Creating Inclusive Schools in India Challenges and lessons learned

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Creating Inclusive Schools in India Challenges
and lessons learned

• Imtiaz Mohammed Head of Programmes Asia and
  AmericasLeonard Cheshire Disability

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Indian context
Official Census 21.9 million disabled people.
Of this, 52 (11 million) are illiterate

• Children with disabilities 5 times more likely to
  be out-of-school than average.
• Children with disabilities rarely progress beyond
  primary education i.e. their presence in
  secondary and higher education is almost nil.
• Illiteracy extremely high among children with
  visual, multiple and intellectual disabilities.
• Among people with mild disabilities illiteracy is
  50, Severe disabilities it is 75.

Source People with Disabilities in India From
Commitments to Outcomes, World Bank, Jul 09
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Indian context
Good Policies in place

• India ratified UNCRPD, signatory of Salamanca
  Declaration
• National Persons with Disabilities Act which
  mentions rights based entitlement to basic
  education for disabled people
• Government Universal Education Programme (Sarva
  Siksha Abhiyaan SSA) has a special focus on
  inclusion education. Key features of SSA -
• Cash grant of Rs1200 (24) per year/child
• Emphasis on micro-planning local education
  departments given leeway to plan
• Involvement of other stakeholders like - resource
  institutions, NGOs etc.
• Zero-rejection policy (No child having special
  needs can be denied enrollment)

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Initiatives of Leonard Cheshire Disability
A regional programme across 4 countries
(Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka)

• Reaching out to 2701 children with disabilities.
• 107 Child to child clubs formed
• 2381 teachers trained
• 217 schools made physically accessible

Figures as on September 09
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Core Areas of Work
Therapy, Aids, Basic training in mobility,
behavioral training, communication skills,
Caregiver training
Preparatory support
Sensitisation of school management, Facilitating
enrolment, Accessibility home and transport
Enrollment support
School accessibility, Teacher training, Peer
sensitisation, Accessible learning material,
tuitions etc., Access to govt. scholarships,
pensions
Retention support
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Key Challenges

• Data on number of CwDs and their educational
  status not available/accurate
• Negative attitudes of parents and school staff
  towards CwDs
• Inaccessible physical environment
• Inflexible curriculum, teaching and evaluation
  methods

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Key Challenges

• Poverty
• Often inflexible government bureaucracy
• Enrollment of CwDs with moderate and
  severe/mulitple disabilities difficult
• NGOs and Govt agencies hesitant to collaborate
  with the projects as they feel addressing
  disability is a specialised area and they need to
  spend more resources.

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Lessons Learned

• A collaborative approach with government and NGOs
  is needed for sustainability. Do not duplicate
• A good referral network should be established
  with local resources (aids/appliances, hospitals,
  block resource centres, Govt departments, NGOs
  etc)
• Involving the community, specially parents is
  important.
• Special education/Resource Teacher support is
  essential

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Lessons Learned

• IE is not just about education. Promote
  socialization among CwDs and their peers through
  Childrens Clubs and other extracurricular
  activities.
• For grievance redressal facilitate formation of
  SHGs/Parents groups
• Create demonstrable models which serve as an
  effective tool for influencing policy .
• One size does not match all - a customised
  approach for each child depending on their
  disability

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Evaluation what have we seen?

• 68 of children with disabilities (girls 40
  and boys 60) have been retained in primary
  education in the target areas.
• There has been a marked improvement in the
  visibility of children with disabilities in
  schools compared to the previous years.
• The knowledge of the school community on
  disability is evolving, and they have
  demonstrated positive attitudes. Teachers are
  also gradually acquiring skills on disability.
  Accessibility in schools is also beginning to
  improve.

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Evaluation what have we seen?

• In some locations, the projects are being invited
  by government and non-government organizations as
  resource persons in training programmes on
  inclusive education.
• The projects have established referral networks
  to enable persons with disabilities access to
  services from various organizations like
  hospitals, government agencies etc.

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I love to go to school
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I love to go to school..

• My name is Sumair, I live in Gonekoppal, Coorg,
  India. I love listening to music. I had never
  thought that one day I would go to school. I used
  to feel very lonely without anyone to play with
  and was afraid of the children who teased me.
• Then one day people from Cheshire Home Coorg
  visited my family, talked to me and my parents.
  After a few days they cam again and took
  measurements of my body and got me a special
  chair, which was very comfortable. They also
  taught my parents ho to support me in my daily
  life. My dream of playing with other children
  came true when they took me to their Day Care
  Centre. There I met several other children and
  learned to read and write.

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I love to go to school

• Later, I was taken to nearby Government School
  (Ammathy) where lots of children study. They
  spoke to the school management about my admission
  and got me enrolled there. I cannot forget my
  first day at the big school. I was hesitant and
  spoke little. But the teacher was good to me and
  so were the others. I am happy now and the best
  part is that I love to go to school

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Children at school
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Volunteers training
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Caregivers training
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ADLS training
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Speech therapy training to care givers
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Campaigning for education
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Block level education department officials
training
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Accessible school
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Adapted learning materials
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Thank you!!!