Prep. By: Huzaifa Khan
UNIT III: TOWARDS INCLUSION
INTEGRATED EDUCATION OF THE DISABLED CHILDREN (IEDC, 1974)
Inclusion, as way of integrating children with special needs into regular
schools, gained prominence in India since 1970. The Centrally sponsored scheme
of Integrated Education for Disabled Children (IEDC) was launched in 1974 by the
then Department of Social Welfare and was later transferred to the Department of
Education in 1982-83. The Scheme was last revised in 1992. The Scheme provides
educational opportunities for children with disabilities in common schools to
facilitate their integration and ultimate retention in the general school system. The
scheme is being implemented through the Education Departments of State
Governments and Union Territories as well as through Non-Governmental
Organizations. Under the Scheme of IEDC, 100 percent assistance is being provided
under various components for education of children suffering from mild to
moderate disabilities in common schools. The components include:
identification of the children with disabilities.
preparing and providing teaching and learning materials.
establishing an administrative cell.
assessment of children with disability.
facilities regarding children with special needs.
appointment of special teachers
facilitating a resource room.
provision of instructional material.
removal of architectural barriers, and
relaxation of rules to promote access to children with disabilities. The
scheme
IEDC aims at retention in common schools rather than special schools to
develop communication and daily living skills at the functional level [Puri at. al:
2004;19]. The primary task was to provide suitable orientation to all the school
teachers while conducting a survey to identify children with disabilities in general
schools. The responsibility to make arrangements for equipment, learning
materials, staff, etc. in order to provide education to children with disabilities was
given to state-level cell. The Coordinator of the cell was also responsible for
1
, Prep. By: Huzaifa Khan
arranging the assessment of the children and monitoring their ongoing progress.
The assessment report had to be comprehensive enough for educational
programming, i.e. an adequate report on what a particular child can or cannot do
during testing situations. The report had to specifically indicate whether the child
can be put directly into school or should receive preparation in special
school/special preparatory class in the Early Childhood Education Centre specially
equipped for this purpose.
The appointment of special teacher was done at two levels, i.e. primary and
secondary. The Primary teachers should have had at least one year course,
preferably multi-category, in special education or with specialization in teaching
any type of disabled children depending upon the category of children enrolled in
the Integrated Education for Disabled Children (IEDC) Units. Such teachers were
oriented subsequently in the education of other categories of disability. The
secondary teachers could have Graduation with Bachelor of Education (B. Ed
Special Education) or any other equivalent professional training in special
education. In the case of non availability of qualified special teachers, a short
training course was conducted to teachers and appointed with a condition that
they will complete the full course within three years of appointment. Since, teacher
with experience in Non-Formal Education (NFE) and Adult Education (AE) are
likely to have a better understanding of local environment and need, they were
also identified for training under the scheme and appointed as special teachers.
This training was also extended to staff in the departments because; the successful
implementation of the Inclusive Education of the Disabled (IED) depended upon
the responsiveness of the administrators and general teachers in the school. A
short orientation course for administrators, heads of the institutions and general
teachers associated with the implementation of the scheme were organized with
the help of NCERT.
The IEDC scheme was implemented in more than 20,000 schools in India covering
1,20,000 children with disabilities. It aimed to provide educational opportunities
for children with mild and moderate disabilities in general schools. According to
Indian Education Report 2002 (Rao, at al: 2005, p.38), the integrated education in
the case of children with locomotor disability or visual disability is more popular
than that of other categories of persons with disabilities (Rao, at al: 2005). If fully
implemented, this scheme had capability to change the educational status of more
2
, Prep. By: Huzaifa Khan
than 30 million children with disabilities who did not have access to any form of
education when the scheme was being implemented.
REHABILITATION COUNCIL ACT OF INDIA ACT 1992
The Council under the Act has prescribed the minimum standards of
education required for granting recognized rehabilitation qualification by
universities or institutions in India [www.disabilityindianetwork.org].
Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) is the only institution which takes care of
manpower development of different categories of professionals for comprehensive
rehabilitation of persons with disability to meet the needs of their entire life cycle,
i.e., physical and medical rehabilitation; educational rehabilitation, vocational
rehabilitation and social rehabilitation. Its objectives are to regulate the training
policies and programs in the field of rehabilitation of persons with disabilities, to
bring about standardization of education and training in the field of rehabilitation
professionals /personnel dealing with persons with disabilities, to prescribe
minimum standards of education and training in the field of rehabilitation
uniformly throughout the country and to regulate these standards in all training
institutes. The other objectivities were to recognize foreign degrees /diplomas
/certificates in the field of rehabilitation awarded by Universities /Institution on
reciprocal basis, to maintain Central Rehabilitation Register of professional
/personnel processing recognized rehabilitation qualification, to collect
information on regular basis, on education and training in the field of
rehabilitation of persons with disabilities from institutions in India and abroad, to
encourage continuing rehabilitation education by way of collaboration with
organizations working in the field of rehabilitation of persons with disabilities, and
to promote research in rehabilitation and special education
(www.rehabcouncil.nic.in).
