Educational demands of individuals and diverse communities
Unit III Educational demands of individuals and diverse communities
Universalaization of primary education - Programmes to achieve
universalisation of education: SSA, RMSA, RUSA, integrated education and
inclusive education - Challenges in achieving universalisation of education -
Education for collective living and peaceful living: Four pillars of education
as viewed by Delor’s Commission Report.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Universalisation of primary education
At the time of Independence, India
inherited a system of education which was not only quantitatively small but
also characterized by structural imbalances. As education is vitally linked
with the totality of the development process, the reform and restructuring of
the educational system was recognized as an important area of state
intervention.
Primary education deserves the highest priority for
arising the competence of the average worker and for increasing National
productivity. The provision for Universal Elementary Education represents an
indispensable first step towards the provisions of equality of opportunity to
all citizens.
Article
45 of the Indian Constitution directed that "The state shall endeavor to
provide within a period of ten years from - the commencement of this
constitution for free and compulsory education for all children until they
complete the age of fourteen years."
Universalization of education
implies five things namely, universalization of provision, universalization of
enrolment, universalization of retention universalization of participation and universalization
of achievement.
Since
independence many steps have been taken and different commissions and
committees have given suggestions to achieve universalization of Primary
Education. But it is still far from the hope and the national target.
Background:
Compulsory provision of Universal Primary Education is an
extremely modern concept. No solid efforts were made till the beginning of the
20th century. The earliest attempt during British Rule for enforcing compulsory
primary education was undertaken by William Adam in 1838.
In
1852, Captain Wingate, the Revenue Survey Commissioner in Bombay proposed to
impart compulsory education to the children of agriculturists after realizing a
less of 5 percent for it. Later on a similar proposal was also followed in Gujarat.
Compulsory Education Act in
1870 in England
A strong consciousness for the need of compulsory Primary
Education in India was effected by enactment of the Compulsory Education Act in
1870 in England. A number of Indian leaders began to stress the need for
primary education. In 1906 a Committee was appointed in Bombay Province and it
arrived at a conclusion that Compulsory Education was not proper and people
were not prepared for it.
The
great son of India Gopal Krishni Gokhale was the ablest advocate of compulsory
primary education. He moved a Resolution in 1910 in the Central Legislature and
again introduced a non- official Bill in 1919. The Bill had wide and popular support,
but it was defeated.
Bomaby Primary Education Act
Vithal
Bhai Patel being inspired by Gokhale’s efforts brought a bill in the Provincial
Legislature of Bombay and it became Bomaby Primary Education Act. 1918. India
Act of 1919 (Mont-Fort Reforms) introduced diarchy and Education became a
Transferred subject under control of a Minister responsible to the Legislature.
With
Provincial Autonomy in 1937 Congress Ministries were formed in six out of
eleven provinces-. These Governments expanded compulsory primary education in
their provinces. Primary Schools were established in Schoolless
village/habitations, which had no facilities to send their children to nearby
schools at an easy walking distance of one mile (now 1km.).
With
the advent of complete independence in 1947, the advocate of Universal Primary
Education had to speak to their Indian administrators and officers. The
education of the school going children of the country now became the
responsibility of the people.
Article 45 of the Constitution
of India
In 1950 the provision of Universal Primary Education was
incorporated in the Article 45 of the Constitution of India
The
provision of Universalization of Primary education was scheduled to be achieved
by 1960. But a view of the immense difficulties such as lack of adequate
resources, tremendous increases in population, resistance to the education of
girls, large number of children of the of the backward classes in very low
literacy regions, general poverty of the people, apathy of illiterate Parents etc.
it was not possible to make adequate progress and as such, the constitutional
Directive has remained unfulfilled.
An
insistent demand was made that Government should fix an early deadline for its
fulfilment and should prepare a concrete programme of action for the purpose.
Government decided to achieve the goal of universalization of all children on a
time-bound programme as recommended by the Conference of State Education
Ministers in 1977.
Working Group on
Universalization of Elementary Education
Accordingly,
a Working Group on Universalization of Elementary Education was set up by the
Ministry of Education in collaboration with the Planning Commission to prepare
a time-bound programme during the medium term plan (1978-83).
Despite
serious attempts the primary education was not universalized. So the national
government wanted to launch a massive campaign to universalize it before 1995
which has been assured in the NPE, 1986. Later on achievement of VEE through
Education for All (EFA) by 2000 AD has been fixed.
