The Strugle of Inclusion in the Mainstream schools 13 Aug 2026

The Struggle for Inclusion in Mainstream Schools

Publication: POINT (epaper.truepointnews.com)

Date: Vijayawada, Thursday, August 13, 2026 | Page 7

Visual Layout Description

The image shows a portion of a newspaper page titled POINT under the section headline INDIA. Underneath the main headline "The Struggle for Inclusion in Mainstream Schools," the article is organized into five vertical text columns, with a prominent sub-heading "India @ 80". This article is written by Ram Kamal, Social Engineer, whose portrait photograph is featured alongside a photo of an inclusive classroom showing a teacher and children sitting on the floor around a table with schoolbooks.

Article Transcription

(Part 2/5)

Despite frameworks like the Right to Education (RTE) Act and the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, India's mainstream education system faces deep structural hurdles in fully integrating marginalized and differently abled students. The core challenges are systemic rather than isolated at the 80 years of the Union. Inclusive Education addresses the reality that many children are denied quality, equitable learning due to systemic barriers—whether economic, cultural, environmental, or physical. When a child struggles to secure admission or continue their studies, the Central Government's Project Inclusive Education steps in to provide solutions under NEP 2020 as a project. By guaranteeing uninterrupted learning, the initiative empowers marginalized and differently abled children to achieve sustainability for themselves and their families.

In my experience working with the Government of Andhra Pradesh (AP) as an advisor, a basic problem is that senior officials and department staff do not understand true Inclusive Education. It remains "Special Education" labeled, retaining old practices. The system has a blind eye toward financial discrimination and relies on incorrect approaches for Children with Special Needs. Data is often manipulated for national rankings rather than reflecting ground realities. Out of an alleged 85,000 Children with Special Needs on record, the reality is likely less than 20,000, and fewer than 2% possess educational fluency matching their peers. State education requires clear design thinking, as AP is performing poorly despite receiving a major share of Central Government funds.

Core Educational Realities

Physical Integration vs. True Inclusion

Placing students in mainstream schools without adapting the environment causes alienation. The system struggles with infrastructural deficits, such as a vast majority of school buildings lacking ramps and modified washrooms. For example, a PM Shri school with over 230 girls operated without a toilet for nearly a year despite central funding.

Pedagogical Rigidities

The standard curriculum is largely inflexible. Departments are lethargic in adopting digitally accessible pedagogy and multi-sensory teaching modules designed for diverse cognitive needs.

Teacher Preparedness

Mainstream educators manage diverse classrooms without the necessary inclusive teaching methodologies. The last hope is the implementation of Prashast Screening tools developed by the GOI, which give 10 lessons to the teachers before they are ready for screening and support.

Socio-Cultural Stigmas

Societal biases regarding financial status, tribal origins, and differing abilities permeate classrooms, causing severe retention issues. Only about 9% of differently abled students complete secondary education. AP is backtracking into caste equations, with many schools having exclusive areas for Kamma students to separate them from lower-caste students.

Moving Beyond Reservations

Reservations and affirmative action guarantee access but limit the scope of education. A reserved seat does not automatically dismantle tribal, cultural, or financial barriers. True equity requires systemic social engineering to ensure the environment, technology, and curriculum support student success rather than just tolerating their presence. Ending societal segregation requires strong governmental will beyond vote-bank politics. Maintaining parallel educational tracks, like AP's Bhavita Centres (meant to be a mainstream readiness centre, but it is not), reinforces societal division and labelling. Moving beyond traditional models means applying design thinking, engineering schools and curricula from the ground up to remove learning barriers before students enter the room. When education systems integrate universally accessible tools, they transform marginalized students into active innovators.

Implementation and Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

NEP 2020 promotes UDL, which can be implemented in everyday learning through several systemic shifts:

• Shift to UDL: Digitally accessible pedagogy uses UDL to make the curriculum inherently flexible. We must move away from the 6-subject formula to allow diverse subjects based on student passion and accessibility.
• Multiple Means of Representation: Present information in multiple formats, such as accessible docs and Epubs, audio-narrated modules, visual infographics, and tactile learning experiences are the choices.
• Multiple Means of Examinations: Allow students to demonstrate knowledge through oral presentations, digital portfolios, multimedia projects, or one-on-one jury assessments instead of forced written exams.
• Accessible Digital Materials: Ensure all digital learning materials are accessible, with alt image descriptions and semantic structures (ePub3, HTML, digital Braille) readable by screen readers and AI.
• Integrate Assistive Technology: Move assistive tech out of resource rooms and into mainstream classrooms. Integrating tools like refreshable braille displays and speech-to-text software into the digital ecosystem is much cheaper than printing Braille books.

Establish Specialized Support Hubs

Systemic inclusion requires localized nodes of expertise, like GOI-funded Autism Support Centres in AP, which faced delays due to administrative ideological differences. Make it quick, so a child will not lose its age barrier for creating better neuroplasticity.

Transform Teacher Training

Every mainstream teacher must be trained in digitally accessible pedagogy. We need to rethink "Special" training toward inclusive ways of building mainstream capabilities. Initiatives like Project Inclusion by Sri Aurobindo Society show success in Kendriya Vidyalayas by providing multilingual content that builds teacher confidence.

Even though I focused more on Andhra Pradesh, this is the situation in many of the Indian States, where parents are not aware about their child, unlike in Kerala. The States should take special interest in creating knowledge among the parents than making them feel miserable by showcasing a deficit model on these children.

Tomorrow: You are the Cure, making health a personal responsibility than relying on hospitals and insurances.