LETTER | The right to education for all has been recognised globally due to decades of advocacy by many agencies.

For a parent of a disabled child, their wish list would be for inclusive education, which is to place their child in a mainstream classroom alongside their peers of the same age.

As stated in the Special Education Regulation 2013 under the Malaysian Education Act 1996, inclusive education is an education programme for students with special educational needs (SEN), where they can attend the same classroom together with other students.

The aim of an inclusive education environment is to ensure that all students are treated fairly and get equal opportunities, which would then lead to the celebration of diversity and uniqueness of the students.

There is much research conducted both locally and internationally that establishes the importance and need for inclusive education.

Having said that, if we take a closer look at the Malaysian education setting, despite having the “Zero Reject Policy” - an initiative by the government to ensure that the educational needs of disabled children are met; to date, inclusive education has not been adopted as the mainstream educational practice.

This means the decision to provide support for disabled students within mainstream classrooms is still largely dependent on school leadership and teachers.

This does not just deter the widespread inclusive practice, but it also leads to inconsistency in the quality of inclusive education provided in mainstream classrooms locally.

Being in teacher training in the past decade, I believe many stakeholders would relate that our inclusive education is not as inclusive as it should be.

Now, for better or worse, as we all know, the education system is one that is examination-oriented, meaning there is a set curriculum to follow and a syllabus to complete.

Therefore, in an inclusive classroom, we should have enough and adequate supply of teaching materials - materials that cater to both groups of learners.

However, this is not the case. Schools often have insufficient supply of teaching materials for special needs children, who are often segregated from their normal developing peers in the same classroom due to various reasons.

One of the most discussed reasons for the lack of inclusion is the lack of trained special needs teachers.

Much research, as well as many practitioners, echo that trainees or newly graduated teachers do not possess an adequate understanding of the needs and ways to help special needs students.

A common sentiment is that teachers should be well-versed in the differentiated curriculum so that they can tend to the needs and different abilities of the children in their care.

Speaking to a teacher who works with special needs students in her classes, what intrigued me was her confession on how her take on inclusive education has changed over time.

From an advocate of inclusive education, she now firmly believes that inclusive education is only in papers so far but has not transpired in reality.

She goes on to add that depending on the type of need, some of the students struggle with the examination-based education system and that different needs require different support in the classroom, be it academic or non-academic.

Therefore, it is not just unfair to both the normal developing children as well as the children with special needs in the same setting, but also to the teacher who is expected to cater to such a diverse range of learners and their needs.

Now, parents are well aware of the nature of our education and schooling system, yet again, they choose to enrol their differently abled child in mainstream education.

Looking for inclusiveness

Why is that so? Many parents are just in search of a setting that builds a positive and conducive learning environment for their children, making them feel “included”.

Education is not about examinations but instead, it is an attempt to provide children with special needs a space to have equal opportunities to develop their abilities and to foster a sense of belonging within the community.

This is what essentially all our children need - to learn how to celebrate uniqueness and embrace diversity.

The implementation and quality of a successful inclusive education is essentially a good partnership between the parents and the school, namely the teacher.

Thus, teachers’ training institutions play a huge role in ensuring that teachers should be prepared for the reality on the ground level.

Many institutions have a few modules related to special needs education which is great, but the focus is mostly academic. Many teachers only acquire the necessary skills on the job.

To address the lack of trained teachers, these institutions should step up on how they deliver the curriculum and actively collaborate, within their capacity, with relevant NGOs, SEN Parent Association and therapists from SEN centres to provide a more hands-on approach to classroom learning.

Therefore, institutions have the responsibility to ensure that these partnerships provide multi-faceted exposure to the student teachers so that when they enter the working world, they are equipped with not just passion and knowledge but also the required skills to be inclusive.

The underlying concern at hand is the expectation of what inclusive education should be. What is alarming is the difference in both the expectation and an understanding of what is the best type of inclusion for the child in question by various stakeholders.

Of course, this is a dilemma that has no clear way out. Inclusive education cannot be achieved tomorrow but efforts towards that can start.

Respective stakeholders should come together and review the educational goals that each would like to achieve as this would shed light on how different stakeholders view inclusive education, thus serving as insightful information as a way forward.

Through active participation by the various stakeholders, challenges can be accordingly addressed, moving towards a successful and quality inclusive education.

Until then, let’s play our role as citizens and advocates to create awareness of the need for appropriate inclusive education in Malaysia.

Author is a senior lecturer in the School of Education at Taylor’s University, assistant secretary of the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Council Malaysia and Train The Trainer (TTT) Certified Trainer.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.