Inclusive education in India: a lot of talk but not enough action?

India is committed to fulfilling the goal of education for all and ‘inclusive education’ is now a feature of various government documents and plans. However, between 35 and 80 million of India’s 200 million school age children do not attend school. In addition, fewer than five percent of children who have a disability are in school. Research based in the UK's University of Cambridge analyses how ‘inclusive education’ is understood in India and what influences decisions to include or exclude children.

Inclusive education in Indiais seen by many as a matter of providing education for children withdisabilities. Many more children are excluded on grounds of gender, regional orcaste differences but these are not considered. While it is recognised that these children need to be included effortsto do so are not well co-ordinated. Programmes for pre-school children, childworkers, children from particular castes and tribes and those with specialeducational needs are all run by different government ministries.

The research wascarried out in a sample of schools in Delhi recognised as having made progress towardsbecoming more inclusive. Although all but one of the schools in the sample areprivate and fee paying this does not mean that that private schools are for theelite: in Delhi and elsewhere in India there has been an enormous growth in privateeducation due to the perceived failures of state education. Many of theseprivate schools receive grants from the state.

Through interviews with teachers and head teachers andobservation of lessons, the authors found that:

• Schools believe they deserve the label‘inclusive’ as they include studentswho otherwise would be denied admission to the mainstream and are developing a range of responses to meet their special needs.
• Whilst head teachers are familiar with the term'inclusive education' – and have picked up this term at conferences – mostteachers are unfamiliar with the concept.
• Interviewees regard efforts towards inclusiveeducation as being shaped by Western influences, rather than being based onIndian reality.
• Changes have been driven by government andparental pressure: teachers have hardly been involved and the voice of the childhas been completely neglected.
• Decisionsto include children were governed by issues such as the degree and nature ofdisability, perceived ‘IQ’, and behaviour of the child.
• Teachersreceived little or no formal training to help them meet the needs of childrenwith different abilities and have made only small changes to their teachingmethods: they primarily depend on informal and outside support from home tutorsand parents.

Most practitioners seem resigned to the continuation of asystem that excludes many and regards children’s personal inabilities andcharacteristics of mainstream education as the reasons why they cannot beincluded.

Arguing that Education for All will only be achieved throughinclusion, the authors call for:

• the development of a shared understanding inIndian schools of what inclusive education means that is communicatedeffectively amongst schools with a view to forming common goals
• more teachers to be involved in decision-makingprocesses within schools
• teacher trainingcourses to address increased diversity in the classroom.

Providing access toeducation is only the first stage in overcoming exclusion from education. Thereneeds to be a shift in perspectives and values so that diversity is appreciatedand teachers are given skills to overcome the cycle of failure and frustrationwhich inevitably results from limited teaching practices.