Inclusive education:

An estimated 93 million children worldwide live with disabilities. Like all children, children with disabilities have ambitions and dreams for their futures. Like all children,
they need quality education to develop their skills and realize their full potential.
Yet, children with disabilities are often overlooked in policymaking, limiting their access to education and their ability to participate in social, economic and political life.
Worldwide, these children are among the most likely to be out of school. They face persistent barriers to education stemming from discrimination, stigma and the routine
failure of decision makers to incorporate disability in school services.
Disability is the single most serious barrier to education across the globe. Nearly 50 per cent of children with disabilities are not in school. Robbed of their right to learn,
children with disabilities are often denied the chance to take part in their communities, the workforce and the decisions that most affect them.
Inclusive education means that all students attend and are welcomed by their neighborhood schools in age-appropriate, regular classes and are supported to learn,
contribute and participate in all aspects of the life of the school.
"Inclusive education means children with or without disability being able to learn in common schools."
According to Puri and Abraham "Inclusion is including the children in the common schools and taught together irrespective of diversities"
IE is a new approach toward educating the children with disability and learning
difficulties with the normal ones under the same roof.
Inclusive education is about how we develop and design our schools, classrooms, programs and activities so that all students learn and participate together.
Inclusive education is about ensuring access to quality education for all students by effectively meeting their diverse needs. Students participate in the education program in
a common learning environment with support to and remove barriers and obstacles that may lead to exclusion.
Inclusive education is carried out in a common learning environment; that is, an educational setting where students from different backgrounds and with different abilities
learn together in an inclusive environment. Common learning environments are used for the majority of the students' regular instruction hours and may include classrooms,
libraries, gym, performance theatres, music rooms, cafeterias, playgrounds and the local community.

Getting all children in school and learning

Inclusive education is the most effective way to give all children a fair chance to go to school, learn and develop the skills they need to thrive. Inclusive education means all
children in the same classrooms, in the same schools. It means real learning opportunities for groups who have traditionally been excluded - not only children with
disabilities, but speakers of minority languages too. Inclusive systems value the unique contributions students of all backgrounds bring to the classroom and allow diverse
groups to grow side by side, to the benefit of all. But progress comes slowly.

UNICEF's work to promote inclusive education

To close the education gap for children with disabilities, UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) supports government efforts to foster and
monitor inclusive education systems.

Key Features of Inclusive Education

Generally, inclusive education will be successful if these important features and practices are followed:
Accepting unconditionally all children into regular classes and the life of the school. Providing as much support to children, teachers and classrooms as necessary to ensure
that all children can participate in their schools and classes. Looking at all children at what they can do rather then what they cannot do. Teachers and parents have high
expectations of all children. Developing education goals according to each child's abilities. This means that children do not need to have the same education goals in order
to learn together in regular classes. Designing schools and classes in ways that help children learn and achieve to their fullest potential (for example, by developing class
time tables for allowing more individual attention for all students). Having strong leadership for inclusion from school principals and other administrators. Having teachers
who have knowledge about different ways of teaching so that children with various abilities and strengths can learn together. Having principals, teachers, parents and
others work together to determine the most effective ways of providing a quality education in an inclusive environment.

The Benefits of Inclusive Education

Over the years, the benefits of providing an inclusive education to all children have been shown. Inclusive education (when practiced well) is very important because:
All children are able to be part of their community and develop a sense of belonging and become better prepared for life in the community as children and adults. It
provides better opportunities for learning. Children with varying abilities are often better motivated when they learn in classes surrounded by other children. The
expectations of all the children are higher. Successful inclusion attempts to develop an individual's strengths and gifts. It allows children to work on individual goals while
being with other students their own age. It encourages the involvement of parents in the education of their children and the activities of their local schools. It fosters a
culture of respect and belonging. It also provides the opportunity to learn about and accept individual differences. It provides all children with opportunities to develop
friendships with one another. Friendships provide role models and opportunities for growth.