Centrally
sponsored schemes for Universalization of primary education
The parliament has passed the
constitution 86th amendment Act, 2002 to make elementary education a
Fundamental Right for children in the age group of 6-14 years. This was followed
by a framework of partnership between the centre and the state governments on a
massive scale through a number of centrally sponsored schemes such as District
Primary Education Programme, Lok Jumbish Project, Mid Day Meal Scheme SSA, RMSA,
RUSA, Education Guarantee Scheme, Alternative and Innovative Education, Shiksha
Karmi Project, Janshala Programme etc.
Problems of
elementary education
There are some problems of elementary education such as
out of school children, working children, or child labourers, parent’s
ignorance family’s poor financial conditions, attitude of parents towards
girl’s education, distance of the school from the place of residence, lack of
provision of basic infrastructure and lack of women teachers in the school is
another problem
RTE Act of 2009
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory
Education Act, 2009, in short RTE Act, is the most important development in the
Universalisation of Elementary Education in India. It guarantees
universalisation of quality education at elementary level in the country.
The law came to effect on 1
April, 2010, (except for the state of J&K), by Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan
Singh. The Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009 empowers children belonging to
the backward section of the economy to free and compulsory education. The Right
to Education Act made compulsory all government and private sector schools
across India to provide 25 percent reservation to children between the age
group of 6 and 14 belonging to the weaker section of the country access to free
and compulsory education. India became one of the 135 countries to make
education a fundamental right of every child, when the act finally came into
practice in April 2010.
The Right to Education act stretches to 18 years of
coverage for children with disabilities, and other provisions covered in the
act range from infrastructure development, teacher-student ratio and faculty
are mentioned in the act.
Implementation & Funding
The Right to Education act has clearly laid down distinct
responsibilities for the centre, state and local bodies for its implementation.
However, a lot of states have been complaining about the lack of funds being
received which is making it impossible to meet with the appropriate standard of
education in the schools needed for universal education. Hence, the centre that
is at the receiving end of the revenue will have to subsidize for the states.
A committee set up to study the fund requirement for the
implementation of the act estimated an initial capital requirement of approximately
Rs. 171000 crores or 1.71 trillion over 5 years, and in April 2010 the Indian
government agreed to share the funding of the price at a ratio of 65 to 35
between the centre and the state and a ratio of 90 to 10 for the Northeastern
states. Later the principal amount was then increased to Rs. 231000 crores and
the centre agreed to raise its share to 68%. However there is much debate on
this. Another important development in 2011 was to further stretch the act and
implement it till the preschool age range, hence the age ceiling would rise
from 14 years now to 16 years and would cover till class 10. . However this is
under talks.
Criticism
On completion of one year a report was released by the
Human Resource Development ministry, which did not reflect happy numbers. The
Right to education act has met with a lot of criticism such as being called a
draft that was hastily prepared, there was not much consultation made on the
quality of education, on excluding children under the 6 year age range. Many of
the schemes have been compared to that of the Sarva Sikhsha Abhivan and DPEP of
the 90’s which was criticized for being ineffective and corrupted. The
Right to Education Act also seems to have left out the orphans, since during
the time of admission a lot of documents are required, like that of birth
certificate, BPL certificates and the orphans deprived of such documents
are not eligible to apply.
Programmes to achieve Universalisation of Education Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA)
SSA has been operational launched
with an aim of achieving the objective of universal primary education during
2000-2001. The expenditure on the programme was shared by the Central
Government and State Governments. Sarva Shiksha Abiyan means “Education for
All”. SSA is an effort to universalise elementary education by
community-ownership of the school system.
The main mission of SSA is to
provide useful and relevant elementary education for all children in the 6 to
14 age group by 2010.
Main Features of SSA
1.
It’s
a programme with a clear time frame for universal elementary education.
2.
A
response to the demand for quality basic education all over the country.
3.
An
opportunity for promoting social justice through basic education.
4.
An
expression of political will for universal elementary education across the
country.
5.
A
partnership between the central, state and the local governments.
6.
An
opportunity for states to develop their own vision of elementary education.
7.
An
effort at effective involving the Panchayat Raj Institutions, School Management
Committees, Village and Urban Slum Level Education Committees, Parents
Teachers’ Associations, Mother -Teacher Associations, Tribal Autonomous
Councils and other grass root level structures in the management of elementary
schools.
Aims of SSA
·
To
provide useful and elementary education for all children in the 6-14 age group.
