Paper on

Inclusion in Education
BY

Olivia DMello
Welingkar Institute of Management, Mumbai
PGDM (HR) 2010 12 | Trimester V
Specialization: Human Resource Management

Inclusion in Education

Paper Authored by: Olivia DMello, PGDM HR 2010-12, Welingkar Institute of Management

Inclusion in Education
Introduction:
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
These are lines from the famous speech delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King to the people of
the United States of America. He called for inclusion of the black people in all walks of life
in America. Today, the blacks in America are already living this dream.
Closer home, Mahatma Jotiba Phule and his wife Savitribai Phule were the pioneers of
women's education in India. Jotiba Phule is most known for his efforts to educate women and
the lower castes as well as the masses. He, after educating his wife, opened one of the first
schools for girls in India in August 1848. B R Ambedkar also did a lot of work for the
upliftment of the Dalit community.
Today, when we talk about inclusive education, the generally accepted definition is only
limited to children with either physical or mental disability. This paper seeks to go much
beyond this accepted definition and also looks at education for the backward both socially
as well as economically. Inclusive education is not just about being handicapped. Its about
integrating into the mainstream, those who have been denied this opportunity, for whatever
reason. Its also about making India a country where education is the birthright of not just a
privileged few, but of each and every child born here. Its not just about those born rich and
affluent, but also about that little boy who serves you tea at the nukkad around the corner.
A lot has been done in India in this regard. A lot yet remains to be done. 8.1 million children
in the age group six-14 still remain out of school and theres a shortage of 508,000 teachers
country-wide. This paper attempts to shed light on some of the inclusive practises adopted by
the government of India. It then seeks to highlight some of the Best and Next Practises that
are prevalent in India today in the field of inclusive education.

Paper Authored by: Olivia DMello, PGDM HR 2010-12, Welingkar Institute of Management

Inclusion in Education
Education in India A Background
India has a rich history of education. Under the Buddhist influence, education was available
to virtually everyone who wanted it. During the 11th century the Muslims established
elementary and secondary schools, madraisas or colleges and even universities. With the
arrival of the British, the English educational system was adopted. Through the Act of India
in 1835 and the Woods Despatch in 1854 a basis for a properly coordinated system of English
education was determined.
At the time of its Independence, India inherited an educational system which was not only
quantitatively small but was also characterized by regional, gender, cast and structural
imbalances. Only 14% of the population was literate and only one out of three children were
enrolled in primary schools. (Government of India, Ministry of I& B, (1996), India 1995,
p.79)
As of today, following are some of the Inclusive Education practises implemented by the
Government of India:
1. Right to Education Act
On 4th of August, 2009, the parliament passed the historic Right to Education Act. The Act
makes education a fundamental right of every child between the ages of 6 and 14 and
specifies minimum norms in elementary schools. It requires all private schools to reserve
25% of seats to children from poor families (to be reimbursed by the state as part of the
public-private partnership plan). It also prohibits all unrecognized schools from practice, and
makes provisions for no donation or capitation fees and no interview of the child or parent for
admission. The Act also provides that no child shall be held back, expelled, or required to
pass a board examination until the completion of elementary education. There is also a
provision for special training of school drop-outs to bring them up to par with students of the
same age.
The RTE act requires surveys that will monitor all neighbourhoods, identify children
requiring education, and set up facilities for providing it.
The World Bank education specialist for India, Sam Carlson, has observed The RTE Act is
the first legislation in the world that puts the responsibility of ensuring enrollment, attendance

Paper Authored by: Olivia DMello, PGDM HR 2010-12, Welingkar Institute of Management

Inclusion in Education
and completion on the Government. It is the parents' responsibility to send the children to
schools in the U.S. and other countries.
The Right to Education of persons with disabilities until 18 years of age is laid down under a
separate legislation- the Persons with Disabilities Act. A number of other provisions
regarding improvement of school infrastructure, teacher-student ratio and faculty are made in
the Act.
The Act provides for a special organization, the National Commission for the Protection of
Child Rights, an autonomous body set up in 2007 to monitor the implementation of the act
together with Commissions to be set up by the states.
2. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) is Government of India's flagship programme for achievement
of Universalization of Elementary Education (UEE) in a time bound manner, as mandated by
86th amendment to the Constitution of India making free and compulsory Education to the
Children of 6-14 years age group, a Fundamental Right.
SSA is being implemented in partnership with State Governments to cover the entire country
and address the needs of 192 million children in 1.1 million habitations.
The programme seeks to open new schools in those habitations which do not have schooling
facilities and strengthen existing school infrastructure through provision of additional class
rooms, toilets, drinking water, maintenance grant and school improvement grants.
Existing schools with inadequate teacher strength are provided with additional teachers, while
the capacity of existing teachers is being strengthened by extensive training, grants for
developing teaching-learning materials and strengthening of the academic support structure at
a cluster, block and district level.
SSA seeks to provide quality elementary education including life skills. SSA has a special
focus on girl's education and children with special needs. SSA also seeks to provide computer
education to bridge the digital divide.

