Inclusive education: inclusion of children with disabilities in Government Primary Schools (GPS) in Dhaka

Abstract

There have been numerous modifications to Bangladesh's educational system in the past two decades. Among those, one of the significant initiatives is implementing inclusive education for children with disabilities in the mainstream school setup. Numerous initiatives have been taken under different programs to encourage inclusive education for children with disabilities in primary education. This study was conducted to understand the current scenario of inclusion of children with disability in government primary schools in Dhaka, learn how to implement inclusive education, and find out the challenges. Additionally, understand the stakeholder views on inclusive education for children with disabilities. To analyze qualitative data approach was taken and involved participants purposively. The method was the open-ended interview, FGD, school observation, and informal discussion. The study found that administrative processes, infrastructural facilities, and teaching-learning processes are inappropriate for ensuring inclusive education for children with disabilities. Though few students enrolled in the school due to the facilities gap in the support system, they became virtually excluded and finally dropped out from the system. This study also found that teachers are not capable enough to ensure inclusiveness in the classroom due to the unavailability of teachers' training on the issue. Interestingly, the teachers and stakeholders are highly optimistic about children with disabilities and inclusive education.