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UMT organizes seminar on Indigenous Models of Inclusive Education
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May 9, 2012
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Leading educationists, special education experts, faculty members and students attended a seminar on indigenous models of inclusive education organized by University of Management and Technology, Lahore, at its campus today. The seminar was initiated by the Department of Special Needs Education, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, UMT.
Dr Abdul Tawab, Honorary CEO, Rising Sun Institute, acknowledged that our education system is not ready to accept inclusive education. He said that Rising Sun Institute is working actively to promote community awareness on this issue. Medical college students visit the center for community medicine. A comprehensive training program for teachers has been developed. The Institute has conducted 17 courses, trained 490 teachers and plans to expand and start other projects in the Punjab as well. He said that only 30,000 people have access to some form of special education institute in Punjab while the need is much greater.
Justice (Retd.) Amir Raza, President Pakistan Society for Mentally Retarded Children, said that it is known that one percent children are disabled in Pakistan. He said that Amin Maktab, one of the leading special education centers of the country is situated in a posh locality in Lahore but is surrounded by 4 katchi abadis. The outreach program started by Amin Maktab targets such areas by providing street schools. He said that one of the great successes of the center is that the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce will support ten such schools. Support for children of kiln workers in Faisalabad has also been assured. He said that different patterns of working in inclusive education have evolved over the course of time. All of these should be encouraged but the best option is to make partnerships with other institutes. He said that the target for this year is to have 100 special children enrolled in schools by the end of this year.
Addressing on the occasion, Abdullah Sumbel, Secretary Special Education, said that today’s seminar addresses an issue of immense importance. While development of the social sector is a huge responsibility, it is also true that this kind of progress entails a lot of understanding and technical input. The public sector is deficient in fully comprehending the problems of inclusive education and falls short of acknowledging them but this can be remedied. If we are not reaching out, then you should come to us. All discussions on inclusive education converge on the point that a workable model will be private sector and NGO driven. At present, acceptance of inclusive education in the public sector is missing but we should keep working towards creating such acceptance and learn from each other. He said on a positive note that one of the benefits of the conference on inclusive education held on the directive of the CM is the emergence of a policy framework on the subject.
Raja Anwar, Chairman, Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) and Chief Minister’s Education Task Force, emphasized the responsibility and obligation of the state towards children with special needs. He said that a truly welfare oriented state ensures that all its citizens, including those with special needs, are included in all its activities and have access to education and a decent life. Only in this way can we ensure that people like the noble laureate Stephen Hawking who is severely handicapped, are not lost to unsympathetic environment. He added that the need of the hour is to work together towards an inclusive education system and not get discouraged by challenges.
Dr Abdul Hameed, Dean, School of Social Sciences and Humanities at UMT, concluded by thanking all the distinguished guests and participants of the seminar. Expressing his views towards an inclusive education system, he said that the huge challenges in creating a conducive environment for inclusive education can be met if ownership is divided between all stakeholders. In this respect, parents of children with special needs are the greatest stakeholders. They are the ones who should come forward and motivate the rest of the society to embrace inclusive practices. The real challenge according to him is to activate ownership of special education in governmental and societal sectors. He added that inclusive education is the most effective way to improve school performance. On an important note, he reminded the audience that Muslim culture is inclusive in its nature; all our communal activities ranging from mosque and madrassa to the hajj are inclusive. He suggested that the Ministry of Education should establish an Inclusive Education Cell and involve all stakeholders in its working.
Representatives of leading institutes of Lahore working in the field of special education made special presentations detailing their methodologies and achievements.
Rafia Amber from Beaconhouse Newlands presented a model of inclusive education and pointed out that the whole society benefits from it in terms of tolerance and responsibility. Saima Kashif, Principal Bloomfield Hall, Gulberg Branch, Lahore, shared the model of inclusive education developed by her. She said that special students in her school receive extra attention covertly and are involved in activities with regular children. Khawar Sultana, Supervisor, Special Inclusive Program Amin Maktab and PWTD, said that special resource rooms, well thought out implementation strategy, supportive staff and reaching out to special children define the success of efforts aimed at special education. Abdus Salam from Ghazali Education Trust said that the organization is working in rural inclusive education program in Punjab, Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa. Dr Faiza, herself a mother of autistic child who has formed an institute for special children along with other children, shared her experiences with the audience.
Making a presentati on of behalf of the Pervarish Pre-School, Asma Nouman from UMT who was also anchoring the proceedings of the seminar, said that the school’s teaching techniques center on activity based learning, modification of syllabus to suit individual needs and allocation of classes as per mental age of students. The major success of the school is that two of its students appeared for board exams for Classes 5 and 8 and passed with flying colors.
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