What are the top challenges teachers faces in a special need’s inclusive classroom? Let's take a closer look:
Lack of experience in an inclusion setting. Some teachers have not been exposed to special needs classrooms and this can be a disadvantage. Educators need to coordinate
efforts and understand the needs of the classroom in terms of developing skills and lesson plans.
Lack of experience dealing with severe and profound disabilities. Students with severe and profound disabilities require more adaptation and medical attention than the
average student. Teachers must be skilled in handling severe disabilities and create lesson plans based on individual abilities and adhere to dietary needs of the child. Lack
of experience can lead to the child not progressing with skills or cause of adverse medical incidents.
Including all students in all activities. Special needs inclusion classrooms must be able to involve its students in all classroom activities. Teachers need to address how the
classroom will communicate with each other and encourage participation. If there is a lack of adaptive equipment or adaptive communication and language tools, it makes
it difficult for teachers to function as a united classroom.
Educating students with less severe disabilities. When there are children of all abilities in the classroom, both physical and academic, children in the middle can easily fall
between the cracks. These children can have learning disabilities, hearing impairments, ADD or language delays to name a few. Providing the right amount of attention and
adaptation can be challenging, especially if there is a higher teacher to student ratio.
Dealing with death. Death is difficult for any teacher to explain to their classroom. When you have a special needs inclusive classroom, there may be students with chronic
illnesses and teachers may have to deal with the death of a student.
Shortage of teacher aides. Normally, inclusive classrooms have a regular educator and special needs educator. Due to the nature of the classroom and size, it is imperative
that there be an appropriate number of teacher aides to assist the teachers with day-to-day activities.
Teaching compassion to students. Not all students have been exposed to persons with special needs and this becomes a challenge to teachers. Teachers must not tolerate
insensitiveness and cruelness and teach that all students are to be treated with respect, regardless of ability.
Dealing with parents of "typically developing" students. As some students are not use to dealing with persons with special needs, parents are no exception. Teachers
need to convey to parents how the classroom is conducted and that all educational needs will be met.
Individualized lesson plans. Because there are varying abilities in the classroom, teachers can be challenged to address individual academic needs based on ability.
Coordinating therapies. A special needs inclusion classroom needs to be well organized and allow for students to attend therapy sessions. However, this becomes a
challenge in planning day to day activities and keeping all students engaged and learning.
The inclusive school buildings are not fit for children enrollment. Ramps for wheelchairs must be both, outside and inside a building, but most of them can be only seen
on the schools' first floors. Buildings are not designed for children with musculoskeletal (locomotor) system diseases, who has a lesson on the third floor. Some children
refuse to go to school exactly due to such problems. Nowadays, the inclusive schools are mainly attended by children with less serious health problems. In inclusive schools
there are no adapted gyms and trainers with special knowledge of how to work with children with various physical problems.
The inclusive school special classes are not adapted, not provided with necessary equipment. However, teachers believe that classes, where teacher specialists work with
children with special educational needs, should be light and bright; desks must be comfortable; special working tools are required so as to make, through games and
pictures, the training process more accessible and pleasant.
Inclusive schools are lacking professional specialists. A team of different specialists should work with children with special educational needs. A general education teacher,
a special education teacher, a psychologist and a speech therapist, should work with such children irrespective of their number and peculiarities. In fact, it is hard to recruit
such a comprehensive team.
Drawing up a curriculum. This curriculum should be drawn up individually for each student, jointly by teachers and parents. However, many parents do not even know
about the possibility to jointly draw up a curriculum, and some teachers do not pay much attention to developing individual curriculum.
Lack of advanced training courses for teachers. Apart from specific knowledge about inclusive education, teachers should also develop skills in their major. When working
with children with special educational needs, the questions are often raised, that teachers have no answer to.
Schools (alike the major part of the society) still have a biased, discriminatory, stereotypical attitude towards children with special educational needs.
Inclusive systems require changes at all levels of society. At the school level, teachers must be trained, buildings must be refurbished and students must receive accessible
learning materials. At the community level, stigma and discrimination must be tackled and individuals need to be educated on the benefit of inclusive education. At the
national level, Governments must align laws and policies with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and regularly collect and analyze data to ensure
children are reached with effective services.