·
To
bridge social, regional and gender gaps with the active participation of
community in the management of schools.
·
To
allow children to learn about and master their natural environment in order to
develop their potential both spiritually and materially.
·
To
inculcate value-based learning, this allows children an opportunity to work for
each other’s well- being rather than to permit mere selfish pursuits.
·
To
realize the importance of Early Childhood Care and Education and looks at the
6-14 age as range.
Objectives of SSA
·
All
Children in School, Education Guarantee Centre, Alternate School,
‘Back-to-School’ Camp by 2003.
·
All
children to complete five years of primary schooling by 2007.
·
All
children to complete elementary schooling by 2010.
·
Focus
on elementary education of satisfactory quality with emphasis on education for
life.
·
Bridge
all gender and social category gaps at primary stage by 2007 and at elementary
education level by 2010.
·
Universal
retention by 2010.
Challenges in achieving Universal Elementary Education
Even though there are various
approaches of the Government in making universalization of elementary education
successful, let us also know the hurdles in making the universalization of
elementary education in India.
Policy of Government: The constitutional directive is that States shall endeavor
to provide free and compulsory education to all children until they complete
the age of 14 years. But it is a matter of regret that the prescribed goal has
not been reached as yet. The main cause for this is that the policy of
Government was based on idealism.
Basic education was accepted as
the form of national education. Being inspired with this aim, work started to
convert the existing primary schools into basic schools. India is a vast
country with a very large population. Money was too much in shortage for
implementation of so expensive a scheme of conversion of a large number of
elementary schools.
Administration of Education: In most of the States, the responsibility of universal
primary education is on the authorities of Blocks, Municipalities and
Educational Districts. The progress of expansion of primary education gets slow
because of the indifference and incapability of these institutions. It is the
responsibility of the nation to educate its citizens. It is necessary that the
Government of India should take upon itself the sacred work of universal
enrolment and universal retention at the elementary stage.
Inadequacy of Money: Money is a serious problem that confronts primary schools.
Income of the local institutions responsible for primary education is so much
limited that they are totally incapable of meeting the expenditure of
compulsory education.
Shortage of Trained Teachers: There is shortage of trained teachers to make ‘Elementary
Education Universal and Compulsory’. Nowadays, the young teachers do not wish
to work in rural areas. But the fact remains that majority of primary schools
are in rural areas. The chief reason of non-availability of suitable teachers
is the low salary of primary teachers.
School Buildings: Even the Third and Fourth All India Educational Surveys
indicate that even now there are lakhs of villages and habitations without
schools. There are nearly 4 lakhs schools less villages in India. It is not
that easy to provide necessary funds for setting up such a large number of
schools with buildings and other equipments.
Unsuitable Curriculum: The curriculum for primary schools is narrow and
unsuitable to the local needs. The curriculum should be interesting for the
children for its continuance. Learning by work should replace the emphasis on
monotonous bookish knowledge. Education of craft should be given in the primary
schools in accordance with the local needs and requirements. But the schemes of
craft education in the primary schools should not of highly expensive ones.
Wastage and Stagnation: It is another major problem and great obstacle for
Universalization of Elementary Education, due to the lack of educational
atmosphere, undesirable environment, lack of devoted teachers, poor economic
condition of parents, and absence of proper equipments. In order to check such
massive wastage and stagnation at the primary stage, existing educational
system and curriculum should be reformed, teaching method should be
interesting, school buildings should be adequate and neat and clean, and the
parents should be educated. These members may help to solve the problem of
wastage and stagnation at elementary level.
Social Evils: Social evils like superstition, illiteracy faith in
ancient conventions and customs, child marriages, untouchability, purdah
system, etc create obstacle in the expansion of compulsory primary education.
Because of illiteracy and
ignorance these social evils grow. The educated young men and women should
volunteer themselves to remove these evils of society in their neighborhood.
Rashtriya Madhayamik Shiksha
Abiyan (RMSA)
The Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha
Abhiyan (RMSA) is a flagship scheme of Government of India, launched in 2009 to
enhance access to secondary education and improve its quality.
The Ministry for Human Resource
Development (MHRD) has brought out a “Framework of Implementation of Rashtriya
Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyaan”. The framework provides a detailed road map for the
implementation of access and equity related components of Universalisation of
Secondary Education (USE) and also deliberates upon quality components
providing norms largely for infrastructure requirements.
It is a shared scheme of the
Centre and State Governments to achieve Universalization of Secondary Education
(USE). Free and Compulsory Elementary Education has become a Constitutional
Right of Children in India.