Paper Authored by: Olivia DMello, PGDM HR 2010-12, Welingkar Institute of Management

Inclusion in Education
Committee on Implementation of RTE Act and the Resultant Revamp of Sarva Shiksha
Abhiyan
In September 2009, the Government set up a Committee under the chairpersonship of Shri
Anil Bordia, former Union Education Secretary, to suggest follow up action on SSA vis--vis
the RTE Act. The Committee had a series of interactions with State Education Secretaries,
educationists, representatives of teachers unions, voluntary organisations and civil society
organisations. The Committees report, entitled Implementation of RTE Act and Resultant
Revamp of SSA, submitted in April 2010, was guided by the following principles:
(i) Holistic view of education, as interpreted in the National Curriculum Framework
2005,with implications for a systemic revamp of the entire content and process of education
with significant implications for curriculum, teacher education, educational planning and
management.
(ii) Equity, to mean not only equal opportunity, but also creation of conditions in which the
disadvantaged sections of the society children of SC, ST, Muslim minority, landless
agricultural workers and children with special needs, etc. can avail of the opportunity.
(iii) Access, not to be confined to ensuring that a school becomes accessible to all children
within specified distance but implies an understanding of the educational needs and
predicament of the traditionally excluded categories the SC, ST and others sections of the
most disadvantaged groups, the Muslim minority, girls in general, and children with special
needs.
(iv) Gender concern, implying not only an effort to enable girls to keep pace with boys but
to view education in the perspective spelt out in the National Policy on Education 1986 /92;
i.e. a decisive intervention to bring about a basic change in the status of women.
(v) Centrality of teacher, to motivate them to innovate and create a culture in the classroom,
and beyond the classroom, that might produce an inclusive environment for children,
especially for girls from oppressed and marginalised backgrounds.
(vi) Moral compulsion is imposed through the RTE Act on parents, teachers, educational
administrators and other stakeholders, rather than shifting emphasis on punitive processes.

Paper Authored by: Olivia DMello, PGDM HR 2010-12, Welingkar Institute of Management

Inclusion in Education
(vii) Convergent and integrated system of educational management is pre-requisite for
implementation of the RTE law. All states must move in that direction as speedily as feasible.
My Take:
The RTE and SSA policies have gone a long way in making education a reality for all the
children in India. But there is still a long way to go. The government needs to ensure that the
policies it frames on paper are actually implemented. The 8.1 million children who are out of
school need to be integrated into the system. It isnt an easy task, but then, change never is.

3. Reservation Policy
In central government funded higher education institutions, 22.5% of available seats are
reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) students (15% for SCs, 7.5% for
STs). This reservation percentage has been raised to 49.5%, by including an additional 27%
reservation for OBCs. The exact percentages differ from state to state:
o In Tamil Nadu, the percentage of reservation is 28% for SCs and 8% for STs, being
based on local demographics.
o In Andhra Pradesh, 25% of educational institutes and government jobs for BCs,
15% for SCs, 6% for STs and 4% for Muslims.
o In West Bengal, 35% of educational institutes and 45% of government jobs for
SC,ST, and OBC.(25% SC, 12% ST, and 8% Muslim).
My Take
Reservation is a welcome move for deserving youngsters who are marginalised and excluded
from the arena of higher education. At the same time, it serves as a double edged sword. In a
free and fair country like India, its extremely important to give equal opportunities for
everyone to grow and progress. In some cases, due to reservation based on the caste,
deserving youngsters who are from the upper caste do not get the opportunity to get the seats
that are rightfully theirs. The government, instead of imposing quotas upon quotas for
reservation, can create more opportunities for the socially backward to get the same quality of
education that the forward classes do. That is how the society as a whole can progress.

Paper Authored by: Olivia DMello, PGDM HR 2010-12, Welingkar Institute of Management

Inclusion in Education
Quotas, if at all, should be based on the economic status rather than the caste. This will at
least ensure that those truly deserving get a chance to go ahead in life rather than just by the
virtue of being born in a particular caste.

Paper Authored by: Olivia DMello, PGDM HR 2010-12, Welingkar Institute of Management

Inclusion in Education
PAINPOINTS
Following are some of the reasons why education for all still remains a dream:
1. Mindset
There is a lack of proper mindset required for the education of children, especially in the rural
areas and among those who are economically backward. They look at education as a
complete waste of time and not as something that will be the means for them to come out of
their poverty. There has to be a change in this mindset for the status quo to change.
2. Lack of Specialised Teachers
For inclusion of special children in the mainstream education, there have to be teachers who
are trained in dealing with the special nature of the needs of these children. This sadly is
lacking, especially in the public education space. Most of the schools for special children are
in the private education space, which is unaffordable for poor parents.
3. Bad Timing
A lot of times, the education calendar is not planned in a thoughtful manner and clashes with
the agriculture season which makes a lot of farmer kids leave their education midway.
4. Lack of Teachers
Even for general education, there is a lack of educated teachers who can deliver good quality
education, especially in the rural areas. The government needs to provide incentives for
people to take up the teaching profession in the rural areas.
5. Bias towards the Girl Child
Girls are often not sent to school because of an inherent bias in the mindset of parents. They
consider the girl child to be a burden that needs to be taken off as soon as possible.
6. Lack of Infrastructure
The infrastructure in India is poorly equipped to handle the needs of its entire population.
Lack of proper school buildings, access roads, eating facility etc deters the chidren from
going to school.