INTERVENTIONAL PROGRAMMES FOR STUDENTS IN SPECIAL CLASS SETTINGS

An intervention o combination of program teens or strategies designed to produce behavior changes or improve health status among individuals or an entire population.
interventions may include educational programs, new or stronger policies, improvements in the environment, or a health promotion campaign.
Common special needs: Include challenges with learning, communication challenges, emotional an behavioral disorders, physical, disabilities, and developmental disorders.
Intellectual giftedness is a difference in leaming and can also advantage from specific teaching techniques or various educational programs, but the term "special
education" is commonly used to deliberately indicate instruction of students. important concerns.
Identifying Student's Special Needs: You must know that some children are easily identified as candidates for special needs from their medical history They may have been
diagnosed with a genetic condition that is associated with mental retardation, may have various terms of brain damage, may have a developmental disorder, may have
visual er heating disabilities, or other disabilities.
Determining Eligibility: After a student’s evaluate on the IEP team must make a determination of that student’s eligibility for special education services. The parent as a
member of the IEP team, participation making the eligibility determination.

IEP Development

A special education program should be modified to address each individual student's unique needs Special educators provide a continuum of services, in which students
with special needs receive services and on their individual needs.
Interventional Programmes: Teaching in it inclusive communes modifying, not changing, the bare instruction processes to fit individual charities and needs. These basic
instructional processes include developing behavioral objectives. The arrangement of antecedents and open education/discovery learning methods. Garder 1977 explains,
there are no unique methods for use with exceptional children that differ in kind from those used with normal children.
Antecedent Procedures: By modifying discriminative stimuli for both appropriate and inappropriate behavior, antecedent procedures can be designed to present and
reduce challenging behavior.
Self-Management Strategies: Self-management has been described as a viable intervention strategy for promoting the teacher to the student, increasing a teacher's ability
to focus on instruction.SM consists of teaching the student. Discriminate between appropriate and appropriate behaviors, evaluate her or his own behavior, monitor her or
his behavior over time, reinforce her or his behavior when pre-specific me
Peer-Mediated Interventions: Due to common deficiencies in the social relationships and leaming in children with special needs, peer-mediated interventions have been
advocated as potentially useful approaches for facilitating the participation of children with autism in general education classrooms.
Utilizing Peer Supports: Children get influenced by the comments and behavior of their class fellows. They can be encouraged and discouraged by positive and negative
remarks of their fellows. A number of researchers have focused on employing typically developing students to serve as peer supports for SENC.
Cooperative Learning: Cooperative learning is a successful teaching strategy in which small teams, each with students of different levels of ability, use a variety of leaming
activities to improve their understanding of a subject. Each member of a team is responsible not only for leaming what is taught but also for helping teammates.
Positive Growth in Student Achievement. When two necessary key elements-group goals and individual accountability--are used together, the effects on achievement are
consistently positive.
Improved Relations among Different student Groups: One of the earliest and strongest findings shown that students who cooperate with each other like each other.
Multi-Component Interventions: Multicomponent interventions approach is a comprehensive behavioral support plan that contains multiple strategies to address problem
behaviors in settings where problem behaviors occur
Assistive Technology: Another way students with special needs can be assisted in the regular education class is by the use of technology in the classroom. Assistive
technology augments the learning process. For example, a student who has great difficulty with short term memory can be allowed to use a calculator for solving
algorithms in the classroom. This allows the student to focus on the concept of the problem instead of wasting needless time on rote mathematics.
The Use of Manipulative: Students get engaged in learning if it is interesting and exploration by working on concrete concepts make it easy and practical. Students say busy
in a task because they have ownership of ideas, are active in their learning, and are physically involved.