Staff Reporter
SHILLONG:
Special Educators tasked with imparting inclusive education are looking for job security even as they take education to the remote areas for Students with Education Needs (SEN).
Speaking to The Meghalayan, the assistant general secretary of the Meghalaya Progressive Special Educators’ Union (MPSEU), Susan Marbaniang, said that the educators receive honorarium, but no TA/DA although they travel to remote areas where there is a higher secondary school to identify SEN.
She said that so far they have identified 422 such students across Meghalaya.
There are 15 special educators throughout the state placed in districts. She said, “The transportation costs are high. We cannot cover two schools in a day if the distance is far and there are also places which are not motorable. We make frequent trips to nearby villages. We cannot cover as frequently as we want.”
There are two special educators for the entire Garo Hills region and six for East Khasi Hills district and the union lamented the lack of manpower.
Vice-president of the union, Alfred Jyrwa, regretted that their salary is irregular and after six months, they get only two months’ salary, and sometimes only for one month.
“It is a stumbling block and students lose out as we are not able to give the attention a child needs. If we get job security then we will be able to support students and bring about changes in the education system,” he said with Marbaniang concurring and adding they want to see children with disabilities, especially the poor, get free education.
Jyrwa expressed concern that till date none of the governments has taken the disability sector seriously. “There is neither budget nor any discussion. This is a huge disadvantage, having a separate curriculum is very important,” he said.
About the infrastructure of schools in the rural areas, Marbaniang said that it was fine at the higher and secondary school levels some lower primary schools wear an almost abandoned look.
However, she said that due to erratic power supply students cannot attend and cannot charge their phone when power goes off.
She recalled a place in Nongspung, where students walk for an hour from Lait Nongrim and expressed concern for those with locomotor disabilities which contribute to the drop-out rates in addition to poverty.
She said that the parents are understanding and would also give them some transport allowance after attending assessment programmes.
Jyrwa said, “The parents are very interested once they come to know that there are special educators that can help their children to pass their board exams; they also push their children.”
The special educators have been appointed since 2017 under IEDSS (Inclusive Education for Disabled Students at Secondary and Higher Secondary Stage), the scheme of Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS) that was launched from 2009-10.
This scheme replaces the Integrated Education for Disabled Children (IEDC) and provides assistance for the inclusive education of the disabled children in classes IX-XII. This scheme is presently subsumed under Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA)1 from 2013.
INCLUSIVE EDUCATION
The union’s president Bashisha Challam informed that inclusive education is a centrally-sponsored programme under the Ministry of Human Resources.
She said that the concept of inclusive education is to create a classroom where all types of students in spite of their abilities and disabilities and children coming from different backgrounds can be taught by the same teacher.
“In other words, we can create a platform where all children can get the same learning experience taught by the same teacher and the same classroom without the help of any specialists,” Challam said.
According to the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016, there are now 21 types of disabilities, up from from seven earlier.
She said that the need for special education arises as special schools are located mostly in the urban areas whereas the students with educational needs or children with disabilities are scattered.
Challam said that the aim and goals of inclusive education is to mainstream. To achieve the goal, we need the help of all stakeholders like the parents, the non-disabled children, the disabled child, the community as a whole.
“We consult with the teachers on how to teach them basic knowledge of Braille, abacus and modify the chapters so that the student can enjoy the learning experience. We have to impart the knowledge of TLMs (teaching, learning materials) and teaching aids,” she said, adding that TLMs are used to make teaching fun and creative.
As for how the students are identified, Challam said that identification is done by a special educator or regular teacher or parents. Assessment is done at a resource centre by a clinical psychologist.
“During examinations, we have to write to the Controller of Examination that a student is having a disability and submit unique disability ID along with letter from the school specifying the disability and intimating the controller of examination that we are opting for special mathematics, giving extra time, spelling mistake will be overlooked, in a way helping them to reduce school dropouts,” she said.