The council intended to create professionals like Audiologists and Speech
Therapists, Clinical Psychologists, Hearing Aid and Ear Mould Technicians,
Rehabilitation Engineers and Technicians, Special Teachers for education and
training the handicapped, Vocational Counselors, Employment Officers and
Placement Officers dealing with the Handicapped, Multipurpose Rehabilitation
Therapists and Technicians, Speech Pathologists, Rehabilitation Psychologists,
Rehabilitation Social Workers, Rehabilitation Practitioners in Mental Retardation,
Orientation and Mobility Specialists, Community Based Rehabilitation
3
UNIT III: TOWARDS INCLUSION
INTEGRATED EDUCATION OF THE DISABLED CHILDREN (IEDC, 1974)
Inclusion, as way of integrating children with special needs into regular
schools, gained prominence in India since 1970. The Centrally sponsored scheme
of Integrated Education for Disabled Children (IEDC) was launched in 1974 by the
then Department of Social Welfare and was later transferred to the Department of
Education in 1982-83. The Scheme was last revised in 1992. The Scheme provides
educational opportunities for children with disabilities in common schools to
facilitate their integration and ultimate retention in the general school system. The
scheme is being implemented through the Education Departments of State
Governments and Union Territories as well as through Non-Governmental
Organizations. Under the Scheme of IEDC, 100 percent assistance is being provided
under various components for education of children suffering from mild to
moderate disabilities in common schools. The components include:
identification of the children with disabilities.
preparing and providing teaching and learning materials.
establishing an administrative cell.
assessment of children with disability.
facilities regarding children with special needs.
appointment of special teachers
facilitating a resource room.
provision of instructional material.
removal of architectural barriers, and
relaxation of rules to promote access to children with disabilities. The
scheme
IEDC aims at retention in common schools rather than special schools to
develop communication and daily living skills at the functional level [Puri at. al:
2004;19]. The primary task was to provide suitable orientation to all the school
teachers while conducting a survey to identify children with disabilities in general
schools. The responsibility to make arrangements for equipment, learning
materials, staff, etc. in order to provide education to children with disabilities was
given to state-level cell. The Coordinator of the cell was also responsible for
1
, Prep. By: Huzaifa Khan
arranging the assessment of the children and monitoring their ongoing progress.
The assessment report had to be comprehensive enough for educational
programming, i.e. an adequate report on what a particular child can or cannot do
during testing situations. The report had to specifically indicate whether the child
can be put directly into school or should receive preparation in special
school/special preparatory class in the Early Childhood Education Centre specially
equipped for this purpose.
The appointment of special teacher was done at two levels, i.e. primary and
secondary. The Primary teachers should have had at least one year course,
preferably multi-category, in special education or with specialization in teaching
any type of disabled children depending upon the category of children enrolled in
the Integrated Education for Disabled Children (IEDC) Units. Such teachers were
oriented subsequently in the education of other categories of disability. The
secondary teachers could have Graduation with Bachelor of Education (B. Ed
Special Education) or any other equivalent professional training in special
education. In the case of non availability of qualified special teachers, a short
training course was conducted to teachers and appointed with a condition that
they will complete the full course within three years of appointment. Since, teacher
with experience in Non-Formal Education (NFE) and Adult Education (AE) are
likely to have a better understanding of local environment and need, they were
also identified for training under the scheme and appointed as special teachers.
This training was also extended to staff in the departments because; the successful
implementation of the Inclusive Education of the Disabled (IED) depended upon
the responsiveness of the administrators and general teachers in the school. A
short orientation course for administrators, heads of the institutions and general
teachers associated with the implementation of the scheme were organized with
the help of NCERT.
The IEDC scheme was implemented in more than 20,000 schools in India covering
1,20,000 children with disabilities. It aimed to provide educational opportunities
for children with mild and moderate disabilities in general schools. According to
Indian Education Report 2002 (Rao, at al: 2005, p.38), the integrated education in
the case of children with locomotor disability or visual disability is more popular
than that of other categories of persons with disabilities (Rao, at al: 2005). If fully
implemented, this scheme had capability to change the educational status of more
2
, Prep. By: Huzaifa Khan
than 30 million children with disabilities who did not have access to any form of
education when the scheme was being implemented.
REHABILITATION COUNCIL ACT OF INDIA ACT 1992
The Council under the Act has prescribed the minimum standards of
education required for granting recognized rehabilitation qualification by
universities or institutions in India [www.disabilityindianetwork.org].
Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) is the only institution which takes care of
manpower development of different categories of professionals for comprehensive
rehabilitation of persons with disability to meet the needs of their entire life cycle,
i.e., physical and medical rehabilitation; educational rehabilitation, vocational
rehabilitation and social rehabilitation. Its objectives are to regulate the training
policies and programs in the field of rehabilitation of persons with disabilities, to
bring about standardization of education and training in the field of rehabilitation
professionals /personnel dealing with persons with disabilities, to prescribe
minimum standards of education and training in the field of rehabilitation
uniformly throughout the country and to regulate these standards in all training
institutes. The other objectivities were to recognize foreign degrees /diplomas
/certificates in the field of rehabilitation awarded by Universities /Institution on
reciprocal basis, to maintain Central Rehabilitation Register of professional
/personnel processing recognized rehabilitation qualification, to collect
information on regular basis, on education and training in the field of
rehabilitation of persons with disabilities from institutions in India and abroad, to
encourage continuing rehabilitation education by way of collaboration with
organizations working in the field of rehabilitation of persons with disabilities, and
to promote research in rehabilitation and special education
(www.rehabcouncil.nic.in).
The council intended to create professionals like Audiologists and Speech
Therapists, Clinical Psychologists, Hearing Aid and Ear Mould Technicians,
Rehabilitation Engineers and Technicians, Special Teachers for education and
training the handicapped, Vocational Counselors, Employment Officers and
Placement Officers dealing with the Handicapped, Multipurpose Rehabilitation
Therapists and Technicians, Speech Pathologists, Rehabilitation Psychologists,
Rehabilitation Social Workers, Rehabilitation Practitioners in Mental Retardation,
Orientation and Mobility Specialists, Community Based Rehabilitation
3
