skills. In the second half of the day, an open meeting and prize distribution ceremony was held which was followed by the lighting of the lamp by the Mission Director of SSA Assam, the Chief Guest for the valedictory function. After the lighting of the lamp, a booklet on Inclusive Education, SSA Assam was released by her. The rest of the evening was marked by gaiety as the cultural programmes full of songs, dance, monoacting, mimicry with the combined participation of the students, teachers and officials from state and districts unfolded till late in the night. Conclusion One of the visions of SSA is to promote education for life equally for all children, irrespective of any category caste, sex, economic status, intellectual or physical disparity. It is hoped that this effort will help spread the message of inclusion to all levels of society, generating a fellow-feeling, togetherness and inculcating the habits like empathy in the budding and buzzing minds of children. The holistic development of the children will definitely lead the society to inclusion from isolation.

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Celebration of World Disabled Day Slony Kaur9 The third of December each year is celebrated as the World Day for the Disabled – a day for giving recognition to the contributions and achievements of people with disabilities from around the world. On this day people from every nation take note of the skills, achievements, contributions, and abilities of persons with disabilities in society. It promotes a positive image of persons with disabilities by organizing activities which both celebrate the cause of the disabled as well as raise awareness and understanding of disability issues and the rights of persons with disabilities. Globally, almost one in ten people is a person living with a disability and recent studies indicate that persons with disabilities constitute up to 20% of the population living in poverty in developing countries. In the state of Punjab, 125828 CWSN have been identified though special door-to-door surveys conducted by SSA, which figure is approximately 2.8% of the total child population. Out of these children with special needs, approx. 26% have some kind of visual impairment, 14% have speech or hearing problems, 21% have orthopaedic impairment (including cerebral palsy), 32% children have intellectual disabilities (including learning disabilities), while roughly 6% children have more than one form of disability (multiple disabilities). In order to give all the CWSN with different disabilities a platform to showcase their diverse talents, SSA Punjab celebrates World Disabled Day on the third of December every year. This activity has been continuing since the year 2005 and is celebrated at the block, district and state level. As the definition of IED has changed from being Integrated Education for Disabled to Inclusive Education, SSA Punjab has also made deliberate efforts to celebrate World Disability Day to inculcate the principle of Inclusiveness in its programs. So the focus of celebrating World Disabled Day is to involve CWSN of all disabilities in one way or the other along with their normal peers, with the principle of inclusion in the foreground. Objectives of celebrating World Disability Day 1. Promote better understanding of disability issues: The Day aims to generate awareness to promote a better understanding of disability issues with a focus on the rights of children with disabilities and gains to be derived from the

10

State IE Coordinator – Punjab

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inclusion of children with disabilities in every aspect of the social, economic and cultural life in their communities. 2. Generate public awareness: The Day also aims to highlight the progress and obstacles in implementing disability-sensitive policies, as well as to generate public awareness of barriers to the full inclusion of persons with disabilities in their communities. 3. Forum for CWSN: On this day, various events are organized to showcase - and celebrate - the contributions by persons with disabilities to the communities in which they live and convene exchanges and dialogues focusing on the rich and varied skills, interests and aspirations of persons with disabilities. The goal is the full and effective participation of children with disabilities in society and its development. 4. Practical action to implement disability policy: A major focus of the Day is to give a push to implement

the policies of the government concerning persons with disabilities and to further their participation in social life and development on the basis of equality. 5. A positive approach: SSA Punjab advocates perception of disability from human diversity lens rather than as a medical problem. Society has problems in accepting CWSN, rather than they are having problems in coming into the mainstream. A positive approach in our society will help the differently-able people come out of an insular, discrete minority. 6. Inclusion vs. segregation: Segregation is a major cause of society’s widespread prejudice against the disabled. It has been SSA’s endeavor to educate children to embrace this diversity as a first step to change their discriminatory attitude towards the differently-abled people; thus creating a fairer, more inclusive society. With the above objectives in mind, SSA Punjab organizes many different activities on World Disability Day. Special Sports Tournaments, Cultural programs and competitions are held on this day, beginning at the Block level and culminating at the district and state level. Children from local regular schools attend the events to cheer their peers and also appreciate the talent of the special children. This is a very good exposure-cum-learning experience for all stakeholders. It is also an opportunity and platform for the CWSN to showcase their talent at the competitions, which include various games, singing, dance, solo acting, modeling, painting, etc. CWSN from all the disabilities participate in the games and cultural programs-cum-talent competitions, which are held to promote inclusion by showcasing the skills of the differently-abled children in front of their normal peers and teachers.

