Workshop to Strengthen RPWD Act led by CGC Faculty

Inclusive strategies for Children with Special Needs discussed during capacity building workshop In order to provide training to the commissioned teachers for making education of children with special needs in mainstream as effective as possible, a workshop was organised by CBSE Panchkula at Delhi Public School, Kaithal. Resource person, Dr. Sneh Bansal, Principal, Chandigarh College of Education, CGC Landran shared various pedagogical strategies like cooperative learning, peer tutoring, multilevel instruction and multisensory approach to achieve inclusive education for children with special needs. Teachers were made aware of format planning and learning material based on VAKT (Visual, auditory, kinesthetic and tactile). “With the enactment of RPWD (Rights of Person with Disabilities) Act, 2016 and RTE (2012), it has become mandatory for a school to provide free and compulsory education till the age of 18 years to Children with disabilities. Thus, school authorities and teachers must be equipped to deal with the needs of these children as they become a part of the regular classrooms and study together” stated Dr. Sneh Bansal. Unless and until teachers are not trained and have understanding of the concept of inclusive education and its relevance, their attitude can never be changed and these children remain isolated from the mainstream education, she added. On similar lines, Chandigarh College of Education has also started 6 months Certificate course in Inclusive Education, a part time course for teachers which is affiliated to Punjabi University, Patiala. The course will comprise of sessions on understanding various disabilities, preparing lesson plans and IEPs forming inclusive cell in schools with lots of practical experiences.