The goal of sustainable development for all will not be realised till the time, marginalized groups stop facing exclusion and discrimination. To address exclusion of children from marginalized groups and especially children with disabilities in education systems, world over inclusive education is considered to be the most effective strategy.
In many parts of India quality education remains inaccessible for children including children with disabilities. To address this gap an NGO supported by CBM has undertaken an initiative in two districts of Uttar Pradesh (Chitrakoot and Bahraich), to increase equitable access to quality education to all children in the primary schools, including children with disabilities.
It adopts an inclusive ability-based approach to learning in schools. In an ever changing environment, it has been recognized that the school curricula should be so designed that children are enabled to build their capabilities to learn. Through the introduction of concepts in an integrated curriculum, children are encouraged to explore experiment and learn in mixed age groups. The classroom processes that have been developed based on the approach are intrinsically inclusive and have supported teachers in addressing requirements of children with disabilities.
The project also adopts a capability building approach where teachers are strengthened to provide appropriate learning environments to children so that there is an overall development of their abilities in a non-threatening atmosphere. Teacher collectives and empowerment workshops include components and content that enable teachers to support the learning of children in an effective manner.
The learning approach is being implemented from 2016 in 4 clusters of Chitrakoot and Bahraich. In March 2016 information was collected for approximately 2390 children along the parameters of – procedural (language and math’s skills), process skills (cognitive skills), attitudes (non cognitive skills) and interests. This paper is primarily a descriptive study of interventions made and the findings resulting from the implementation of the concerned ongoing project.
