Dedicated action

Eradicating the biggest barrier in school enrolment:

A recent World Bank study indicates that disability is a bigger barrier to school participation than gender, household economic status or rural/urban divide. Without urgent and dedicated action, international commitments on education and poverty reduction will not be met, and 40 million children will be denied an education.

In such a situation teachers' attitudes and skills are the key to including disabled children in education. Social prejudices assume that children with learning, speech, physical, cognitive, sensory or emotional impairments are unable to participate in education. If teachers can be supported to challenge these assumptions, disabled children can quickly and straightforwardly be included in school.

Teachers often think they need 'special skills' to teach disabled children. However, experience shows that, in the majority of cases, good, clear, accessible and participatory teaching skills are effective in including disabled children in learning, as well as improving education for all children.

Training in child-centred teaching strategies can give teachers the skills and confidence to teach a diverse range of abilities and promote active learning to meet individual student needs.

This is in line with commitments made by governments in the 1994 Salamanca Statement: those with special educational needs must have access to regular school, which should accommodate them with child-centred pedagogy capable of meeting these needs.

At present very few teachers in developing countries like Sri Lanka have access to this type of training, leaving the vast majority either unwilling to allow disabled children into their classrooms or feeling unable to support children with special needs.

Traditionally, general teacher training and training for special education of disabled children have been separate, with 'mainstream' teachers receiving little, if any, training on working with disabled children .

Both pre and in-service training should focus on enabling teachers to assess and meet the needs of individual children, rather than on generic categories of disability. Training in inclusion should be targeted not only at teachers, but disability specialists, teacher educators, school administrators and other individuals in positions of governance in education.

If this is not the case, teacher reform may be impeded rather than supported. Where teacher-training curricula are due for revision, the opportunity should be used to mainstream inclusion in the curriculum.

Teachers play a crucial role in modelling inclusive attitudes and establishing expectations in the classroom.

As such, disabled teachers can be key players in combating discrimination and promoting positive identity in disabled children, and breaking down the prejudices of non-disabled children.

More than this, they can provide a positive example for parents of disabled children, which can mean the difference between parents sending their child to school or keeping them at home because they see no benefit in an education.

Taking these facts into account a workshop titled Eagle Samana was implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Social Service & Social Welfare, Ministry of Child Development and Women's Empowerment recently at the BMICH special facilities were also made available by The Sunera Foundation.

This inaugural workshop will be followed by a series of regional workshops with the objective of enhancing the knowledge of teachers who work with disabled children, featuring recognized resource persons in the field of special education.