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[Music]
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so last month I visited a Bal vari a
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government preschool in a remote area of
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core and there in this large courtyard
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around 30 children between the ages of 3
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& 6 years
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sat in a circle on the mud floor
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learning together
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among them was shreya a child with Down
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syndrome however her classmates did not
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know about her medical condition to them
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she was just another friend so as a
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learning activity the teacher took a
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piece of chalk and drew four shapes on
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the ground and asked the children to
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come up jump on the shapes and call out
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the names so one by one the children
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tripped up and jumped and shouted goal
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three cone so cone eyuth circle triangle
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square rectangle
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soon it was shreya stern so the teacher
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brought her up to her spot and she
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stepped back immediately the kids
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started shouting by gaily by gaily so I
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was puzzled and I asked the body why
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they were doing that so she explained
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that shreya was a very quiet child
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however when the teacher was not around
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she was much more active and talkative
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and hence the children were trying to
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encourage her by their shouts this
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intuitive understanding of what shreya
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needed and their spontaneous show of
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support was shining examples of
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inclusive thinking and behavior as
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children we are naturally inclusive
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anyone can be a friend we find a way to
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make it work no matter what what happens
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to us when we grow up to be adults Arjun
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is a lively bundle of energy with a
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radiant smile he is fascinated by cars
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and all things that spin Arjun has
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autism so last year a couple of months
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before his third birthday I asked his
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face
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what are your plans for Arjun schooling
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so they informed me that they have
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identified the school in their
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neighborhood where they were going to
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admit him however they said we are not
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going to tell the school that Arjun has
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autism
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I asked them why they said we are not
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afraid of her son's diagnosis however we
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have no reaction about what of no
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control over what the school's reaction
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will be and therefore we do not want to
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risk his chances of admission now we are
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June's parents being paranoid
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unfortunately not their fears of
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rejection are not unfounded there are
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many schools that refuse admission to
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children with special needs
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sometimes they admit them but in a few
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weeks a few months or a few years down
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the line they are asked to withdraw
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their children and put them into special
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schools this is the experience of many
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children with special needs mainstream
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schooling either leaves them out or
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pushes them out now we have laws we have
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many laws which speak about inclusive
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education India has signed the UN
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Convention on the Rights of persons with
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disability we have the right to
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Education Act of 2009 and the most
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recent rights of persons with
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Disabilities Act 2016
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Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan the nationwide
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government program for universalization
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of primary education states zero
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rejection policy but these laws are not
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enough for our educational institutions
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to open their doors to children with
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special needs
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the statistics are revealing though
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India has achieved the gross enrolment
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ratio of 100 percent according to a 2004
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UNICEF study less than 5 percent of
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children with disabilities are in
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schools now what are the barriers that
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prevent mainstream schools from
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accepting children with special needs
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there are many but I'll focus on a few
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the first one is that of attitudes which
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sound something like this but their
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special schools now so why can't still
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drumettes
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NEADS go to special schools those are
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meant for them now our doubts how on
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earth are teachers going to manage their
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60 children in every class the
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curriculum is so vast they are already
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overburdened fears fears of our
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educators what on earth will happen to
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our school results fears of parents of
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neurotypical children those special
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children will take up all of the
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teachers time and my child will get
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neglected these barriers seem pretty
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solid however if in India every Indian
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has a right and a route to vote we have
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shown that we can break down barriers
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how are we going to do this how do we
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banish these barriers this is what I
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have to say inclusion is a process of
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change and this change starts from a
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very important place it starts from
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within us inclusion is all about
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changing within us inclusion is all
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about humanity so therefore I will use
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the image of the human body to say that
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inclusion requires our hearts our heads
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and our hands the heart of his inclusion
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is believing in a philosophy of
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inclusion believing that all children
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can learn and have a right to learn
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together that conviction should make our
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hearts beat strongly now our schools are
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just a part of our society and we are
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the members of that society so it is our
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values our attitudes which will be
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reflected in our schools so I want to
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ask you to take a moment to look into
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your heart and ask yourself what is your
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personal philosophy of inclusion do you
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believe that the best school for your
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child is one that accepts all kinds of
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learners and diversity will add value
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to your child's educational experience
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it's not enough just to feel strongly
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and to believe that conviction has to be
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translated into systemic policies
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through smart thinking that is the head
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of inclusion now we have laws so many
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laws however I think it's hard for
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people to connect to laws that they had
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no role in developing and almost seemed
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to have been thrust down upon them
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therefore people in schools have to put
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their heads together and think of
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policies and write them down if we write
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it down it's more likely to happen and
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then we will own the responsibility for
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this change for example in one school
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they declared in our school all children
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are accepted respected and valued