their direct involvement. As Punjab has children with all types of disabilities, care is taken to include CWSN from all disability categories, who participate in one event or the other. Some of the Events which are held are:I. Race: 100 mts and 50 mts. Races are held for the CWSN with all kinds of disabilities - physical, sensory, cognitive and intellectual. a)

Visually Impaired: CWSN with Visual Impairment are trained to respond to auditory cues such as responding to whistle to start the race.

b)

Hearing Impaired: CWSN with Hearing Impairment are trained to respond to Visual cues such as responding to raising of a flag or dropping of a handkerchief to start the race.

c)

Orthopaedic Impaired: For CWSN who cannot walk, wheel chair race and tri cycle race is organized.

II. Long Jump: CWSN with all kinds of disabilities participate in Jumps. a)

Visually Impaired: CWSN with Visual Impairment are trained to respond to auditory cues such as responding to whistle to jump.

b)

Hearing Impaired and Intellectually Challenged: CWSN with Hearing Impairment and intellectual problems are trained to respond to visual cues such as responding to jump on seeing the indication on the ground.

Some key activities organized by SSA Punjab on the 3rd of December each year to mark World Disabled Day each year in order to promote inclusion are detailed below:• Special Sports • Cultural Programs • Rallies and Public Discussions 1) Special Sports:

III. Shot Put

Special Sports are organized on the World Disability Day in a way to promote inclusion in society. Keeping in mind this principle, Inclusive Sports are held at the cluster and block level before 3rd December and on this day, inter-block competitions are held at the district level. Special focus is on the fact that the so called ‘normal’ children are involved in the sports activities so that inclusion is promoted through

CWSN with all kinds of disabilities participate in this event. All the CWSN are trained to respond to their disability relevant cues whereas CWSN with moving problems participate while sitting in their chairs.

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IV. Fun Games

3) Rallies

Sack race, Tug of War, Musical Chairs, etc. are also organized, in which in addition to CWSN, normal children also participate in the games.

Rallies are organized at the village level in which village panchayat members, parents of children, children with special needs as well as normal children, teachers, IE Resource Teachers and the IE Volunteers participate. The Rally starts from the school where Resource Teachers address the morning assembly and advise the children against discriminatory practices. They halt at common places of the villages/ towns and address the gathering regarding importance of educating CWSN and mainstreaming of the disabled in the society, educate the masses against discriminatory practices prevalent in the society and promote public awareness of the barriers hampering the full inclusion of persons with disabilities in their societies.

2) Cultural Activities: To provide equal opportunities and showcase talent of the differently-abled children, different cultural activities are held: a) Dance CWSN perform Dance to showcase to the world that they are no less in any way and can Dance as well as the normal children. Different dances which they perform are: • Bhangra

Through singing, children give a message to the world that they are also blessed with sweet, musical voice and can perform equally well and entertain the audience.

The Rally terminates at the school where public discussions are organized focusing on disability issues and development to find innovative ways and means by which persons with disabilities and their families can be further integrated into the development agenda. Participants are also made aware of the rights of the disabled and thus creating an atmosphere for recognizing disability as part of human diversity. The participants are made aware of the various schemes of the government and the various benefits available to the CWSN.

c) Fashion Show

4) Picnic

Children participate in Fashion Shows and they look as beautiful and handsome as their normal peers. When the special children walk the Ramp, they do so with equal confidence and have greater oomph than their normal peers. It is a heavenly scene where it seems as if angels have descended on the stage.

All the children who participate in various activities held to mark World Disabled Day are provided travel allowance or free conveyance is arranged for their to and fro journey. They are also provided refreshments and lunch. Normal children and differently-abled children eat out together, reducing the differences and helping the normal children to appreciate their differences and develop an understanding to give them equal opportunities and treat them on an equal level.

