Inclusive Education of
Children with Disabilities:
Comparison of Services
and Needs
Dr. Kanagala Uma
Sr. A. Lourdu Mary
4/13/2015
Dr.Uma & Sr. Lourdu
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Introduction
Universal access to education is possible
only through Inclusive Education.
True inclusion is possible only when all
children regardless of their physical,
intellectual, social, emotional or other
conditions benefit from it.
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Objective
To identify the gaps between service
delivery and needs of children with
disabilities in inclusive education in
Tamil Nadu.
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METHODOLOGY
Design : Qualitative research design
Area : 12 districts of Tamil Nadu
Tool : Schedule by Researches
Data collection:
1. Primary: observation, in depth
interviews and focus group discussion
2. Secondary: School records
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Sample
1. Census count:
a. Heads of schools
b. Resource teachers
c. Children with Disabilities
70
70
417
2. Random sampling:
a. Regular teachers
b. Non disabled peers
80
110
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Details of Children with Disabilities
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Visual Impairment
Hearing Impairment
Mental Retardation
Locomotor Disabilities
Mild Cerebral Palsy and
Mild Mental Retardation
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- 57%
- 27%
- 2%
- 9%
- 5%
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MAJOR FINDINGS
AND DISCUSSION
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Services Provided
1. Special initiatives to improve academic
performance
2. Support services for academic and extra
curricular activities
3. Contribution of non disabled peers in social,
academic and extra curricular activities
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4. Identification and encouragement of
talents and skills
5. Performance in cultural program and sports
events
6. Regular parent teacher meetings
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Needs Fulfilled
1. Intrinsic Needs
 Content in interaction with non disabled
peers, regular and resource teachers
2. Achievement Needs
 Children with visual impairment had on par
or above academic performance (11%)
 High achievers at district level in extra
curricular activities (3%)
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Needs Unmet and
Recommendations
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1. Intrinsic Needs
 Problems of adjustment in shifting from
special to regular school
 Counseling and efforts by resource and
regular teachers
 Behavior problems and teaching of CWMR in
classroom
 A special class in the regular school with a
resource teacher
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 Language barrier - difficulty of CWHI in
following instruction
 Preferential seating in the first row
 Training of regular teachers
 Training of resource teachers in sign language
 Additional support by the resource teachers
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2. Pedagogical Needs
 Inappropriate content for CWMR and CWHI
 Adapted curriculum with emphasis on life skills
for CWMR
 Adapted curriculum without diluting the quality
of input for CWHI
 Restricted choice of subjects for CWVI –
accountancy and economics
 Choice of subjects in geography and statistics
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 Inappropriate teaching methods
 Use of teaching methods that make learning
accessible
 Use of activity based teaching methods
 Use of experiential methods of teaching
 Augmentation of verbal communication with
visual cues
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3. Evaluation Needs
 Lowering of overall percentage of results and
ranking of the school
 Separate calculation of percentage of results
for the two groups
 Difficulty of CWHI and CWMR in
understanding the questions in the regular
time limit.
 Allotment of extra time for CWHI and
CWMR while writing their exams
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 Separate question papers for CWD creating
a feeling of segregation
 Indicate specific questions in the regular
question papers
Assessment must be for
• Same skills
• Knowledge and concepts
• Same level of difficulty
• Same balance of content
• Same demands in terms of time and effort
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4. Resource Needs
 Lack of Braille text books
 Provision of complete set of Braille text
books at the beginning of the academic year
 Lack of assistive devices
 Provision of assistive devices as per the need
of the CWD
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 Dilapidated or no resource room
 Make provision of resource room mandatory
 Lack of necessary equipment
 Provision of necessary equipment as per need
 Lack of transportation
 Transportation to be arranged by the schools
with funding from the government
 Modification in transport for accessibility
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5. Systemic Needs
 No orientation for regular teachers
 Orientation and training in own districts
 Provision of necessary information by
resource teacher prior to the child’s
admission
 Single category training of resource
teachers
 Multi category training for resource teachers
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Conclusion
Addressing the unmet needs of Children with
Disabilities through coordinated efforts of
regular schools, NGOs and government
departments can ensure successful inclusion.
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