Integrated learning begins at school

Thirteen-year-old Vivek is autistic. After years of schooling in special institutions, he is now enrolled at a school which has integrated learning. His mother Asha says that she is happy that her son now has a chance to be included among children without disabilities. 

“He was performing very well, but my husband and I always thought we need to send him to a mainstream school,” she says. 

Rama Arunkumar, correspondent of Silver N Springs, says that integrating children with disabilities is a two-way learning experience. She says, “We have seen that other children in my school become better human beings. Parents of these children encourage the model because they feel that their children learn a lot and become helpful.” The school has class from pre-KG to class five and has students, who are visually challenged, hearing impaired, autistic, and with cerebral palsy. She adds that children with disabilities have a lot of stimulation in such a setting. 

Nandini Santhanam, who runs The Lotus Foundation for children with special needs, seconds Rama’s thoughts, adding that integrated learning paves the way for children to grow up learning about world and environment. “Variety and differences are the new norm. Where better to start than in the schools,” she says. 

While there are a handful of schools that offer integrated learning, experts say that more institutions need to come forward to adopt the same. 

Sulata Ajit, Director of Sankalp, says that while they have approached institutions to train teachers in special education, she finds that there is a long way to go. “When we approached a few neighbourhood schools, we found they weren’t very forthcoming,” she says.

Nandini says that though the educational boards have laid out legislations to make the schools inclusive, each school and its management make a choice about their perspective on inclusion and integrated environments. 

“There are varying degrees of openness and inclusiveness offered by a myriad of schools. Nothing is right or wrong. Everybody does what works best for them given the current educational climate,” she adds. 

Vasudha Prakash, founder of V-Excel Educational Trust, says that schools like St Ebba’s and Lady Andal have evolved a congenial atmosphere for integrated learning over the years. 

“There are schools who have come forward to adopt the model. Some schools take a few students with disabilities and work on integrating them,” she says. 

Pressure on parents 

Jayashree Ashok, founder-director, Child Centre for Holistic Integrated Learning and Development, points out another aspect of learning for a child with disabilities. 

She says that integrated learning is a boon for parents who want their child to settle in the normal atmosphere. 

“We still have a family setup and society, where parents are answerable to relatives about their child and performance. In that case, integrated learning is a welcome model,” she says.