The need for ‘Inclusive Education’:

The main purpose of integrated education for differently-abled children is to make them on par with other members of society and help develop them into functioning adults thus, today, the education system needs to be inclusive. 

Inclusive education strives to address the learning needs of children with special needs, with a particular focus on those who are subject to being isolated and excluded and are in general not included with others. 

The philosophy or the aim behind inclusive education is to promote and provide opportunities for all children to participate, learn, play, and have equal treatment, irrespective of their mental or physical abilities and conditions. While the awareness of inclusive education in schools throughout the country is still at an infancy stage, educational institutions are somewhat skeptical about having both normal and special children studying in the same classroom.

And in circumstances, where a former excluded child is given admission into a mainstream classroom, the outcome of the action is questionable and difficult to some extent.

Lack of flexibility in curriculum, inability to fend for themselves, and thus being bullied by others in the class and not getting adequate attention from the teacher are common issues. All these may result in the child not getting a fair inclusive education. As a result, the number of children with special needs receiving higher education is on the decline.

In India, a majority of children with special needs do not receive any formal education, in spite of the practice of inclusive education in some schools. This is because children with disabilities and learning deficiencies are segregated from mainstream schools and other regular routines and social activities of normal children.

Other contributing factors to this situation are the lack of affordability and awareness of the kind of education choices available to children with special needs.

Hence, inclusive education becomes a key reason for integrating a special child with the mainstream. According to Dr. Mithu Alur, founder of the Spastics Society of India and coordinator at the National Resource Centre for Inclusion (NRCI), “Children need to be with other children. Sending them to a school for differently-abled will not help.” (SLP) 

Inclusive schools have to be well-equipped in all aspects to cater and deliver quality education for all children.

This includes having a balanced curriculum that is appropriate for all categories of children, teachers who have the ability to handle the individual needs within the classroom and thereby promote an environment where personal development, social skills, and student participation are strongly encouraged.

National Policies regarding the education of children with disabilities:
In India, the focus on children with disabilities is under the purview of two separate ministries: the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (within this, the Department of Disability Affairs), and the Ministry of Human Resource Development. 

While the former has the overall responsibility for persons with disabilities, the latter specifically focuses on educational provision for children and young adults with disabilities. India’s 2009 Right to Education (RTE) Act recognizes education as a fundamental right. 

The law states that education for children in the age 6–14 groups, including those who have dropped out or face issues in admission due to migration, caste, disability, etc., should be free and compulsory. All children with disabilities within the act have been included under the blanket term ‘‘disadvantaged group’’.

Persons with Disabilities Act Equal Opportunity, Protection of Right and Full Participation ( (MLJ, 1996)) has been another important legislative marker; this was the first act to recognize and make provisions for seven different disabilities. It highlighted the need to adopt a dual approach to educating children with disabilities, advocating both for mainstreaming and for specialist provision where needed.

With India’s ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN, 2006) recent amendments have been made to the act; the revised Disability Rights bill broadens the definition of ‘‘disability’’ from purely medically drawn boundaries to the disability’s impact on activities of daily life. 

These amendments are significant, reflecting the changing perceptions and attitudes toward disability in the broader political arena. Over the years, various national-level programs, such as the District Primary Education Programme (in the 1990s) and the SSA have shaped developments in schools and classrooms, and these have also included a focus on promoting educational provision for children with disabilities. 

The SSA is India’s current flagship elementary education program, which seeks to provide quality elementary education to all, focusing especially on girls’ education and children with special needs. 

More significantly, SSA categorically brings the concerns of children with disabilities—or those termed ‘‘children with special needs’’ (CWSN)—under the framework of ‘‘inclusive education’’ (IE) and argues for the adoption of a ‘‘zero rejection policy’’ so that no child is left out of the education system (Singal D. N., 2009).

SSA notes that education of children with disabilities should be promoted through a multi-option model of educational delivery, which will not only increase access but also provide these children with appropriate need-based skills—be they vocational skills, functional literacy, or simply activities of daily living—in the most appropriate learning environment.

Therefore, alongside mainstreaming, SSA also promotes a combination of home-based education (HBE) and alternate educational settings in order to address the educational needs of children with severe intellectual/physical disabilities (Singal D. N., 2009).

Societal inclusion of differently-abled students:

One of the major areas of focus for us as a society today is to accept and assimilate differently-abled children as our equals in society, giving them the importance, the respect, and the opportunities that they deserve and that they must have. 

We can talk all day about the inclusion of differently-abled students in schools and the education system, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have any other roles to play or that our parts end there.

For the proper inclusion of these children in the education system, they need to be accepted wholeheartedly as a part of society too which is a bigger hurdle even today. We are still at an infancy stage in regards to educating differently-abled students and major blame for this goes to our indifferent attitude toward them for the major portion of our history.

There are no doubts in the fact that each of us deserves equal respect and equal opportunities in all aspects of life but over the ages, the differently-abled members of our society have been treated as some second class citizens who never had any opportunities to educate themselves or become a contributing member of society in any way. 

This is also a prime motive of inclusion of differently-abled children in normal schools with normal students, to provide them with acceptance. This will also be a major objective of the research, to gauze the way they can be assimilated more in society and not feel unwanted at any level.

The last few years have seen some important developments in the field of education for children with disabilities. However, much remains to be done. Unlike in 2000, when arguments focused primarily on presenting a rationale for allowing children with disabilities access to mainstream classrooms, this is no longer the only concern. 

Policymakers now have a greater awareness of the need to include children with disabilities in education, as evident in the official rhetoric, but various challenges remain to make this a reality.