The vision of RMSA is to make
secondary education of good quality accessible and affordable to all school age
children in the age group of 14-18 years. This vision statement points out
towards three “A”, i.e. Availability, Accessibility and Affordability of
Secondary Education.
RMSA get support from a wide range
of stakeholders including multilateral organisations, NGOs, advisors and
consultants, research agencies and institutions. The scheme involves
multidimensional research, technical consulting, implementation, and funding
support.
A society was set up in Tamil Nadu
for operating the RMSA programme. The society primarily focuses on upgradation
of middle schools to high schools to provide universal access and quality
secondary education by providing infrastructure facilities, appointment of
teachers.
Objectives of RMSA
1.
The
scheme envisages achieving a gross enrolment ratio of 75% from 52.26% in
2005-06 for classes IX-X within 5 years of its implementation.
2.
To
improve the quality of education imparted at secondary level by making all
secondary schools conform to prescribed norms.
3.
To
increase the enrolment rate to 90% at secondary and 75% at higher secondary
stage.
4.
To
remove gender, socio-economic and disability barriers.
5.
To
provide universal access to secondary level education by 2017, i.e. by the end
of the 12th Five Year Plan.
6.
To
enhance and universalize retention by 2020.
7.
To
provide a secondary school within a reachable distance of any habitation, which
should be 5 km for secondary schools and 7-10 km for higher secondary schools.
8.
To
provide access to secondary education with special reference to economically
weaker sections of the society, educationally backward, girls, differently
abled and other marginalized categories like SC, ST, OBC and Minorities.
9.
To
upgrade Middle Schools into High Schools.
10. To strengthen existing secondary
schools with necessary infrastructure facilities.
Challenges in achieving Secondary
Education
Though enrolment of girls is
perceived to be complete and more so in urban areas, stakeholders covered
acknowledged that enrolment is lower in remote, rural areas and in conservative
households as well as among tribals.
The reasons for non- enrolment
are:
- Lack of
awareness among parents about the importance and benefits of girls’
education.
- Lack of
motivation and support from parents due to their illiterate status and
poverty.
- An
emerging issue in girls’ discrimination is the issue of eve-teasing
outside the school.
- Student
absenteeism is expressed as an issue in the schools.
- Lack of
money for bus fare in such cases, the tribal school has assisted in paying
the fare.
6.
The
constraints faced by teachers due to such absenteeism include completing the
syllabus on time and making the absentees learn the missed portions.
- Poor economic status of parents compels the children to take up
employment and contribute to family income rather than continue education.
- Lack of motivation from teachers to children in continuing their
education.
- Lack of parental involvement in the child’s
progress in terms of understanding their activities at school, follow up
on home works assigned, providing guidance and support.
Rashtriya Uchatar Shiksha Abhiyaan
(RUSA)
The project was launched on 8th
June 2013, it was implemented by MHRD as a centrally sponsored scheme with
matching contribution from the State Government and Union Territories. It is
proposed to set eligibility criteria for States to achieve a high and sustained
impact of the project through monitoring and evaluation. The primary
responsibility of the monitoring will lie with the institution themselves. The
State Government and the Center through “The Project Appraisal Board” will
monitor the project annually.
The main component of the
programme is to set up new universities and upgrade existing autonomous
colleges to universities. The other attempt will be to convert colleges to
cluster universities and set up new model colleges. In order to enhance skill
development, the existing central scheme of Polytechnics has been subsumed
within RUSA. A separate component to synergise vocational education with higher
education has also been included in RUSA. Besides these, RUSA also supports
reforming, restructuring and building capacity of institutions in participating
State.
Objectives of RUSA
1.
To
achieve the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) target of 25.2% by the end of 12th Plan
and 32% by the end of 13th Plan.
2.
To
improve the overall quality of State institutions by ensuring conformity to
prescribed norms and standards and
adopt accreditation as a mandatory quality assurance framework.
3.
To
ensure transformative reforms in the state higher education system by creating
a facilitating institutional structure for planning and monitoring at the state
level, promoting autonomy in State Universities and improving governance in
institutions.
4.
To
ensure reforms in the affiliation, academic and examination systems.
5.
To
ensure adequate availability of quality faculty in all higher educational
institutions and ensure capacity building at all levels of employment.
6.
To
create an enabling atmosphere in the higher educational institutions to devote
themselves to research and innovations.
7.
