dr yasmin hussain mazmi maarof diyana kamarudin seameo sen windows on inclusion: the experience in...

DR YASMIN HUSSAIN MAZMI MAAROFDIYANA KAMARUDINSEAMEO SEN

WINDOWS ON INCLUSION: THE EXPERIENCE IN SOUTH EAST ASIA

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THIS PAPER ADDRESSES

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Current practice and issues of inclusive education for students with disabilities

among 11 SEAMEO member countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao

PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and

Timor Leste)

SEAMEO SEN’s initiatives in providing services to cater for the development

of inclusive education in the region

Findings are gained through articles, journals and reports written in

workshops for Special Education conducted by universities and institutions in

the region and workshop conducted by SEAMEO SEN and educational visits

to member countries.

Current development of inclusive education in the countries are highlighted.

THE SEA REGION

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Home to 11 countries and 593 million people (Latitudes, 2012)

The United Nations Economics and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP in Cohen, 2009), estimated that about 400 million persons with disabilities live in the Asian and Pacific regions.

THE SEA REGION

Comparison studies conducted on individuals with disabilities (in this region) are very challenging given these reasons;

• non-uniform reporting requirements and data collection processes,

• varying definitions, • selective reporting, • societal marginalisation,• social exclusion due to economic level or perceived status in the society,• geographic isolation,• religious prohibitions and cultural views.

www.britishcouncil.org 4

INCLUSIVE EDUCATION : ENRICHING LIVES

“This view implies that progress is more likely if we recognise that difficulties experienced by pupils results from the ways in which schools are currently organised and from rigid teaching methods. It has been argued that schools need to be reformed and pedagogy needs to be improved in ways that will lead them to respond positively to pupil diversity-seeing individual differences not as problem to be fixed, but as opportunities for enriching lives” (UNESCO in Winter and O’Raw,2010)

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INCLUSIVE EDUCATION: including the excludes


Salamanca statement in 1994 reaffirming the EFA Agenda (United Nations in the World Bank Group, 2013)

INCLUSIVE EDUCATION: MALAYSIA

Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025; transformation and new directions for Malaysian education system

Influenced by Salamanca Statement in 1994, Dakar World Education Forum 2000 and Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by UN in 2006

The Ministry of Education Malaysia has recognized the needs to increase the enrolment of children with special needs into inclusive education and made it an aspired initiative under the Integrated 1Agenda Ministry of Education Malaysia in 2013.


INCLUSIVE EDUCATION: MALAYSIA By 2015, 30% of students with disabilities will be placed in inclusive settings

schools. At present there are 1742 special and integration schools and 436

classes that are under the inclusive education program that cater for 5376

(which accounts for 9.6%) students with special needs all over Malaysia

(Bahagian Pendidikan Khas, 2014).

A guideline on inclusive education (2013); to ensure all capacities in the

MOE Malaysia from the levels of teachers, administrators, local education

department and states as well as teacher training institutes, examination

Board, the inspectorate and quality department are informed and able to help

by tailoring the assessment and program so that it will be in line with the

development of inclusive education program nationwide

Hosting of SEAMEO SEN; a commitment to lead and take up Special

Education field in the region.


INCLUSIVE EDUCATION: MALAYSIA


INCLUSIVE EDUCATION: BRUNEI

The Inclusive framework is influenced by Declaration of Rights of Disabled Persons; the Convention on the Rights of the Child; the World Conference on Education for All; the Year of Special Needs in the Classroom; the World Conference on Special Needs Education (UN, UNESCO, Norjum, Koay & Sim in Mundia, 2009).

The Special Education Unit is formed in 1994 by the Ministry of Education and there after students with partial/mild to moderate disabilities started being included in the ordinary schools (Special Education Unit, Koay in Mundia, 2009).


INCLUSIVE EDUCATION: BRUNEI

MOE of Brunei developed a curriculum guide for students with high support needs (Special Education Unit in Mundia, 2009)

The current development for inclusive system in Brunei is progressing very well with nearly up to 70% of students with disabilities are placed in Model Inclusive Schools that provides excellent services for Children (Special Education Unit, 2014)

In these schools students with special needs are given therapy sessions, taught on independent living skills as well as the opportunities to study among their non-disabled peers (Special Education Unit, 2014).


