Traditionally education had come to be separated into two types, namely, general education and special education. However, in recent times there has been a shift towards having children with disabilities attend the same schools as non-disabled children.
Inclusive Education is meant to make schools as centres of learning and educational systems as caring, nurturing, and supportive educational communities where the needs of all students are met in a true sense.
Inclusive education is undoubtedly a noble thought and is the most emerging trend of 2018. However, there are many challenges for integrating mainstream education in your school business; some of them are listed below.
Skilled Teachers
Generally, teachers in the inclusive education setup do not have the training and skills to teach and manage the special needs of the disabled students present in a general education classroom. Lack of awareness among the teachers about the needs of the disabled students leads to ignoring or even resisting the disabled students in a general classroom and this can be very detrimental to the disabled students. However, such obstacles can be overcome by providing professional training and supportive services in the classroom.
Social issues
Compared to a special school, students who are mainstreamed for only certain classes or certain times may feel conspicuous or socially rejected by their classmates. They may become targets for bullying. They may feel embarrassed by the additional services they receive in a regular classroom. Some students with disabilities may feel more comfortable in an environment where most students are working at the same level or with the same supports.
Cost Factor
Another major challenge is that the schools adopting the approach of inclusive education are required to provide special education services to the disabled and may not be given or able to garner additional financial resources. The cost of providing special education is quite high since the student to teacher ratio has to be low. The cost of education of the disabled is much higher almost double than that of educating a non-disabled student.
Management
It requires a lot of attention for getting correct combinations of students with disabilities in an inclusive classroom. For instance, a student with autism may not combine well with a student with behavioural problems or conduct disorder, but placing many children with dyslexia in the same class could be a good idea.