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without discrimination how do you think
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original parents would have felt if the
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school that they had selected for their
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child had these words printed on the
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score school brochure everyone has to
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own that responsibility for change
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everyone in the schools starting with
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the management the staff the students
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and the parents now policies can be
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written down but they are only so good
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in their practice so they have to be
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implemented and that is the hands of
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inclusion the hands that do the work of
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inclusion inclusive practices means that
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teachers change their methods of
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teaching to reach every learner in one
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school they just started the practice of
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putting inclusive education as an agenda
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point in their staff and PTA meetings
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within a few weeks everyone was thinking
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and talking about inclusion hands do
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work and hands hold other hands that is
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the power of mentorship and networking
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so schools with inclusive philosophies
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policies
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practices collaborate and in the process
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everyone grows I work at Sato and this
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is what we do
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Sato means bridge and we want to build a
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better bridge to a brighter future for
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all children and families and schools
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are very critical and sturdy pillars of
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this bridge through our transforming
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Schools program we work with heads and
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teachers and schools and help them to
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develop their own inclusive outlook
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which fits their particular school
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because schools are very similar but
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they are also very different so we
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encourage a process of reflection so
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each school can think of their own
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unique set of circumstances and develop
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philosophies policies and practices
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which fit their situation and which are
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doable for example in one school they
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said that their policy is henceforth no
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children will be unfavorably compared in
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our school children with and without
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disabilities are being paired as buddies
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in order to assist each other schools
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are hiring support staff who can help
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the child with special needs in the
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classroom as well as be an extra pair of
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hands for the teachers some schools are
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using photographs of activities instead
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of the usual timetable so that children
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with autism or any language difficulty
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will understand what's going to happen
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next
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heads and teachers are demanding
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training they want to know how to reach
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every learner in school it's not
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difficult to do simple things that add
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up if we use our hearts our heads and
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our hands we can make inclusion work
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have you ever met a child who's decided
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to stop trying just because she fell a
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hundred times by learning how to walk I
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never have and I'm very confident I
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never will so just like our little
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toddlers who picked themselves up every
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time they fall
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and go on let us learn from our children
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and I hope the schools that have started
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down the path of inclusion persist at
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becoming more skillful at it because it
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can be done are you convinced well thank
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you for that clapping but I have further
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proof I am privileged to know a young
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man named Michael Michael has cerebral
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palsy and I'm lucky to have known him
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been since he was a three-month-old baby
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because of his cerebral palsy as a child
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Michael couldn't walk and it was very
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difficult to understand what he was
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trying to say around 6 when he got too
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big to carry around they got him a
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wheelchair Michael's parents moved
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heaven and earth to make sure that this
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child got inclusive education so
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therefore he was admitted in a Kendriya
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with the allies school where inclusive
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education is a policy so on the first
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day of school
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Michael was wheeled into the school
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building and he saw hundreds of children
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standing for the morning assembly
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Michael was so excited he refused to sit
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he said that he wanted to stand his
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teachers asked him how are you going to
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stand he gave them the solution he said
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wheel me to the back of the hall and
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lead me against the back wall and that's
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how he attended the first day of morning
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assembly propped up against the back
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wall of the school hall from that day on
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the wheelchair was history a small
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gesture made by a child in a world of
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standing people with the help of his
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teachers and his buddies in school
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Michael learned to walk he learned to
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read he learned to write he learned to
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type they learned about patience about
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persistence and how nothing can stand in
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the way of a fierce determination to
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seed Michel completed 12 years of
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education and decided it was not enough
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he enrolled for a bachelor's in mass
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communication a couple of years ago he
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came to interview me for his final year
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project what was it a documentary on
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disability and inclusion this is Michael
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aka Mike the King today he is doing his
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master's in mass communication in
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Mangalore he uses public transport he
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writes lyrics for company songs he sings
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in the church choir he does the readings
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in church and every morning at 6:00 a.m.
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he is at the local pool learning how to
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swim and he's been coached by members of
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his community an inclusive school
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inclusive colleges an inclusive society
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made Michael success story possible so
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when I was preparing for this talk I
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called him and I asked him Michael do
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you have any message for society
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and he said yes I do and this is what he
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said people like us need inclusion as
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everyone is different and if we accept
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that that's good not only for us but for
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society in general there are millions of
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Michaels and they need our support and
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acceptance what are you going to do how
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are you going to help them please answer
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this question using your heart your head
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and your hands and you have to answer it
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there is no escape because social
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justice is everyone's job we cannot do
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it alone as individuals or as
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institutions we are in this together and
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if we do it together nothing will stop
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us and we will prove that inclusion is
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impossible and we are in it to win it
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thank you
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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[Applause]