• Giddha • Solo Dance • Group Dance b) Songs

d) Mono Acting Mono-acting is staged to send a message about the rights of differently-abled people and raise a voice against discrimination by the society. Other social messages of these dramas include raising voice against the curse of female foeticide, menace of drugs, water conservation, etc. e) Instrumental Music Children perform and play musical instruments in a full orchestra, and are no less than junior Zakir Hussains.

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Conclusion Such annual events like World Disability Day are an important activity and a powerful tool to generate awareness of the rights of persons with disabilities and highlight the issues related to disabled persons, while at the same time they act as fora to showcase the talent of the differently abled persons and also give a boost to the morale and self-esteem of the special children and serve to give them a channel to utilize their energy, and promote their physical and emotional holistic development.

Inclusive Excursion Trips Nidhi Goyal11

I

nclusion is seen as a process of addressing and responding to the diversity of all learners through increasing participation in learning community. The basic concept of Inclusive Education hinges on understanding diverse needs of children in the education system and how responsive is the education system to meet these needs of learners in a given community. Inclusive Education means all children learn together in regular educational setting from childhood to adulthood or in community education settings, with appropriate networks of support. The focus in the concept and meaning of Inclusive Education in our context is on the: •

Child

•

Education System

•

Community

Inclusive Education aims at “ all children in a school, regardless of their strengths or weakness in any area

11

to become part of the school community. There is a feeling of belongingness among the children, teachers and other functionaries. This is a growing concept which is continually expanding to achieve the target of ‘EDUCATION FOR ALL’. Inclusive Education does not mean only imparting education, but it also aims at overall development and social inclusion of the child. Thus, inclusion means structuring school as community and it is about membership and belonging to a community. Social inclusion clearly states that the children, irrespective of their disability or not should be considered a functional and a contributing member of the society. Various steps are being taken to include the children in the society in such a way that no barrier exists in the mind of any individual with regard to the disabled persons. The aim is to end all forms of discrimination and prejudice and to build friendship, respect and understanding. Inclusive Excursion is one such step taken by Sarva Shiksha

State IE Coordinator, Chandigarh

55

Abhiyan, U.T., Chandigarh to include CWSN in the society. Inclusive Excursion gives an opportunity to bring out the abilities of children and help them become a functional member of the society and build in relationship with people living in the community. Following objectives were kept in mind while planning for Inclusive Excursions:-

Children belonging to lower age group and studying in primary grades were taken to Doll Museum and Rose Garden, whereas those studying in upper primary grades were taken to Museum, Art Gallery and Traffic Park for excursion.

• To make CWSN an integral part of the general society.

During the visit to ‘Doll Museum’ the teacher explained about different dolls which show the culture of different countries. The children made choices about different dolls displayed in the museum. The children got an opportunity interact with the other children who also made a visit to the doll museum. The parents of those children sat and interacted with the CWSN. There is also display of two stories in the museum ‘Snow white and the seven dwarfs’ and ‘Aladdin’. A parent was explaining to his kids about the stories and our children also enthusiastically joined them to listen to the story. The children really enjoyed the story time. There are also on display cultural and religious idols of different religions, like there is a whole depiction of story of the Ramayana. There are various depictions of the war time and peace time of Lord Rama. Children very easily grasped the concept through the depiction of the story. A child named Gudia (Deaf) of the Government School in Kaimbwala felt very happy on seeing the scene where the nose of Sharupnakha is being cut off.

• To enhance social interaction of the CWSN with the people living in the community. • To help CWSN to be valued and not discriminated against by the members of the society. • To bring integration and put an end to segregation. • To prepare CWSN for mainstream life. • To create awareness among CWSN about important places in the city. • To inculcate the spirit of enthusiasm and encouragement among CWSN. • To help CWSN learn through visual experiences. To fulfill the aim of inclusion, five excursions in the form of outdoor camps were planned at resource center level during 2010-11. Approximately 100 CWSN along with their peers and siblings participated in the excursions. Keeping in view the objectives of excursions following places were selected:• Doll Museum and Rose garden • Museum and Art gallery and Traffic park

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Visit to Doll Museum and Rose Garden