To
expand the institutional base by creating additional capacity in existing
institutions and establishing new institutions, in order to achieve enrolment
targets.
8.
To
correct regional imbalances in access to higher education by setting up
institutions in un‐served
and underserved areas creating opportunities for students from rural areas to
get better access to better quality institutions.
9.
To
improve equity in higher education by providing adequate opportunities of
higher education to SC/ST, socially and educationally backward classes; promote
inclusion of women, minorities, and differently abled persons.
10. To promote autonomy in State
universities and include governance in the institutions.
11. To identify and fill up the
critical infrastructure gaps in higher education by augmenting and supporting
the efforts of the State Governments.
Salient Features of RUSA
1.
It
would create new universities through upgradation of existing autonomous
colleges and conversion of colleges in a cluster.
2.
It
would create new model degree colleges, new professional colleges and provide
infrastructural support to universities and colleges.
3.
Faculty
recruitment support, faculty improvement programmes and leadership development
of educational administrators are also an important part of the scheme.
4.
A
separate component to synergize vocational education with higher education has
also been included in RUSA.
5.
It
also supports reforming, restructuring and building capacity of institutions in
participating States.
6.
It
integrates the skill development efforts of the government through optimum
interventions.
7.
It
promotes healthy competition amongst States and institutions to address various
concerns regarding quality, research and innovation.
8.
It
ensures governance, academic and examination reforms and establishes backward
and forward linkages between school education, higher education and the job
market.
Funding system of RUSA
1.
The
central funding would be norm based and outcome dependent.
2.
Funds
would flow from the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) to
universities and colleges, through the State Governments.
3.
Funding
to the States would be made on the basis of critical appraisal of State Higher
Education Plans (SHEP).
4.
SHEP
should address each State’s strategy to address issues of equity, access and
excellence.
5.
Each
institution will have to prepare an Institutional Development Plan (IDP) for
all the components listed under the Scheme.
6.
State
Higher Education Councils (SHEC) will have to undertake planning and evaluation,
in addition to other monitoring and capacity building functions.
7.
SHEC
will also be responsible for advising the states in ensuring a balanced
development of the sector and prevent distortions in terms of overcrowding and
over commercialization.
Challenges in achieving RUSA
Gender disparity: The National Sample Survey Organisation’s most recent
estimate show a Gross Enrollment Ratio of 15.8 percent for women against 22.8
percent for men. Except for education and medicine, enrollment of boys is
higher than girls in all other faculties.
Inadequate infrastructure: With rapid expansion, most of
the institutions are not coping up with the required infrastructure. This
deficiency has ultimately resulted in paper degree education with very low
level of employability of graduates which are being produced.
Low industrial training: There is a need to support
necessary infrastructure within institutions as well as to promote institution
industry interface by involving industry in curriculum development, developing
database of available facilities across institutions.
Faculty crunch: The growth in teaching faculty
has not been kept in pace with the growth of teaching institutions and
enrollment, thus causing great imbalance between teacher student ratio.
Decline in research: Out of total enrollment, there
is less than one percent enrollment in research, against 86 percent in
graduate, 12 percent postgraduate and one percent in diploma and certificate
courses. India’s global share of scientific publications of 3.5 percent is very
low as compared to China’s share of more than 21 percent as estimated by Thomas
and Reuters.
Large affiliations: Affiliated colleges with 89
percent enrollment of total students are main stay in the system of higher
education as they contain bulk of enrollment. Almost all the newly established
colleges are affiliated to State Universities, increasing their burden of
affiliation system. Over affiliation dilutes the focus on academic quality and
research.
Integrated education
Integrated approach was first started in America in 1930. This
approach was introduced in India in 1960 by Batlibai. But this approach was not
successful in India until 1986 when the new education policy was introduced.
NCERT and DSERT took up this approach more seriously. DIETs took up an
in-service programme to train the teachers in primary schools.
An approach to integration that takes the individual needs of
the special child into full consideration may result in:
·
Physical integration i.e., planning for the location of the special programmes in
schools buildings with regular education programmes.
·
Social integration –
it means planning for regular personal interactions between students who have
handicaps and those who do not.
·
Academic integration: i.e., planning to ensure students with and without handicaps
simultaneously using school resources.
·
Societal
integration i.e., planning designed to enable students with moderate and sever
handicaps to work, live and spend leisure with their fellow non-handicapped
citizens.
Integration Means
·
Providing
special services within the regular school.
·
Supporting
regular teachers and administrators.
