'Mainstreaming' Indonesia's education system worth a try

By Lucia Esti Elihami

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Our country's disabled do not yet enjoy the same rights as other citizens who regard themselves as "normal". Discrimination in many aspects of life is evidently prevalent in our society's treatment of the disabled. In the workplace, for example, many job advertisements call for "applicants with no handicaps only". Discriminatory treatment is also experienced by the disabled in the justice system, where the testimony of a disabled person is sometimes ignored; in the social security system, where insurance usually does not cover the disabled, and in many other aspects of life.

In a situation where many of the basic needs of the majority have not been satisfactorily fulfilled yet, it sounds "justifiable" to pay insufficient attention to the welfare of the disabled. Moreover, the disabled are not adequately represented in the government, which should actually serve as the guarantor of their rights.

In the field of education, discrimination exists in the form of segregated schools for the disabled. The school system is designed from the viewpoint of and for the benefit of nondisabled people. In this system, there are only limited openings for disabled students at regular schools. Instead, they are encouraged, if not compelled, to enroll in special education schools. Whether or not this system will benefit disabled children or whether they really need special education schools are not among the concerns of the "normal" decisionmakers.

Seen from the point of view of the disabled, the special education system is more disadvantageous than advantageous. It is true this system can provide disabled children with special skills to cope with their disabilities. Nevertheless, by studying in special education classes, children are deprived of the most valuable experience: the opportunity to share in the common experiences of other nondisabled children, the children who, in the future, will be their peers in society.

Besides excluding disabled children from the common experiences of ordinary children, special education classes also tend to label the children as "disabled". This may lead to rejection on the part of the nondisabled children. For disabled children, this label will usually lead to low self-esteem and will further develop into a destructive self-fulfilling prophecy. The ultimate result is that disabled children will become more and more isolated from society.

The disabled actually prefer to be treated as ordinary human beings. They want to be independent and live normally with other people in the society. On the contrary, the nondisabled usually regard them as perpetually in need of help and assistance. Since most disabled children expect to ultimately function as independent adults in society, placing them in a segregated classroom does little to prepare them for their adult lives. It would be more beneficial for disabled children to enroll in regular schools rather than in special education schools.

Certainly not all disabled children will benefit from the practice of educating them together with the nondisabled students, or "mainstreaming". Some children, because of their extreme disabilities, would be unable to study in regular classrooms. However, mainstreaming is considered to be a desirable and workable system for educating disabled children. In the United States, mainstreaming has become a common practice which has been in use since the 1960s.

In Indonesia, it is not clear whether mainstreaming has ever been practiced systematically, but there have already been some visually impaired students who have finished their graduate or post-graduate studies. Many hearing impaired persons have also achieved similar success in education. Possibly these persons achieved such a high level of education from their own initiative.

Some obstacles continue to prevent mainstreaming from gaining in popularity in Indonesia. The first relates to the unavailability of teachers who can make mainstreaming work. To mainstream disabled students successfully, we need teachers who can really understand the psychology of the disabled, who can deal effectively with them and who are resourceful enough to facilitate them to learn, in spite of their disabilities. Furthermore, the teachers must be competent enough to ensure a smooth integration of the disabled with the entire class. For this purpose, the teachers need to have special skills which can only be achieved through intensive and continuous training.

Adjustments in school facilities can present another obstacle in Indonesia. To make mainstreaming successful, schools must be equipped with additional facilities such as audio-visual equipment, Braille books, special restrooms for the mentally disabled, and many other facilities. The school building in general must also be designed so as not to create difficulties for disabled students. This certainly is a costly adjustment for the average Indonesian school.

Establishing successful mainstreaming requires a lot of money. Yet the benefit that will be achieved by this endeavor is in proportion with the money spent. For disabled students, in addition to making them more prepared to integrate with the society in their adult lives, their learning progress can be better than the progress of those in segregated classrooms.

For nondisabled students, mainstreamed classes may help to cultivate sympathy for the less-privileged members of the society, and foster other beneficial attitudes.

In Indonesia, mainstreaming has never been systematically attempted on a large scale, involving disabilities such as mental retardation, emotional disturbances and cerebral palsy. Lack of financial and human resources may be the reason for such a failure. However, if we remember that from their own initiative, some visually impaired and hearing impaired Indonesians can achieve such a high level of education, and if we do believe that disabled children will benefit more from mainstreamed education, it is worth a try to socialize mainstreaming in order to help disabled children to pursue their ideals.

The writer is a staff member at the Dinamika Edukasi Dasar Foundation, Yogyakarta.