There is also an aquarium which is displayed in the middle of the doll museum. The security guard explained to the children about the different kind of fishes. For some

children, it was the first encounter with different types of fishes and they felt very happy on seeing fishes of different colours and types. As CWSN understand through concrete objects easily, this experience acted as a catalyst for their knowledge. There is a huge model of Chandigarh displayed in the doll museum and through the model, children were explained about the city. The model helped the children in understanding the city Chandigarh and they got full idea of different sectors, tourist spots, etc which otherwise with the help of map of Chandigarh would have been a difficult task for all the children to understand as well as for teachers to make them understand. All the children were mesmerized on seeing a small railway station with a small train and track. Teachers accompanying CWSN explained to them the various activities at the railway station. Children also enjoyed a joy ride in a toy train at the railway station. After this the children were taken to Rose Garden where the teacher described various colours and kinds of roses. Children were very curious to know about the various varieties of the roses. They were also excited to see different coloured roses as earlier they thought that roses are of red colour only. Teachers escorted the children to swings where the children got an opportunity to play with other children who were already playing there. Visit to Museum, Art Gallery and Traffic Park Another group of children visited ‘Museum and Art Gallery’ where the children were shown different types of sand dunes, rocks and were explained about the life of ancient civilization through models and objects displayed in the Museum. Children were very excited on seeing the different species of Dinosaurs, and asked a number of questions with great enthusiasm and curiosity. This visit helped low vision students to learn about history and

they showed great interest as they learnt through their touch sense. Through this visit children learnt a lot about various historical events with the help of pictures and objects displayed. The museum authorities interacted with this inclusive group and even explained to them various historical facts displayed in the museum. The children were then taken to the ‘Traffic Park’ where a guide made them aware about the traffic rules and signs. This visit helped children to learn the traffic rules in a concrete manner as they were also given demonstration of various do’s and don’ts of the traffic rules. During the visit one child with blindness was explained about the traffic rules by siblings who came to visit the park with their parents and parents too encouraged their wards to help these special kids. Thus, these excursions were a step towards real inclusion of CWSN in the society. The parents of CWSN were very happy that their wards had been given an opportunity to socialize outside the school environment and visit different places. Through this excursion the children were sensitized beautifully through story telling. This also helped CWSN to learn various disciplinary activities like standing in a queue, cooperation and sharing and also leadership. The resource teachers through this excursion also got an opportunity to see the different abilities of the children such as singing, dancing, social interaction skills, etc which was not possible to see in an inclusive classroom and resource room set up. Hence inclusive excursion is a useful and a meaningful educational opportunity to socially include ALL children in the society in which they are ultimately going to live. Segregation leads to fear and inclusion helps develop confidence and social skills. Inclusive excursions definitely helped achieve this objective.

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I

Building the Capacities of District IE Coordinators on Adopting a Rights Based Approach in the context of RTE

n the recent years, there has been a paradigm shift in the understanding of the concept of disability. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities (UNCRPD), to which India is a signatory, explicitly states that disability is a result of social barriers. Thus, it has adopted a social approach wherein disability is viewed as a “social perception” shaped by environmental factors, including cultural attitudes and social behaviour.

Song on RTE

Come Child Come child to the school We will be learning together Barrier free access made for you Child friendly environment made for you Text books and uniform invite you Smiling teacher welcomes you Songs, stories and play for you Dramas and films just for you Let us sing and dance in school Let us play and learn in school You are the gift of God But these are the gifts of RTE, But these are the gifts of RTE.

RTE Act has also adopted a rights based approach wherein access to free and compulsory education is now seen as one of the basic Fundamental Rights of every child. Section (3) of the Act States that “Every child of the age of six to fourteen years shall have a right to free and compulsory education in a neighbourhood school till completion of elementary education. It further states that no child shall be liable to pay any kind of fee or charges or expenses which may prevent him or her from pursuing and completing the elementary education. SSA Framework clearly states that “the incentive based approach would need to shift to an entitlements perspective. This paradigm shift needs to be reflected not only in SSA, but in all interventions, programmes and schemes for elementary education of the State Governments, as also in the mindset of all the agencies involved in the implementation of the SSA”. In line with the above, it was proposed that the capacities of the District IE coordinators need to be built on the new emerging concept of disability evolving from an inclusive

58

lens. The objectives of this training would be as follows: •

Understanding the spirit of UNCRPD, RTE and paradigm shift in equity from inclusion perspective

•

To orient the participants to each section in the RTE Act and its relevance to CWSN, including the provisions under RTE

•

To inform about the various entitlements available for children under RTE- SSA

•

To discuss various issues like social inclusion, disabled friendly infrastructure, etc

•

To effectively equip the IE coordinators to contribute in the development of school development plan.

