Panaji: In an effort to streamline and strengthen inclusive education, the Goa State Commission brought together Directorate of Education, District Early Intervention Centres (North Goa & South Goa), Institute for Psychiatry and Human Behaviour, Goa Medical College, State Family Welfare Bureau, Directorate of Social Welfare, Office of the State Commissioner
for Disabilities and Sangath for reviewing and strengthening the inclusive education on 4th
April 2023 at Conference Hall, Secretariat, Porvorim.
In the opening remarks, Peter F. Borges, Chairperson called for significant investment,
proactive and innovative thinking, and putting a policy framework that will endure across
government. Students with disabilities deserve the same access to a local school as all their
peers. Full inclusion is possible with the right funding and creating enabling environment.
The meeting brought several recommendations which the Commission would recommend
to the government for strengthening of inclusive education.
1) Directorate of Education to initiate Educational Monitoring Information System for
children with disabilities which will capture geographical location, types of
disabilities, educational needs, proximity to facilities and other indicators to enable
and plan for inclusion. This should include non-aided and private schools too. This
will help identify barriers, plan for more facilities and avoid such instances where
the children with disabilities faces mental trauma of being made wait or denied
admission due to improper planning and facilities allocation by the state.
2) Early intervention is the best way to support the development and wellbeing of
children with disability, autism or other additional needs including developmental
delay. It can help children develop the skills they need to take part in everyday
activities. Sometimes children who get early intervention need less or no support as
they get older.
Directorate of Education to ensure concentrated early intervention drive in
collaboration through Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) to detect
children in collaboration with, DEICs, PHCs, ICDS, ECCE centers and other school
readiness programmes.
3) The Commission recommends DoE to conduct access audit and ensure barrier-free
environments, accessible buildings, classrooms, drinking water, toilets,
playgrounds, laboratories, libraries, accessibility in terms of ramps with railings,
colour contrast of black boards for visual impaired, enhancing acoustics through
classroom designing and use of appropriate materials.
4) Directorate of Education to conduct capacity building programmes to ensure
continued development of skills and confidence of teachers and support staff in
meeting the diverse range of children’s needs, as trained and motivated system is at
the heart of effective inclusion, translating policy into practice.
5) Directorate of Education to issue circular to schools to initiate disability certification
at DEICs in elementary section at the age of 8 onwards for learning disabilities and
slow learner and for intellectual disability before the age of 5. Further, it is
recommended that DoE should change the time of submission of certificates in 10th
standard from the current 9th standard to 8th standard. It should be communicated to
schools that certification should not be seen for educational benefits and exemption,
but to improve development through integrating family support, health, and
nutrition services.
6) Directorate of Education to issue circular enforcing non-negotiable principles by
pronouncing a separate code of conduct towards not providing admission to children
with disabilities, including children with sensory disabilities viz., hearing
impairment, visual impairment and deaf blind, in regular school (aided and unaided)
through penalization.
7) The Commission recommends to Directorate of Education to enhance human
resource, i.e special educators, home based educators; infrastructure, especially
resource rooms, i.e. increase of life skill resource rooms and effect change in ratio
(from 1:8 to 1:4) for life skill resource room and (from 1: 20 to 1:15) for academic
resource rooms.
8) The Commission recommends to Directorate of Health Services to establish more
DEIC satellite centers at selected PHCs which can reduce burden at district centres
for better managerial and monitoring systems.
9) The Commission to develop compendium of circulars and scheme and policy for
inclusive education in consultation with stakeholders for streamlining and
strengthening inclusive education.
