A Systematic Review of the Literature on Societal Attitude towards Inclusive Education In North-East India

Abstract

Disability is a societal issue. Societal attitude often stands as a determining factor which determines the extent to which the physical, emotional and societal needs of a person with disability is met. Education of disabled children is one of the areas which have been largely impacted by the societal attitude. Therefore the concept of inclusive education emerged. According to UNICEF’s Report, on the Status of Disability in India (2000) states that there are around 30 million children in India suffering from some kinds of disability. Besides the Sixth All-India Educational Survey (NCERT, 1998) reports, that out of India’s 200 million school-aged children (6-14 years), 20 million require special needs education. While the national average for gross enrolment in school is over 90 per cent, less than five per cent of children with disabilities are in schools. Therefore, certainly the idea of inclusive education is highly relevant in North-east India, where differences in ability are seen as a threat, rather than a source of richness and diversity. Further there is lacuna of research about the impact of societal attitude on inclusive education in North-east India. Therefore, the objectives of the study are to review the extent of implementation of inclusive education in North-East India and to identify how societal attitude act as a barrier in implementation of inclusive education. Further, this paper also suggests how social work as profession can change societal attitude to strengthen the process of inclusive education. The ontological framework on which the study is based is that social construct normalizes the exclusion faced by children with disability in education. The epistemological assumption is that the relationship between societal attitude and inclusive education can be understood by in-depth review of secondary literature. The logic of procedure as emanating from the theoretical framework is predominantly deductive. Further, the study design includes systematic review and synthesis of related literature. The paper is divided into eight sections namely, introduction, rationale of the study, objectives of the study, methodology, literature review, critical analysis of literature review, suggestion and conclusion.