Reflections on the Status of Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Education in India
摘要
The key challenge that stares us in the face in India with respect to inclusion of persons with disabilities is the mind sets and actions that are prevalent towards them in the society. It is often observed that they are generally viewed as people who are unproductive and dependent on others for their day to day survival. In India disability itself is a very multifaceted issue as many a times it overlaps with other complicated challenges such as poverty, unemployment, social stigma, poor literacy etc. It has been estimated that the probability of a disabled child being outside the ambit of schooling is five times higher than his or her able bodied peers. These dark social realities often make persons with disabilities in India an invisible whole to those who consider themselves ‘normal’. Even today due to the lack of acceptance in public spaces or due to public spaces being hostile towards their needs people with disabilities are hardly visible. As per Census 2011 about 2.2% of India’s population lives with some kind of disability of which 12.6 million are males and 9.3 million are females. This chapter is an attempt to reflect on the status of inclusion of people with disabilities in education by reviewing the key researches on the subject and accordingly deducing and articulating the key findings and educational implications for their inclusion in education in India.