INCLUSIVE EDUCATION STEPING TOWARDS NATIONAL INTEGRATION

India is a sovereign country. It is ruled under the constitutional principles of equality, liberty, fraternity and justice. The democratic tenet to individuality and individual dignity stands in the pivot of the entire system.

The individual person when compared and contradicted under the several institutions of human life, the individual gets more value and regard. The institutions are constituted and constructed for the people not the people for the institutions. In the passage of time, since human race emanated on the face of earth, millions of institutions in the field of academic, social, religious, political and economical were framed and constituted, and later eradicated and obliviously forgotten. Those institutions were replaced and occupied by the newer types to fulfill the demands in changed time and circumstances. And the human race continued to grow and grow.  All stale and stinking systems yielded place to more vigorous and vibrant institutions.

The fervor and reverence towards democracy in 21st century nations is not hidden to anyone. Today majority of the nations have embraced democratic values and principles not only in institutions but also in their personal and family lives. The days of despotism, autocracy, dictatorship, kinghood and knighthood, oligarchy, anarchy and oppression is wrapped into the pages of history. Today the man is free to live life on his own accord. He is free for his choices. The democratic principles give him ample space to his own individuality. He feels self honored and self dignified. He is not being ruled rather he is an integral part of ruling.

The democracy works on the principle of –of the people, by the people and for the people. This theory lucidly emphasizes the value of individuality. For the human society, every individual has the fundamental right to live honorably. Every individual must get the equal space and opportunity to grow. No individual must be the victim of discriminatory isolation.

During the era of wars and battles, different social groups and ethnicities used to fight either for prestige and power or for survival. In such morbid and murderous situations they required the high breeds and better built up people who were suitable for the war and battles. The weak, old and ailing people with infirmities were supposed to be the burden on royal exchequer. Such burdens were mercilessly cleared off by giving treacherous deaths.

After the colonial esp. post war era, the democratic values and principles were championed, propheted and executed in world’s major societies. The foremost doctrine of democratic system is to deter and discourage all sorts of discriminations like color, caste, creed, language, gender, race and region which had engulfed the humanity into cavernous cavities from human society. The racialism by the Europeans towards Africans and Indians into white and black was the deadening reality some day, and to certain amount, that spirit of racial supremacy on high race ethnic base is still present.

Many Indian scholars and students in abroad are killed by a group of hooligans only because they are Indians, they were black. Mahatma Gandhi was himself victim of racial discrimination while travelling to South Africa. He was thrown out of the first class compartment sharp at midnight to a remote station. Nelson Mandela fought years to liberate his people from the discriminative British rulers. The renowned American president and the great champion of humanity Abraham Lincoln had to stake his own life to emancipate the black people from the bane of slavery. 

To retaliate the curse of racial and ethnic discrimination, these masters have all felt agonies and anguish through ages. The father of Indian constitution Dr. B.R. Ambedkar fought for the upliftment of millions of untouchables and downtrodden, who even don’t had the right to touch public tank and walk public paths. Such sages of humanity ever endeavored their best to inclusiveness and integration not segregation and isolation. They brought scattered and divided people of same anatomy together. They instilled the philosophy to live in harmonious bondages. They fostered the democratic doctrines like self respect and self reliance.

Gender discrimination is another big question. The women were marginalized and deprived of human living. But the advancement of constitutional democratic values has given a push to their condition. Today they are even piloting and progressing in all big competitions and rivalries, equally with their male partners. Slowly but steadily, the people’s perceptions towards women are changing. They all have started realizing the fact that to ignore the contribution of almost half of the population of women is to puncture the path of symmetrical progress. The women are to be made an integrative and integral part of all our acts and deeds. In no condition, they should be excluded from the main stream, as was done in previous ages. They were made the victim of child marriage, sati system, jauhar system, pardah system, widowhood and matchless marriages. They were segregated beyond all chances to grow as an independent entity. 

Most despicable situation is that the persons, born with disabilities or unfortunate accidental deformities, stay neglected and isolated to die in deep depression. The doubts, fears and lack of adjustment shatter the mental fabric and paralyze his spirit fiercely forever. Deformity and disability is no bar in progress and pleasure of man. We have millions of success stories who had been magically and exceptionally talented despite being physically deformed and disable. The life, works and philosophies of Stephen Hawking, John Milton, Soordas and Arunima Sinha and many more living examples still inspire and guide us.

We have developed our own freakish and futile scales to measure the minds and capabilities of an individual. The child with good academic scores, performance and records get more focus and attraction of all. The institutions boast of standard and merit. They insanely expect punctuality, discipline, morals, obedience, and humility, updated and up to date disciples. They filter away cream children from the rubbish and rusts. They show apathy towards low scorers, unpunctual, undisciplined and disobedient ones. They forget the fact that only good academic career and high scores don’t make a man live a successful life. Good academic records may help in getting a high salaried job, but it’s quite difficult to learn the skills of living.

