Understanding the Barriers Faced by Children with Disabilities at Schools with Inclusive Set-up in Chandigarh

Inclusive education means including children with disabilities in regular classrooms that have been designed for children without disabilities (Kugelmass, 2004). It refers to an education system that accommodates all children regardless of their physical, intellectual, social, emotional, linguistic or other conditions. The aim of the study was to know the perception of the school principals, class teachers having children with special needs (CWSN), class teacher without CWSN, resource teacher, children with special needs & peer group about the environmental and individual barriers for the children with special needs. A semi structured interview schedule was used which was especially designed for the purpose of this study. The findings of the study suggest that majority of the schools were having physical barriers as these schools lacked ramps or lift, there were no modified toilets as per the needs of CWSN & non availability of signage & tactile flooring in the schools. On the other hand, the attitude of school authorities was cooperative and receptive.