This is what we have been crying for all these years. Better late than never!
-----Original Message----- From: AccessIndia [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of avinash shahi Sent: 14 April 2015 13:10 To: disability-studies-india; accessindia; jnuvision Subject: [AI] Special education paper compulsory in BEd, MEd from upcoming academic session So any say? We had special education introduced through IEDS then in Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in haste and the outcome? anyway, its a good move,isn't it? http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150414/jsp/nation/story_14479.jsp#.VSzD3VS6b IU BASANT KUMAR MOHANTY New Delhi, April 13: The National Council for Teacher Education has introduced a compulsory paper on how to teach children with special needs in its revised BEd and MEd syllabi. The decision followed a countrywide survey last year that showed that nearly six lakh physically or mentally challenged children between six and 13 didn't go to school. The NCTE last week signed an agreement with the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI), which has been regulating courses on special education, to help prepare the curriculum and modules for the compulsory paper that would be part of the general BEd and MEd courses. "The BEd and MEd courses did not have any compulsory paper on how to teach special children. This year we have incorporated four compulsory papers and one of them is on special education," NCTE chairperson Santosh Panda told The Telegraph. While the NCTE regulates general BEd and MEd courses, the RCI is the controlling authority for courses on teaching people with disabilities. Panda said the RCI has agreed to increase the duration of BEd and MEd courses on special education from one year to two years from the 2015-16 academic session starting in July-August to align with the NCTE pattern. In January this year, the NCTE had decided to switch to a two-year format. The RCI has also agreed to train at least one teacher from all the 17,000 BEd and MEd colleges across the country in special education. According to the National Sample Survey of Estimation - conducted by the NGO Social and Rural Research Institute in collaboration with the PSU Educational Consultants India Ltd in 2014 - some 60.41 lakh children in the 6-13 age group didn't go to school. Among them, nearly six lakh were physically or mentally challenged. Professor Vinita Kaul, of the education department at Ambedkar University, said teachers need special skills to deal with children with special needs. The NCTE, she added, must make sure that all BEd and MEd colleges engage at least one teacher with expertise on special education so that teacher trainers get proper guidance in the subject. The NCTE and the RCI have set up a committee under Professor N.K. Jangira, of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), to draw up the two-year special education curricula. The committee will also suggest the curriculum for the special education papers in the general BEd and MEd streams. Lawyer Ashok Agrawal - who had earlier filed a case against schools for not implementing Right to Education rules that provide for inclusive education to students across all categories - said the situation was "changing gradually". "Private schools in Delhi have engaged teachers trained in special education," he said. "But the picture is grim in other states." The other compulsory papers the NCTE has introduced are on yoga, information and communications technology and gender studies. -- Avinash Shahi Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessin dia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list.. Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