·
Having
students with disabilities follow the same schedule as non-disabled students.
·
Involving
disabled students in as many academic classes and extra-curricular activities
as possible including music, art, fieldtrips, assemblies and exercise.
·
Arranging
for disabled students to use library, playground and other facilities at the
same time as non-disabled students.
·
Encouraging,
helping and building relationships between disabled and non-disabled students.
·
Arranging
for disabled students to receive their education in regular community
environments when appropriate.
·
Teaching
all children to understand and accept human differences,
·
Providing
appropriate individualized programmes.
Types of Integration Approach
These are 3 types of Integration Approach
1.
Resources
Approach
2.
Itinerate
Approach
3.
Cluster
Approach
·
Resources Approach: Children
with impairment are grouped together and education is given before or after
classroom in consultation with general teacher. These children are taken to the
resource room for education depending upon their deficiencies and requirements.
·
Itinerate Approach: Children
from various classes are put together in this system and education is given to
them, by visiting Special Educators. The class resource teacher is also
consulted during Special Education classes. The visiting teacher moves from one
school to another and should spend at least 150 minutes in the school, she
visits.
·
Cluster Approach: In this
approach 42 days in-service training is given to regular teachers to teach
children with impairment of all types.
Merits of Integration
·
Children
are not taught in special schools; hence they have an opportunity to live with
parents.
·
Children
have the chance to compete with normal children also.
·
They can
show their talent, through performance.
·
Also
children are provided opportunity to mix with other members of society and make
adjustments in society.
·
The feeling
of exceptionality can be removed.
Limitations/Demerits of Integration
·
It is
difficult to teach different types of impaired children in regular classes.
·
Regular
teachers can teach only by normal methods for normal children but the
exceptional child does not benefit from this.
·
Teacher
will look at children with pity and just promote him.
·
Teacher may
show negligent attitude towards that child.
·
There is
problem of labelling.
·
The
exceptional children may not get facilities at a proper time.
Inclusive Education
Inclusive Education means welcoming all children, without
discrimination, into regular or ordinary schools. It refers to the process of
educating all children in their neighbourhood school, regardless of the nature
of their disabilities. Students participating in an inclusion program follow
the same schedule as their classmates and participate in age appropriate
academic classes. They don’t receive Special Education Services in separated or
isolated places.
Social inclusion provides a myriad of opportunities for students
with and without disabilities to interact in a mainstream environment. Students
with disabilities use the school library, playground and participate alongside
with their non-disabled peers in extra-curricular activities such as art,
music, gym, fieldtrips etc. Inclusion teaches all children to understand and
accept human differences and provides all students enhanced opportunities to
learn each other’s contribution; friendship between students with and without
disabilities becomes a possibility in a school that accepts inclusion students.
Inclusion provides the appropriate support for everyone involved
in the inclusion process. Teachers are provided with time, training, teamwork,
resources, and strategies. No unreasonable demands are placed upon the
teachers.
Problems encountered in
inclusive education
Indeed, practical problems could be encountered while including
children with diverse educational needs. But often, the practical difficulties
have more to do with bringing attitudinal change and the organization of learning
environments and school activities, with the reallocation of money and
resources than with the needs of children.
Many determinant factors affect and regulate the development of
inclusion. Limited understandings of the concept of disability, negative attitude
towards persons with disabilities and a hardened resistance to change are the
major barriers impeding Inclusive Education.
Regular classroom teachers don’t perceive themselves as having
the appropriate training and skills to meet the instructional needs of students
with disabilities. Unfortunately, evaluation studies indicate that teachers
don’t always have the support they need to make inclusion successful.
In some schools, regular teachers are asked to teach special
needs students without receiving any formal training as well as administrative
assistance. Without support, teachers who do not have sufficient background
knowledge in Special Education are at a loss. Inclusive Education demands the
class teacher to be innovative, flexible, creative, ready to learn from the
learners and capable of imitating active learning. Generally, the challenge towards inclusive
education could emanate from different directions such as attitudinal factors,
rigid school system, and resistance to change, lack of clear educational
guideline, and fear of losing one’s job on the part of special school/
teachers.
Advantages of Inclusion
·
Reduce fear
and to build friendship, understanding, and respect. It reduces or eliminates
the stigma associated with disabilities as familiarity and tolerance increase.
·
The child
without disabilities learns to value the contributions of all children, despite
and disabling conditions.
·
It helps
the mainstream child to be tolerant of his weaknesses and appreciate his own
strengths.
