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Children with special needs should be integrated into mainstream education

Published : Monday, 2 September, 2024 at 12:00 AM  Count : 482
Alaul Alam
Children with special needs refer to those who have any type of disability or developmental disorder. Due to their physical, cognitive, sensory and developmental disorder they require special support and assistance to cope with the mainstream social standards. Studies have revealed that these children are more likely to experience diverse and evolving challenges narrowing their space in communication, learning, socialization and mobility and denying their participation in the mainstream education resulting in the exclusion of their contribution to the family, society and the state.

Different global sources have shown that over the years the number of the children with disabilities has increased significantly estimating 15-20% children of school age with their different disabilities, which is likely to cause more concerns if the countries fail to address them with special care and include them with mainstream education. 

It is evident that many developed countries such as Australia, England, Finland, Singapore and Japan have concentrated comprehensively on including children with special needs in the mainstream education. They have done excellently in ensuring inclusive education with a special focus to the children who deserve special needs. In these countries special education curriculum has been designed for the children with disabilities emphasizing with as much values as their peers in a mainstream school. 

Apart from providing highly trained professionals to educate the children with special needs they keep every effort ongoing to take them to the mainstream educational setting. Parents and students are given options to choose their institutes where they think fit to meet their needs most effectively. 

Again, students have the access to the dual enrollment in educational institutes in which they can experience both special and mainstream learning that help them to reach a decision of choosing their institutes. Every initiative is served with a strong commitment to ensuring an educational environment with no discrimination based on a disability of any kind to unlock the potentials of every student. Schools are obliged to facilitate children with mainstream education whether they choose to get enrolled in mainstream or special education. 

In Bangladesh over the last two decades we have seen significant strides in primary education with increasing enrollment and decreasing dropout. Not only that, the country has achieved gender parity in primary education, which has been acclaimed highly across the globe.

However, despite its many achievements in bringing education for all, the country's education suffers for making it inclusive and equitable. Children with special needs and other disadvantaged ones appear mostly marginalized when we ponder over a recent survey that only 4 percent had access to education nationwide out of 1.6 million children with disabilities of primary school age.

In Bangladesh over the last two decades we have seen significant strides in primary education with increasing enrollment and decreasing dropout. Not only that, the country has achieved gender parity in primary education, which has been acclaimed highly across the globe.

The survey report-2023 published by the UNICEF reveals that more than half of the children with disabilities in Bangladesh do not go to school. The report also claims that majority of children with disability in Bangladesh are not enrolled in any formal education. Again,the National Survey on Persons with Disabilities -2021 conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) with technical support from UNICEF shows that among the children with disabilities aged between 5 and 17 years only 65 per cent are enrolled in primary school while 35 per cent are enrolled in secondary school. The report evidences that 60 per cent of children with disabilities together are not in education whose age is between 5-17 years.

However, the Constitution of Bangladesh has recognized the rights of children with special needs. As evidenced in the article 17 states "The state shall adopt effective measures for the purpose of establishing a uniform, mass oriented and universal system of education and extends free and compulsory education to all children to such stage as may be determined by law". 

But the question may be pertinent to raise how far we have ensured the rights of the children with special needs? How far the country's policies and strategies are aligned with the global standards to integrate the children with special needs into mainstream education? However, the education policy of the country continues to promise the special arrangements and adequate facilities for children who have severe physical and mental disabilities. 
The country became a signatory of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1989 and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) in 2007 with an aim to eliminate all sorts of inequalities against the children with disabilities. But how far we have prioritized the promises on addressing inequalities and barriers towards ensuring accessible and equitable education for all?

It is evident that to achieve SDG-4 by 2030 we see no options to emphasizing inclusive and quality education. However, different sources claim that educational opportunities for children with disabilities and special needs are inadequate. 

On top of that, many raise questions that how far we have been successful in designing global standard special education curriculum? How far is the existing curriculum aligned with the needs of the special children? Is the curriculum designed for children with special needs effective to integrate them into mainstream education? 

Experts claim that the process under which the special curriculum has been developed is flawed, which contributes to widening a gap between the students following the national curriculum and the students who would follow the special curriculum. Besides, they urge on developing a new curriculum based on the requirements of the children with special needs with no compromise on the quality of education. 

So, it is very urgent to create an inclusive educational landscape to empower children with disabilities so that they can thrive and contribute to society. Achieving inclusive education through integrating the children with special needs into the mainstream there finds no alternative to fostering collaboration among all stakeholdersand making them well aware that integrating children with special needs into mainstream education pivotal to inclusive development of the country.

The writer teaches at the Department of English, Prime University and also a Research Scholar at the IBS



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