Inclusive education is for all students

The Times' editorial on "More effective inclusive education" (September 9) addressed an important issue in our education system. While it has become politically correct to respect the right of all children, also of those with impairments, to be educated in mainstream schools, there are many parents and schools who still resist the inclusion of these students as hindering the progress of non-impaired peers. One correspondent (September 13) highligh-ted this issue, adding some more.

It is understandable that parents and educators, geared to a system based on competition and selection, are concerned when educators start talking about "a quality education for all". They fear that attention to the needs of those students who were usually abandoned as failures would take away attention from the needs of those students who usually conformed to school norms and rules.

However, first of all, inclusion is for all students. It is not meant to take away anything from anyone. Indeed, it is built on the belief that everyone can have a better quality of life if diversity is used as a means of enrichment for everyone. This was stated strongly in the first National Policy for Special Education in Malta (1993): "Children without a disability have a right for an opportunity to be educated with children with a disability".

The National Minimum Curriculum (1999) is built on the principle of a quality education for all: "An inclusive education... recognises the full range of educational interests, potential and needs of students". Over the past year, the Focus Group for Inclusive Education held staff meetings on inclusion in several schools.

One of the questions persistently raised by educators was: "If we are supporting these students with impairments to participate fully in regular education despite the various hurdles, why are we not doing anything about the large number of students who fail, hate school and drop out of education even though they have no impairments?"

Thus, the inclusion of students with impairments in regular education has indeed made educators think that education is for all students. Our educational system has for far too long been creating many problems for substantial numbers of children who, though not impaired, have experienced barriers to their education: they are failing to cope with the demands of the educational system for one reason or another and are branded as failures and are also themselves being blamed for their own failure.

Parents who meet their children as individuals are very much aware of their children's frustration in the classroom and schoolyard when they feel they do not belong, when they are not given opportunities for learning and their learning is not appreciated. All children want to be full members of the school: if they are not given an opportunity to belong in appropriate ways, then they have little choice but to belong in inappropriate ways or just give up and move out. And this applies also to those students with particular talents that are not appreciated and addressed by schools.

Secondly, however, we must also keep in mind our responsibilities as democratic citizens to ensure the removal of discrimination and development of respect for all students. The National Minimum Curriculum clearly points out that: "Society has a moral responsibility to affirm diversity, if it believes in the broadening of democratic boundaries, in the fostering of a participatory culture, in the defence of the basic rights of children, in the constant struggle against those factors that prevent the students' different ability from being brought to fruition and in the safeguarding and strengthening of our country's achievements in the social and cultural fields".

This statement was not made without consultation. On the contrary, the NMC is a legal document built on the widest consultation in Malta. Apart from being discussed by all institutions representing parents and educators, it was one of the few documents that was passed unanimously through our parliament.

And, indeed, the NMC applies to all schools - state, Church and independent. That is why inclusion has not been restricted to state schools. The latest available statistics show that almost one third of students identified as having special educational needs are attending Church schools, which also have the same proportion of facilitators. Moreover, most independent schools also have students receiving varying levels of support. Thus, also, among the 27 schools participating in the Inclusive Schools Project run by the Focus Group for Inclusive Education four are Church schools and three are independent schools.

Therefore, it seems that the general feeling of educators and parents is that inclusion is the way forward for all our children.

The question that now faces our society is not whether children should be educated together but how can we ensure that all children benefit from learning together at school. The reform that this requires in our schools is not something that can be done overnight. It is a continuous process of improvement that schools and the communities have to be engaged in.

This is the process that the Focus Group for Inclusive Education has experienced in its work with 27 schools. They have been asked to consider issues of inclusion about their schools, that is to think of how to widen participation by all students in their learning activities and remove any barriers to learning and participation. They include their thinking and decisions in their school development plans to make progress on the issues that most concern them.

We have found that most staff in these schools are indeed genuinely concerned with how to ensure that all their students feel welcome and engage fully in the learning activities of the school. We have also found that, when staff adopt inclusion as a challenge, they do feel that they would like to do more for each student, that they sometimes may need different or more resources or training. But consideration of inclusive issues leads them always to improve teaching and learning for all.

Indeed, they have told us that, in enabling children with impairments to participate fully in regular education, regular students are not only being taught the values of respect and solidarity but also the importance of human endeavour in adversity.

The greatest lesson I have always learnt from children with impairments and their parents is that, rather than be put down by barriers, these should be seen as challenges and opportunities for growing and achieving a higher quality of life.

We should be grateful to the students with impairments and their families for teaching us that every child is worth loving, every child wants to and can learn and grow, every child wants to and should belong fully to the community - home, class, school, town or village - where he or she lives.

The best way forward for our education and our children, as unanimously agreed by our parliament, appears to be to take inclusion as the principal challenge for our schools.

By trying to move towards more inclusive education we can enhance the quality of education of all our children and the quality of life of all our society.

It is well worth heeding the call of The Times' editorial for the Education Division, with support from both the Ministry of Education and the opposition, to continue to widen public awareness on the aims, strategies and outcomes of inclusive education and ensure that inclusive schooling is implemented successfully.

Dr Bartolo is coordinator, Focus Group for Inclusive Education.