·
Involvement
with children with special needs can build positive character traits, such as
patience empathy, and acceptance.
·
Full
inclusion prepares all children for the roles they will play in mainstream
society after finishing their schooling.
Components of Successful
Inclusion
1.
Establishing
a philosophy that supports appropriate inclusionary practices
2.
Planning
effectively for inclusion
3.
Involving the
top administrator as a change agent
4.
Involving parents
5.
Gaining
outside support
6.
Developing
the disability awareness among staff and students
7.
Initiating extra-curricular
activities and out of school inclusive programme
8.
Providing structure
and support for collaboration
9.
Making adaptations
Education
for collective living and peaceful living: Four pillars of education as viewed
by Delor’s Commission Report.
Life would be detrimental and disastrous without quality
education. Hence it is the prime duty of mankind to try to make education
available in every part of the world.
Education for collective and peaceful
living
Education is one of the most powerful tools we
can implement in our global efforts to promote peace. Following are the ways that
education promotes collective and peaceful living.
1 Education Boosts
Confidence & Hope: Confucius said it as far back as 500 B.C.: “Education breeds
confidence. Confidence breeds hope. Hope breeds peace.”
2 Education Promotes Independent Thinking: Education encourages
independent thinking, and it opens doors to new ideas. Independent thinkers
tend to try to make sense of the world and draw their own conclusions instead
of blindly following the beliefs of others.
3
Education Inspires Problem Solving Skills: Independent thinking and critical thinking
skills lead to innovative solutions and alternatives to violence.
4 Education Builds
Communication Skills: A communication skill is the key to solving conflict. Through
quality education, students may be armed with the tools to work within their
communities to solve problems, or to do so on a global scale.
5 Education Opens
Doors: There’s
no doubt that education for peace leads to career enhancement, employment
opportunities, and chances of higher earnings. And with these careers in place,
many come back to work within their communities and support their families,
often promoting peace.
6 Education Reduces
Poverty: Imagine
always being uncomfortable, malnourished, and fearful, not knowing where your
next meal will come from if it comes at all. This fear can often lead to anger,
and anger to violence. Education, especially when it’s combined with technical
training has been proven to reduce poverty. This is one driving force behind
education for peace.
7 Education Increases
Political Involvement: Educated participate in political discussions, town meetings,
and decision making, therefore leading to a government that represents its
citizens more equally. Because educated are less likely to support terrorism
they can promote alternatives through politics.
8 Education Reduces Support of Terrorism &
Militancy: Educated not supporting Terrorism,
and they also direct their kids, other family members, and other members of her
community.
9
Education Builds Empathy & Tolerance: The Human Rights conventions declare:
“Education must prepare a child for responsible life and effective
participation in a free society in a spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance,
equality of sexes and friendships among all peoples, ethnic, national and
religious groups and persons of indigenous origin.” Therefore with quality
education, a child can learn the quality of empathy and understanding towards
those who are different from them. And they may be more accepting of others and
less likely to solve problems with violence.
10 Education
Cultivates Respect: In the classroom, students learn to respect their teachers and
their peers. They are taught to let others speak and express opinions, not to
interrupt, how to deal with stress, and how to conduct themselves within a
group setting. Perhaps this learned respect for other humans can be practiced
on a global scale, where there’s a respect for each and every life, not just
those who share the same religious beliefs and backgrounds.
Hence, education is mean to conquer new things towards the
betterment of mankind. An educated individual can create a big difference
between wrong and right or evil and good. Education is a big social
responsibility of every nation.
Four pillars of
education in Delor’s Commission Report
The Delor’s Report was a report created by the Delor’s Commission in 1996. It proposed
an integrated vision of education based on
two key concepts, ‘learning throughout life’ and the four pillars of learning,
to know, to do, to be and to live together. It was not in itself a blueprint
for educational reform, but rather a basis for reflection and debate about what
choices should be made in formulating policies. The report argued that choices about
education were determined by choices about what kind of society we wished to
live in. Beyond education’s immediate functionality, it considered the
formation of the whole person to be an essential part of education’s purpose.
The members of this commission comprised of 14 members from
different countries like China, France, Japan, Poland etc including Dr. Karan
Singh from India. The report of this commission was published in 1996 by the
name of ‘learning: The Treasure Within’
Tensions to be overcome
The commission identifies
a few tensions that it regards will be central to the problems of the 21st
century. The Delor’s Report identified a number of tensions generated by technological, economic and social change.
