The Unfinished Agenda: Making Inclusive Education A Reality

Pic Credit: Freepik

By Seema Rajput

India has made notable progress in inclusive education. The RTE Act (2009) and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act (2016) firmly established schooling for children with disabilities as a legal right, and schemes like Samagra Shiksha have expanded enrolment and provided special educators, aids, and barrier-free facilities.  

“NEP 2020 places Foundational Literacy and Numeracy at the very top of India’s education agenda because the success of every other reform rest on a strong early-grade foundation and, with equal urgency, at the same time the policy also accords highest priority for inclusion of children with disabilities, making quality learning truly universal.” 

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The policy makes the fundamental shift by recognising inclusive education as a human right and a systemic reform, rather than a charitable provision. 

Yet the reality on the ground paints a more uneven picture. The latest UDISE+ shows that while 2.1 million Children with Special Needs (CwSN) are enrolled, this is far below the estimated population indicating that many remain unidentified or out of school. Girls with disabilities continue to be under-represented, and retention sharply declines in secondary classes. Infrastructure remains a major barrier: 75% of schools have ramps, but only a third have CwSN friendly toilets, and far fewer have accessible libraries, learning materials or assistive devices. A national survey by PARAKH (2024) found that less than 40% of schools had trained teachers for CwSN and only a third offered special accommodations. 

Teacher capacity remains another critical gap. Although 12.5 lakh teachers have completed NISHTHA FLN, national and international reviews show that disability-specific pedagogy is limited, and classroom practice rarely reflects inclusive strategies. Block Resource Centres, designed as the backbone of inclusive education, struggle with high vacancies, administrative overload, inconsistent mentoring, and inadequate resource rooms resulting in uneven support across districts. 

Curriculum and textbooks tell a similar story. Recent audits including a 2025 review of NCERT textbooks and SCERT-Delhi’s gender audit reveal minimal representation of disability, persistent stereotypes, and limited visibility of marginalised identities. Without inclusive content, the classroom experience remains far removed from the realities of many learners. 

Civil society organisations are helping fill these gaps. Programmes like Sightsavers’ Inclusive Education initiative show how early identification, resource-room support, teacher mentoring, and parent engagement can transform outcomes for children with visual impairments. These models illustrate the potential of strong government CSO partnerships. 

What will move India closer to genuine inclusion is not incremental change but strategic actions. 

1. Move to universal early identification through integrated health–education systems 

Shift from ad-hoc school screening to a coordinated model linking Anganwadis, schools, Health & WCD departments, and DEICs under the RBSK framework with shared digital tracking, mandatory follow-up, and school-based intervention plans for every identified child. 

2. Re-engineer teacher development to embed disability inclusion as a core competency 

Mandate disability-responsive pedagogy in all pre-service curricula (DIETs, B.Ed.) and make in-service training practice-based by institutionalising coaching cycles, classroom demonstrations, micro-teaching, and performance-linked mentoring through CRCs/BRCs. 

3. Make school accessibility non-negotiable through a tiered compliance and financing model 

Establish state-level “Accessibility Standards for Schools” backed by time-bound compliance grading (A/B/C), targeted capital grants, and independent third-party audits covering infrastructure, digital accessibility, signage, learning materials, and assistive technologies. 

4. Build a national framework for inclusive assessments and learning progressions 

Develop disability-sensitive formative and summative assessment guidelines, integrate accommodations into NAS/state assessments, and mandate disability-disaggregated learning reporting. Promote personalised learning progressions for CwSN aligned with NIPUN Bharat. 

5. Transform BRCs/CRCs into specialised inclusion hubs with clear mandates and resources 

Fill all vacancies, ring-fence time for school mentoring, provide mobility allowances and digital tools, and create specialist teams (special educators, therapists, counsellors). Institute accountability indicators focused on classroom support not administrative tasks. 

6. Formalise parent and community partnerships through structured mechanisms 

Create Parent Support Groups at cluster level, train SMCs on disability rights and entitlements, and integrate community-based rehabilitation (CBR) workers into school support plans. Use peer-support models to promote social inclusion and reduce stigma. 

7. Institutionalise government–CSO–research collaboration for scalable models 

Create state-level Inclusive Education Resource Consortia to co-design interventions, generate evidence, and support implementation. Adopt a “Test–Learn–Scale” approach for promising CSO models, and embed robust monitoring, evaluation, and learning systems. 

India has built a solid policy foundation for inclusive education. The challenge now is implementation ensuring that classrooms, teachers, systems, and curricula reflect the country’s commitment to equity. With coordinated action from government and civil society, inclusion can shift from aspiration to lived reality, allowing every child to learn, participate, and thrive. 

(Seema is an education policy and gender inclusion practitioner who has worked extensively with the Ministry of Education, state governments, and international organisations on system strengthening, inclusive education, and early learning reforms.)

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