Parents
of special children and social experts hailed the directive of the
Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (MSCPCR) to
Jamnabai Narsee School, Juhu, to allow an eight-year-old autistic boy to
continue studying in the school with the help of a shadow teacher.
MSCPCR, a quasi-judicial organization, headed by secretary of women and
child development Ujawal Uke, gave the gruling Wednesday.
"Parents of autistic children need not worry any more. Schools won't be able to throw out children with special needs before allowing them to use the option of shadow teachers," said Chitra Iyer, parent of an autistic child and a member of the Forum For Autism. She said Indian schools should take a leaf out of the American system.
We need to think about including differently-abled children right from the planning stage," she added.
The idea of inclusive education, while not new, has still not been widely practised in Indian schools.
The United Nations had in 2007 underlined the importance of integrating differently-abled children along with those who have no special needs. While 'special' children get a better environment, even 'normal' children learn to accept and respect others.
"Twenty years back there were few ICSE schools. Until five years back, there were few IB schools. But now Maharashtra alone has 135 IB schools. How did schools get suitable teachers? They worked on building the capacity of teachers," said Dr Samir Dalwai, member of the MSCPCR team that prepared a report on the eight-year-old. "All schools need to upgrade capacity to help special children," he said.
Autism is a neuro-developmental problem in which children have difficulty in social interaction. If detected early, children can undergo remedial classes to help them overcome several of their sensory issues.
Parents like Parul Kumtha, the honorary secretary of the Forum For Autism, point out that schools were not ready to accept dyslexic children until a decade back. "Students with learning disability were considered disruptive for the classroom, but not any longer. The same can be done for children with autism," she said. But Kumtha said institutes should not accept the inclusion policy just for its sake. "If institutes are not properly equipped, it won't help the special children," she added.
Dr Dalwai said many schools practised "benevolent fascism". "They make it a point to say they have 12 'normal' children and four 'special' children. Who gets to decide that a child is not normal?" he said. The solution, he said, is to have a flexible curriculum. "We can't have a rigid curriculum if we want to help special children. IB schools do it already."
Source : TOI , 25th October 2013
"Parents of autistic children need not worry any more. Schools won't be able to throw out children with special needs before allowing them to use the option of shadow teachers," said Chitra Iyer, parent of an autistic child and a member of the Forum For Autism. She said Indian schools should take a leaf out of the American system.
We need to think about including differently-abled children right from the planning stage," she added.
The idea of inclusive education, while not new, has still not been widely practised in Indian schools.
The United Nations had in 2007 underlined the importance of integrating differently-abled children along with those who have no special needs. While 'special' children get a better environment, even 'normal' children learn to accept and respect others.
"Twenty years back there were few ICSE schools. Until five years back, there were few IB schools. But now Maharashtra alone has 135 IB schools. How did schools get suitable teachers? They worked on building the capacity of teachers," said Dr Samir Dalwai, member of the MSCPCR team that prepared a report on the eight-year-old. "All schools need to upgrade capacity to help special children," he said.
Autism is a neuro-developmental problem in which children have difficulty in social interaction. If detected early, children can undergo remedial classes to help them overcome several of their sensory issues.
Parents like Parul Kumtha, the honorary secretary of the Forum For Autism, point out that schools were not ready to accept dyslexic children until a decade back. "Students with learning disability were considered disruptive for the classroom, but not any longer. The same can be done for children with autism," she said. But Kumtha said institutes should not accept the inclusion policy just for its sake. "If institutes are not properly equipped, it won't help the special children," she added.
Dr Dalwai said many schools practised "benevolent fascism". "They make it a point to say they have 12 'normal' children and four 'special' children. Who gets to decide that a child is not normal?" he said. The solution, he said, is to have a flexible curriculum. "We can't have a rigid curriculum if we want to help special children. IB schools do it already."
Source : TOI , 25th October 2013
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