They are
- Tension between the global and the local,
i.e., local people need to become world citizens without losing their
roots
- while culture is steadily being
globalised, this development being partial is creating tension between the
universal and the individual
- The third tension is pretty familiar
to Indians the tension between tradition and modernity. Whereas for some
the process of change is slow, for others it is not so, thereby creating
problems of adaptation
- the need to balance between impatient
cries for quick answers to peoples' problems and a patient, concerted,
negotiated strategy of reform results in the problem/tension between
long-term and short-term considerations
- Tension arising out of human desire
to compete and excel and the concern for equality of opportunity
- The tension between the extraordinary
expansion of knowledge and the capacity of human beings to assimilate it
- Lastly, another perennial factor the
tension between the spiritual and the material.
These seven tensions remain useful perspectives from which to
view the current dynamics of social transformation.
Major pointers and
recommendations.
- Education is declared to be "the
principal means available to foster a deeper and more harmonious form of
human development and thereby to reduce poverty, exclusion, ignorance,
oppression and war
- Delor’s regards "education as an
ongoing process of improving knowledge and skills, it is also perhaps
primarily an exceptional means of bringing about personal development and
building relationships among individuals, groups and nations."
- The commission defines education,
once again, as “a social experience through which children learn about
themselves, develop interpersonal skills and acquire basic knowledge and
skills’’.
- Delor’s repeats the concept of
broadening international cooperation in the global village
- Education for conscious and active
citizenship must begin at school. Democratic participation should be
encouraged by instructions and practices adapted to a media and
information society
- It’s the role of education to provide
children and adults with the cultural background that will enable them to
understand the changes taking place.
- Commission stress the need of
improvement, general availability and strengthening of Basic Education-A
requirement which is valid for all countries.
The Four Pillars of
Education
One of the most influential concepts of the 1996 Delor’s Report
was that of the four pillars of learning.
- Learning
to know
- Learning
to do
- Learning
to be
- Learning
to live together
Learning to know:
In the opinion of Delor’s commission, to understand the rapid
changes occurring due to scientific progress and social processes, and
cultivate skill to work accordingly, the following will be necessitated in the
twenty-first century-
- Basic education should be expanded
- Specific education should follow
basic education.
Ø Commission suggest that learning to know can be achieved by
combining a sufficiently broad general knowledge with the opportunity to work
in depth on a small number of subjects.
Ø In the view of the commission, the children should be trained in
learning methods, especially in focusing concentration, memorizing and
thinking, and this task should be started right from infancy. In the view of
the commission, these are the methods of learning which can help learn
lifelong.
Learning to do
Ø The provision for work experience and social service will have
to be compulsorily made along with formal education
Ø Peoples should be given opportunities to learn life-long. For
life-long learning, the societies have to be transformed into ‘learning
societies’. By ‘learning societies’ the commission means such societies in
which are given different opportunities for obtaining knowledge and skill in
social, cultural and economic field, also with imparting of formal education.
Ø Taking part in real-time activities in these fields will help
develop common sense, decision-making power and leadership skill. And the most
important thing is that they will inculcate far-sight and insight
Learning to be
Ø The aptitude and latent talents of children and peoples can be
brought out.
Ø Children’s personality can be fully developed.
Ø Physical abilities and mental abilities (memory, reasoning, and
imagination) can be developed in children
Ø Social skills and aesthetic sense and communication skills of
children can be cultivated together with leadership ability. In the opinion of
the commission, only such people will be able to guard themselves in the
twenty-first century
Learning to live
together
Ø In the commission’s view, the first thing for this is to
cultivate the ability to understand one another. Unless all people are able to
understand others, they will not like to live together. Our modern needs have
so expanded today that we are no more self-dependent even in our family, social
and national matters, and leave alone international level.
Ø Education should train children to understand others
Ø Children should be trained to cooperate with one another for the
attainment of goals right from the beginning.
Ø The commission has explained that when people come nearer, some
conflicts can arise among them. Therefore, education will have to train them in
subsidizing conflicts, and they will have to be trained in eradicating
conflicts on the bases of human values.
Ø The commission has clarified that now all nations of the world
will have to resolve their mutual differences, will have to sow the seeds of
peace instead of that of war, and will have to solve one another’s problems in
mutual cooperation. Therefore, it is essential that children be trained to live
together right from the beginning and be taught a lesson of peace and harmony
in place of conflict and struggle
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