To quote some names of people who hadn’t good academic records but they are, even today the lamp to guide the so called high scorers. The founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, facebook giant Marks Zukerberg, the god of cricket Sachin Tendulkar are the few names of them. The schools hadn’t good opinion about Thomas Alva Edison and Albert Einstein but they did beyond anyone’s imagination and expectation. Copernicus and Socrates were killed for so called varied and variegated views. What academic record Saint Kabir and Guru Nanak had, but they still rule the hearts of millions by their preaching and sermons. So, none of the child is to be nonsensically scaled on such trivial measures. Even the last child of the class should get due care and focus. He should feel honored and dignified. In place of sarcasm and segregation, they should be made the part of each school activities.

Inclusive education is to include and involve the faces of every strata of society and all walks of life. The children of all hues and color must be the integral part of the academic arena. In the physical look and individual capacity, they all may look varied but that diversity becomes a power after uniting together. Just like the shape of the palms and fingers, they vary in size and strength but after they unite into a fist, they assume an enormous force and blow. Our body is itself, a unique example. Different parts of the bodies have different roles like ears hear, eyes see, nose smells and skin feels so are others, but after uniting together, they form wonderful creation. If we separate all of them, they even can’t function, but after getting united, their strength gets multiplied. Same is the case of inclusive and exclusive education.

Time to time, the governments have planned to provide better and healthier facilities to differently able people. In the book of the governments’ record, we can find the girls colleges, colleges for blinds, colleges for deaf and dumb and colleges for orthopedically challenged children. Though government provides system, budget and manpower handsomely with good spirit, yet it is quite unaware with consolidated and integrated future impact of it. Human nature is built and brought up on the impressions of surrounding and situations a person lives in. We should rather create an amalgam of such differences. If the society, these young and innocent minds live in, is one, then why should their education and nurturing be different. The difference we create for them, likely reflect into their public dealings in life. To promote a separate arrangement for such children, whatever high budget and management may be, is to create a dubious wrestling ground of different minds and mentalities. To cry the slogan of humanity and harmony will be of no use. All efforts to pacify unrest and unruly citizens will fail. What have we sown while they were a child, we will have to reap the same.

The books and institutions give us stores of information. They fill our mind with pieces of knowledge. They make us aware and updated with the happenings around. They guarantee to provide us certificates and degrees. They provide us diplomas and qualifications. But the life skills and dexterity of living, we learn by mingling into human behaviors. We learn more by informal communications and less by formal communications.

Our notions are shaped by interpersonal relations and interactions. Our behavior is molded by looking into the eyes, gestures and personalities of others. We learn a lot unconsciously. The havoc of keeping all future citizens separately taught is the way to make more citizens of dissent and discordance. We are generating multiple groups fighting together with their innate instincts. Thus, we are rather creating chaotic and turbulent nation than a harmonious and symphonious one. We are on the way of making our own people as foreigners in our own country.

The worst scene is that those hallmarked for some disabilities, start developing a complex, negative and inferior mindset. They start thinking that they don’t have equal strength and capability like normal people. They start feeling isolated, depressed and psychic. They even feel that they are the burden on the nation. They develop suicidal tendencies.

In the age of lust and luxuries, the gulf between poor and rich is widening. The children of affluent people have the honor to study in air conditioned, multi storey buildings, well equipped with modern infrastructures and facilities, safe transportation, play grounds, healthy surrounding and well knit systems. Another side the poor children are mostly deprived of education or destined to study in meager and minimum resources. Above all, such schools are poorly managed, least funded and superfluously neglected. By such apathetic and negligible tendencies, we are rather creating parallel nations in a country. Such divisions and ruptures will engulf the peace and prosperity of the nation. Different minds develop in different circumstances. Those minds will one day, be retributive and avenging and demand for equal human rights. Otherwise they will move towards unrest and violence in forms of Naxals and Maoists. These are the outputs of all our discriminatory deeds shown during the upbringing and educations. They should be taught together with equal opportunity to grow. As soon as possible, we must forsake the double education policy. That will be good for the nation as well as for its people.

The recent surveys and researches have proven that each individual entity is unique in itself. Each individual’s capacity to learn varies from one to another. The amount of matter taught may easily be grasped and understood by bright students, and the same may be difficult for the slow bloomers. That does not mean that he has no capacity to learn at all. Most often, we commit blunders to assess the real worth of the child. The speed of leaning also differs from child to child. We start taking for granted that the child is of no worth. That is our big mistake. Making comparison among students is the worst part of the teaching. We must give the slow bloomers more chances and situations to flourish. They must get time to search their strengths in our constant able guidance and watch. They must grow by their own strength and capacity. They must not be forced to learn the way we want; rather they must be motivated to grow as per their own dreams and desires. For the sake of our convenience, these young buds must not be sacrificed. These sweet and young faces hail from different social and economical backgrounds. That different surroundings and situations create differences in children. So those differences must be well respected, not neglected. They must be included in the mainstream teaching, if not for those children, at least for the nation.

Above all, no individual is perfect in itself. In place of segregation and isolation, we rather create beautiful bond with such special people. With all love and friendship with them, we can make a land of lovely people, with common nature and way of thinking. Above all, we can provide the right of dignified living. We can instill confidence and courage in them by holding hand together. We should not let them feel aloof and lonely amid civilized society.