Paper Authored by: Olivia DMello, PGDM HR 2010-12, Welingkar Institute of Management

Inclusion in Education
BEST and NEXT Practises
Project Netrutva by Welingkar Institute of Management
The true yardstick of a leaders ingenuity lies in the scale of his vision and his passion for
executing breakthrough social projects which seek to challenge the status quo and look to
create value for each stakeholder in the value chain. This unique ability is best exemplified by
Dr. Uday Salunkhe, Group Director, Welingkars, personal conviction and belief that
Management Education should be within the reach of normal average students. His inherent
belief in the ability of every individual and the conviction in his teaching learning
methodologies led him to pilot a project whereby elusive access to premiere quality
management education was made available to a graduation drop out. The philosophy was to
create an enabling environment that would make it conducive to nurture and groom future
managers and leaders out of normal youth who have been disadvantaged or marginalised
from the mainstream due to lack of resources to access high quality management education.
This was by far the most path breaking pilot initiative in the realm of inclusion in
management education which was christened as Project Netrutva
This project needed a corporate buy in which Dr. Salunkhe ensured was made available
through the partnership forged with Mahindra Group led by Inspirational Corporate Leader
Mr. Anand Mahindra. A degree college dropout was inducted into the flagship course at the
Institute on a pilot basis. The entire cost of education, scholarship and other ancillary
expenses were born by the Institute in partnership with Mahindra Group. Students, who were
peers with the Project Netrutva student, were made mentors to assist, guide and help
assimilate the Project Netrutva Candidate within the normal campus like and to facilitate
bridging of the academic gap left in the student due to incomplete graduate studies.
Over the 2 years of the course, the performance of the Netrutva student was tracked, feedback
was given, faculty mentors were assigned and finally the emancipation came our way, when
the Netrutva student was placed during the placement week alongside all the other normal
students, some of whom had been the mentors to the Netrutva student during his stint. The
best part of the entire exercise was that at no point of time in the entire placement process,
was it disclosed to the company about the differential status of the Netrutva Student to avoid
any sympathetic gestures by the corporate and to assess the success in developing the
Netrutva student to bring him up to the norms of competence required of a manager and a
leader.

Paper Authored by: Olivia DMello, PGDM HR 2010-12, Welingkar Institute of Management

Inclusion in Education
Project Netrutva started with 2 students, one of them working in Anand Mahindras office as
a coffee boy earning a monthly salary of Rs.3500. Welingkar took them on board and
subsequently they were put through the entire rigour of the MBA course, assigned mentors
and taught everything including English lessons, Etiquette training etc. At the end of the
program, they graduated with a salary package of 6 lacks p.a. This is the kind of tangible
impact in the society that the institute is looking to create.

Azim Premji Foundation

After chipping in for the country's educational system for a decade, the Azim Premji
Foundation (APF), run by the third richest Indian on his own money, is all set for a generous
initiative. The foundation plans to start 1,300 schools across the country- two per district which will be free, impart education in the local language and be affiliated to the state board.
If the idea succeeds, it could shame India's dysfunctional public education system - and
perhaps inspire other wealthy tycoons to look beyond their personal status-building.
The APF schools, from preschool to class 12, will be on the lines of government ones. The
difference will be in quality. "Quality education is fundamental to our becoming a developed
nation. And the final crucible of learning is the classroom," says Azim Premji.
Those associated with the planning of this Rs 9,000-crore project say that the schools will
focus on the overall development of their students, including their health and nutrition. The
attempt is also to establish schools in corners that are currently educationally under-served
and not to compete with existing schools, whether public or private. Seven schools are slated
to start within a year-and-a-half in Karnataka, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh. If
things go as forecast, all the 1,300 schools should be up and running by 2025.
The aim behind the schools is two-pronged. One is to build social pressure for other schools
to follow suit and provide quality education. Two, the foundation wanted to test themselves,
understand what it takes to deliver quality teaching and learning. One cannot tell the world to
improve unless one actually leads by example.

Paper Authored by: Olivia DMello, PGDM HR 2010-12, Welingkar Institute of Management

Inclusion in Education
A focal aim of the foundation is to get each school to evolve, over time, as a development
centre integrated with the community. Thus, the schools will be staffed with teachers from the
rural areas, but appointed after written tests and an interview.
Emphasis will be placed on their expertise in the subject, their understanding of pedagogy
and their social orientation. Parents of the children will be important partners in the process
of development.

Conclusion
One can go on and on about what has been done and what more can be done. Finally, it
would be right to say that the government of India has shown the right intent in making
education a fundamental right of every citizen. In doing so, it has definitely set the right
context. Now all that is needed is affirmative action on part of the government and the
citizens of India to convert this dream into a reality.

Paper Authored by: Olivia DMello, PGDM HR 2010-12, Welingkar Institute of Management