Webinar on “Challenges to Inclusion: Practical Approaches of Inclusive Model” 

Chandigarh, August 12, 2022: Department of Community Education and Disability Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh organized Webinar on “Challenges to Inclusion: Practical Approaches of Inclusive Model” today, under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.  This Webinar was organized under the patronage of our honourable Vice-Chancellor Prof. (Dr.) Raj Kumar and chaired by Prof. (Dr.) Navleen Kaur, Chairperson, Department of Community Education and Disability Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh. The Chairperson of the Department introduced the Resource Person Padma Shree Prof. (Dr) Uma Tuli, Founder & Managing Secretary Amar Jyoti Charitable Trust, Delhi and Former Chief Commissioner, Disabilities. Prof. Uma Tuli highlighted the demographical structure of persons with disabilities as per census of 2011. India has approximately 27 million persons with disability. Of these, almost 30% are below 20 years of age and 45% below 30 years.  69% live in rural areas and only 49% of the disabled population is literate and 34% is employed. She spoke on many policies related to Person’s with Disabilities at the national and international level. She touched upon the various challenges that are faced by the Children with Special Needs (CWSN) such as lack of support, attitudinal barriers, scarcity of special educators and training programs etc. She emphasized on the skills required by the special educators to assess, screen, plan, educate and rehabilitate the child with different category of special needs in inclusive setting of schools. Respected speaker stressfully focussed on the major components of adaptive model of curricular and co-curricular activities facilitated in inclusive education.
In her presentation, the honourable resource person threw light upon infrastructural needs for various disabilities such as visually impaired, learning disability, orthopedically challenged people, and multiple disabilities. She had beautifully explained the Individualized Education Plan I.E.P. in which she elaborated upon its preparation process. She also emphasised the application of a holistic approach towards inclusive education. She also emphasized on skill development. She shared the success story of the Amar Jyoti School, Delhi, established by the Amar Jyoti Charitable Trust Delhi. She told about various activities related to education, sports and cultural activities etc. She sight examples of various courageous specially-abled children. She also shared about the work of Amar Jyoti Rehabilitation Centre which tirelessly works for the upliftment of children with special needs. Her interaction generated lot of interest in the students.  

Students shared their experiences with the resource person. It was completely an interactive session. She shared a beautiful poem related to inclusion with the participants. Around 100 participants like: rehabilitation professionals, research scholars, students, parents, and other stakeholders attended the Webinar. The participants were very enthusiastic throughout the session. The skills of inclusive model learnt in this webinar can be utilized in the facilitation of children with special needs to improve academic and non-academic abilities.  The webinar ended with the vote of thanks proposed by Dr Md. Saifur Rahman, Assistant Professor in the department. The webinar was coordinated by Dr Md. Saifur Rahman, Mr Nitin Raj, and Mr Taukir Alam.