EDUCATING CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS: BRIDGING THE GAP THROUGH INCLUSIVENESS

It is education which is the prime tool to equip every child to meet the challenges of life. The goal of education for children with or without special needs is to prepare them for a happy, productive & useful civil life. In order to accomplish this goal, the fundamental intent of RTE Act 2009 is to ensure that elementary education reaches all children irrespective of caste, creed, religion, colour, and disability. Even The Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 also advocates education of CWSN in appropriate environment till they attain the age of 18 years And Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, also states that, as far as possible, CWSN should be placed in regular schools, with needed support services in the form of inclusive education which means education of all students, where all students are equal participants in the learning process. Through this paper an attempt is made to highlight the role of Inclusive Education in educating the children with special need (CWSN) and how it serves as a boon in bridging the gap, what are the challenges in implementing inclusive education and suggestions for successful implementation of the inclusive education.