Inclusive education broadens students' perspective: Experts<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Everyone has something to offer, that is one of the most valuable
\nthings a child can learn.<\/p>\n
Raisa Aurora, a 13-year-old girl, wrote in her award-winning
\nessay that she learned about truth and patience from her
\nschoolmate who suffers from Down's syndrome, a congenital
\ncondition characterized by moderate to severe mental retardation
\nand trisomy of the human chromosome numbered 21.<\/p>\n
Her essay won first place in the United Nations Children's
\nFund (UNICEF) 2005 writing competition.<\/p>\n
Asih, the friend's name, is a 15-year-old girl who goes to a
\nregular public junior high school. She is often teased by her
\nschoolmates, Raisa wrote, but Asih had also taught them about
\nvalues.<\/p>\n
Although Raisa thinks Asih should go a special school, rather
\nthan being forced to contend with the taunts of other children,
\nplacing children with special needs in regular schools can be of
\nbenefit to them.<\/p>\n
"Disabled children's psychological development will be better
\nif they are included in a normal environment because they will
\nfeel no different to normal kids," education expert Arief Rachman
\ntold The Jakarta Post last week. "As for normal kids, they will
\nlearn to be more accepting".<\/p>\n
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
\nOrganization (UNESCO), announcing an inclusive education program
\nat its Dakkar World Education Forum in 2000, defines such an
\napproach as an effort to address the learning needs of all
\npeople, with a specific focus on those vulnerable to
\nmarginalization and exclusion.<\/p>\n
The definition, therefore, places physically and mentally
\ndisabled children among those in need of having a normal learning
\nenvironment.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of National Education has developed the inclusive
\neducation program for children with mental and physical
\ndisabilities to ensure children's education rights.<\/p>\n
Recent data shows that out of 1.5 million disabled school-aged
\nchildren, only 52,000 have been accommodated in a total of 1,129
\nspecial schools here, including 224 state-run ones.<\/p>\n
"The number is insufficient and building new special schools
\nwould be more expensive," said the ministry's director of special
\neducation, Mudjito.<\/p>\n
The ministry provided Rp 5 million each to 504 regular schools
\nnow accommodating 2,750 disabled children, two years ago to hold
\ncampaigns for inclusive education.<\/p>\n
The program, which cost Rp 10 billion of this year's state
\nbudget, was divided into full and integrated inclusion methods.<\/p>\n
Full inclusion enables children to have full-classes in
\nregular schools, while in integrated inclusion children interact
\nwith other students for certain subjects accompanied by a
\nteacher.<\/p>\n
Mudjito said the lack of facilitating schools, especially for
\nchildren with mental disabilities, had contributed to the problem
\nof disabled children discontinuing their studies.<\/p>\n
"This program is more effective in building unconditional
\nacceptance," he said.<\/p>\n
According to him, building new schools is more expensive and
\nnot as effective.<\/p>\n
Arief said that teachers needed to be properly trained before
\nschools offered the programs.<\/p>\n
A clear educational concept and mission, an adjusted
\ncurriculum -- according to what kinds of special needs are
\ncatered for in the school -- and the provision of special
\nfacilities for disabled children are other things that need to be
\nfactored in before a school is declared inclusive.<\/p>\n
"A regency should have one or two inclusive schools that could
\naccommodate disabled children in the area," Arief said.<\/p>\n
Since the program is still in its introductory phase, the
\nfirst thing that the government needs to do is to train teachers.<\/p>\n
Later on, other groups who are vulnerable to marginalization
\nshould be considered in designing school programs. (003\/005)<\/p>",
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