Page 184 - DEDU506_SPECIAL_EDUCATION_ENGLISH

Special Education

Notes Special Needs Education in Salamanca in June 1994, which caste responsibility on the general school
system to find ways of successfully educating all children, including those who have serious
disabilities. Thus, various Declarations and Decades promoted by organisations like UN have had a
significant effect on the policies regarding persons with disabilities.
Self Assessment
1. Fill in the blanks:
(i) In 1839 the first blind and mentally retarted (MR) child was enrolled in the ............... for the
blind in the USA.
(ii) The first public school with special classes for children with mental retardation was formed
in .................. in 1859.
(iii) The concept of integrating ................ in regular schools was introduced in many countries in
1960s.
(iv) The (1983-1992) decade became memorable as the world conference on ................ was held in
March, 1990.
(v) During the ESCAP decade, the government of Spain in cooperation with UNESCO organized
the world conference on .............. in salamance in June 1994.
(vi) Da croly (1871-1932) in ................... developed a curriculum for mentally retarted children
early in the 20th century.

25.3 Education of Children with Special Needs: National Perspective

Efforts to educate children with special needs began soon after independence when Ministry of
Education established a special unit to deal with education of special children in 1947. The Ministry
drew on the experience already gained by NGOs in this field since the last two decades of the nineteen-
century, which saw the establishment of the first school for the Deaf in Bombay in 1883. The first
school for the Blind was set up at Amritsar in 1887. Before the end of the century a number of special
schools for the Blind and Deaf were set up. This had firmly established the special school tradition,
which continued till the mid 1950s.
25.3.1 National Policy on Education (NPE) – 1986
The NPE brought the fundamental issue of equality centre stage. Section 4.9 of the policy clearly
focuses on the needs of the children with disabilities. “The objective should be to integrate the
physically and mentally handicapped with the general community as equal partners, to prepare
them for normal growth and to enable them to face life with courage and confidence. The following
measures will be taken in this regard:
• Wherever it is feasible, the education of children with motor handicaps and other mild handicaps
will be common with that of others
• Special schools with hostels will be provided, as far as possible at district headquarters, for the
severely handicapped children
• Adequate arrangements will be made to give vocational training to the disabled
• Teachers’ training programmes will be reoriented, in particular for teachers of primary classes,
to deal with the special difficulties of the handicapped children; and
• Voluntary effort for the education of the disabled will be encouraged in every possible manner.”
25.3.2 Plan of Action (POA) – 1992
The NPE was followed by POA (1992). The POA suggested a pragmatic placement principle for
children with special needs. It is postulated that a child with disability who can be educated in a
general school should be educated in a general school only and not in a special school. Even those
children who are initially admitted to special schools for training in plus curriculum skills should be
transferred to general schools once they acquire daily living skills, communication skills and basic
academic skills.

178 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY