Nagaland’s Principal Director of School Education Shanavas C said on Tuesday that inclusive education in the state is facing several challenges, such as the reluctance of parents of children with special needs (CWSNs) to send their children to schools due to social discrimination. . The senior official told a workshop here that people are not enthusiastic about their children being identified as CWSNs during the survey. Speaking on the workshop on Inclusive Education as a step towards inclusion, Shanavas said that conducting a workshop is easier than implementing it on the ground.
Listing out the problems being faced in the field of inclusive education in the northeastern state, the senior official said that the special schools are mainly concentrated in urban areas and children from rural areas do not have access. In Nagaland, there is an exercise to compile data of people with disabilities (PWDs) only during elections which is sometimes wrong, Shanavas said. The main hurdle in implementing inclusive education in the state is the lack of encouragement among parents of CWSNs, which requires convergence among government departments and stakeholder participation to create awareness to make inclusive education a success, Shanavas said.
The Principal Director assured that Educational Management and Information System (EMIS) will be strengthened to collect appropriate data by encouraging, motivating children and people with special needs to fight for their rights. All children, including children with special needs, have the right to education, and the Nagaland Board of School Education (NBSE) expects all schools to demonstrate an inclusive practice while providing education to children, its chairman Asano Sekhoz said.
He informed that all the educational institutions registered under NBSE have been given guidelines to make education accessible to CWSN. Teachers have been told to provide remedial teaching to CWSNs if they need it, and schools have been instructed to make the infrastructure and campus disabled-friendly.
State Disability Commissioner Diethno Nakhro said children with disabilities are one of the most marginalized and excluded groups. Although data is severely lacking, available evidence from some countries shows that, without exception, children with disabilities are more likely to be dropped out of school than their disabled peers, she said.
He said that even when they attend school, children with disabilities are less likely to complete primary or secondary education, and inequality increases with increasing levels of education. He said one of the biggest challenges with children with disabilities and persons with disabilities, in general, is the paucity of data, and in many ways, they remain an ‘uncountable’ section of society. It is time for change, Nakhro said, adding that all departments, organizations and stakeholders need to come together to bring about change.
School education is one of the key departments with which the Commission wants to work closely, especially with the focus on equity and inclusion during the implementation of the new National Education Policy at this juncture, she said. Nakhro said that the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 clearly states that all educational institutions funded or recognized by the State Government shall provide inclusive education to children with disabilities.
read all breaking news, breaking news And coronavirus news Here. follow us on Facebook, Twitter And Wire.
.