The Education Ministry is targeting to establish at least one Special Education Needs (SEN) School in every district and Thromde during the 12th Five-Year-Plan. This is to ensure that all children with special needs have access to mainstream education. Currently, there are only 14 special education needs schools in the country.
The plan to establish special education needs school in every district was announced during the two-day conference held in Paro to identify the scope of leadership in the special educational processes. The conference was held to ensure that there is equitable access to educational for children with special needs.
“We have very limited inclusive infrastructure like classrooms, toilets, hostels, footpaths and ramps. We have very limited teaching materials and receptive assistive devices also,” said the Director General of Department of School Education, Karma Tshering, adding these hurdles are in place simply due to budget constraints.
To address the shortcomings, the role of principals and education officers has been identified as the most crucial. They have critical role in creating inclusive culture, policy and practices in the school to provide appropriate special education services.
“We are not aiming for perfection right away. It should a process and even little things that we can do to improve education support to children with disabilities, we should strive for it,” said the Deputy Chief Programme Officer with the Department of School Education, Pema Chogyel.
Principals and educationists who attended the conference are expected to take extra initiative in promoting inclusive education in schools, meaning children with disabilities can learn alongside peers who do not have disabilities.