To achieve the above, six regional workshops have been planned and proposed by the IE Unit-TSG in Bangalore (southern region), Gujarat (western region), Ranchi (eastern), Manipur (North East region) and Punjab (northern region). One more regional workshop in Delhi was proposed for the states of Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh, J & K, Rajasthan and Delhi. The ultimate aim was to empower the District IE coordinators on planning for a more enabling and inclusive environment for CWSN based on the various provisions laid down in the RTE. The details of the workshops are given in the table:

S. No Venue Date Participating States

No. of participants

1 Bangalore 13th - 14th Oct 2011

Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Puducherry Kerla, A&N, Islands, Lakshdweep

108

2 Ahmedabad 31st Oct – 1st Nov 2011

Goa, Gujarat, Chattisgarh, MP, Daman & Diu & Dadra Nagar Haveli, Maharshtra

132

29th - 30th Nov 2011

West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar

111

4 Delhi 12th – 13th Dec 2011

Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh, J & K Rajasthan, Delhi

91

5 Punjab 16th – 17th Dec 2011 (Chandigarh)

UP, Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana

118

All NE States

85

3

6

Ranchi

Imphal



6th - 7th Feb 2012

TOTAL 645

human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity. Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.

Thus far, five regional workshops have been conducted successfully. The participants became aware of the rights of children as per RTE. The need for empowering parents to become aware of the rights of their children was also a highlight of these workshops. The participants were divided into groups and they developed all kinds of awareness material related to RTE. The UNCRPD was also dealt in detail. India was one among the first 81 countries which signed the convention on the first day. India has ratified this convention on 1st October 2007. The UNCRPD has come into force on 3rd May 2008. Once a convention is ratified by a country and comes into force, the country is legally obliged to bring its laws and policies in alignment with the convention. It is important that we understand what the convention has to say. The purpose of the present Convention is to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all

As per UNCRPD, “Communication” includes languages, display of text, Braille, tactile communication, large print, accessible multimedia as well as written, audio, plainlanguage, human-reader and augmentative and alternative modes, means and formats of communication, including accessible information and communication technology. “Language” includes spoken and signed languages and other forms of non-spoken languages. “Discrimination on the basis of disability” means any distinction, exclusion or restriction on the basis of disability which has the purpose of denying rights on an equal basis with others, and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, and civil or any other field. It includes all forms of discrimination, including denial of reasonable accommodation. Reasonable accommodation means necessary and appropriate modification and adjustments not imposing a disproportionate or undue burden, where needed in a particular case, to ensure to persons with disabilities the enjoyment or exercise on an equal basis with others of all human rights and fundamental freedoms. “Universal design” means the design of products, environments, programmes and services to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design. “Universal design” shall not exclude assistive devices

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for particular groups of persons with disabilities where this is needed. The General principles of UNCRPD are: a) Respect for inherent dignity, individual autonomy including the freedom to make one’s own choices, and independence of persons; b) Non-discrimination; c) Full and effective participation and inclusion in society; d) Respect for differences and acceptance of persons with disabilities as part of human diversity and humanity; e) Equality of opportunity; f) Accessibility; g) Equality between men and women;

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h) Respect for the evolving capacities of children with disabilities and respect for the right of children with disabilities to preserve their identities. Each and every section of UNCRPD was discussed in detail. The participants in the groups then discussed their role in the context of RTE and UNCRPD. This was followed by a detailed presentation on the proposed amendments to the Persons With Disabilities Act, 1995. Another highlight of this workshop was the development of a School Development Plan (SDP). The participants were given a sample plan and guidelines for the development of a SDP. They then developed SDPs, with an inclusive lens. The workshop ended with the participants pledging to do similar capacity building workshops on RTE in their respective districts.