Inclusion in Schools
By Sabah Saeed
In conversations about inclusive education across India and particularly here in Uttarakhand the focus tends to be on what needs to be added. More special educators. More infrastructure. More training. More technology. More committees.
While these are important, this mindset may be distracting us from a more foundational truth: Inclusion is not always about adding. It is often about subtracting.
True inclusion, especially in government and low-cost private schools, requires that we take a hard look at the existing system and ask: What needs to be removed to make space for all children, including those with disabilities?
When Subtraction Builds Belonging
Some of the biggest barriers to inclusion are not the absence of resources, but the presence of rigid systems:
- A syllabus too heavy for most children, let alone those who need more time.
- Uniform learning outcomes that assume every child learns the same way.
- Assessment systems that reward speed and memorisation.
- Classroom norms that penalise difference; be it in movement, communication, or behaviour.
Instead of layering new interventions on top of these outdated structures, we must begin by removing what excludes.
- Subtracting rigid timelines for academic milestones.
- Subtracting punishments for neurodivergent behaviours.
- Subtracting the idea that support is “extra” or “optional”.
- Subtracting the silence and shame around disability.
When we subtract the unnecessary, we make space for what truly matters: belonging, dignity, and learning for every child.
Systemic Solutions: Inclusion from the Top Down
For change to take root beyond pilot projects and pockets of good practice, we need systemic shifts:
- Curriculum Reform at Board Level
Educational boards, including SCERTs and the CBSE, must re-examine the volume and design of the syllabus. A lighter, concept-focused curriculum gives all children, not just those with disabilities, a better chance to engage meaningfully.
- Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
Policies should mandate UDL-based teacher training, not as a special module but embedded into all pre-service and in-service programmes. Teaching to the margins benefits every learner.
- Flexible Assessment Policies
Exams must allow for diverse ways of demonstrating learning; oral responses, project-based assessments, and assistive technology use should be normalised, not treated as exceptions.
- Revisiting Teacher Workload and Metrics
Teachers need time to teach inclusively. Instead of measuring success by coverage of syllabus or inspection scores, evaluation systems should include indicators like student engagement, peer cooperation, and teacher flexibility.
- Decentralised Inclusion Support Cells
At the block or cluster level, inclusion cells should be created with trained special educators, therapists, and family liaisons. These teams can offer on-site support instead of expecting every school to have specialists in-house.
A Local Call for Action
In hilly and rural districts of Uttarakhand, where accessibility is a logistical challenge, inclusion must be built into the everyday, not outsourced to specialists or dependent on external funding. Head teachers must be empowered to lead flexible classrooms. Parents must be welcomed into school processes as partners. And perhaps most importantly, the child must be seen as a learner first, not as a “problem” to be fixed.
Final Word: Let Go to Let In
Inclusion is not a burden. It is a liberation; not just for disabled children, but for the entire education system.
We don’t need to “fit” children into the existing model. We need to change the model.
Not by endlessly adding to it, but by subtracting what was never meant to serve everyone.
Let us begin the work of letting go. Letting go of practices, assumptions, and systems that no longer serve. Only then can we create schools that truly belong to every child in every corner of our State and beyond.
(Sabah Saeed works with schools across India to build disability-inclusive, accessible, and empathetic learning environments. She trains teachers, mentors school leaders, and advocates for system-level change in education. Sabah works as the Regional Manager – North for the Perkins School for the Blind, India Foundation.)