INCLUSIVE EDUCATION: CAMBODIA Emphasis on Special Education is still very initial as the country emerges from

the post-POL POT regime. The reconstruction of education system is still

picking up its process and faces a lot of challenges; lack of sufficient teachers,

adequate school facilities, overcrowded classrooms and high drop out rates.

Given these conditions the education for children with disabilities is not given

emphasis (Unicef, 2003)

Inclusive education is carried out through its Child Friendly Policy and

Education for All in 2007 through three main strategies; equal access to

education, improving quality and relevance (teacher training and drop out

reduction programs) and institutional capacity development (improving the

quality of leadership, management and administration) (Ministry of Education,

Youth and Sports, 2014a).


INCLUSIVE EDUCATION: CAMBODIA

Master Plan on Education for Children with disabilities developed in 2008 to ensure that all children with disabilities have access to schools and obtain formal and non-formal education with their regular peers in public schools so that they can become successful and productive members of society (Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports,2014b).

Currently the Moe Ys is working collaboratively with NGO such as Rabbit school foundation to initiate Inclusive Education Program in government school especially for students with learning difficulties.


INCLUSIVE EDUCATION: INDONESIAMotivated by the inclusion movement around the world, the Indonesia government reformed its educational system to accommodate children with disabilities (Antonio Tsaputra, 2012) Currently the development of education for children with disabilities is moving from special education towards inclusive education with awareness that special schools for the disabled reinforces segregation and marginalisation (Sunardi in Antonio Tsaputra, 2012). Statistics showed that only 29104 children with disabilities are admitted to special schools across 32 provinces in Indonesia (Antonio Tsaputra, 2012).


INCLUSIVE EDUCATION: INDONESIAThe policy Regulation no 70/2009 is enacted for inclusive education (Djajda Raharja, 2014) which includes initiatives such as:

• The establishment of Special Class in regular schools as guidance center

• The establishment of Resource Room in regular schools as a consultation center, as an assessement center and as a training center

• Other arrangements including central and regional government, headmaster, regular school teacher, resource center, special guiding teacher, administration staff, professional/expert staff, accessibility, school committee and parents.


INCLUSIVE EDUCATION: LAO PDR

• Special Education is also a new heightened awareness in LAO PDR education system.

• There is no reliable information on the number of people with disabilities in the Lao PDR (International Labour Organisation, 2009)

• In 1993, the LAO Inclusive Education project was started supported by Save the Children (UK) and UNESCO that included initiatives such as establishing inclusive kindergartens and capacity building for teachers and other educational personnel implementing the project (Unicef, 2003)


INCLUSIVE EDUCATION: LAO PDR

• The number of schools carrying out the programme in 2002-2003 has increased to 200 schools with 1600 students with disabilities studying together with than 60, 000 mainstreamed students (Unicef, 2003).

• Lao PDR developed a new Inclusive Education Policy in 2009 and adopted The National Policy on Inclusive Education in 2010 and The National Strategy on Inclusive Education in 2012 (Ministry of Education and Sports Lao PDR, 2014).


INCLUSIVE EDUCATION: MYANMAR

The report “The State of World Children” by UNICEF in 2013, found that children with disabilities are least likely to enjoy education and healthcare services in Myanmar (Myanmar Times,2013).

Only 800 students from 318,000 children with disabilities go to government schools and 1450 children attend special schools (Myanmar Times, 2013). 50 percent of all people with disabilities including physical and intellectual disabilities were neglected of education because they were denied entrance at the governments’ mainstreamed schools (Michaels, 2013)


INCLUSIVE EDUCATION: MYANMAR Myanmar adopted the inclusive education in 2004 the level of implementation

has yet to be documented (Mari Koistenen and Tha Uke, 2013).

Tight education budget resulting lack of resources to establish special education

schools and building capacity to turned existing schools in the rural areas to

accept inclusive education as about 70 percent of the 60 million population lives

in rural areas (Michaels, 2013).

Myanmar currently passed the National Education Law in October 2014 that

focuses on education for people with disabilities and school construction

guidelines are currently drafted based on the global Comprehensive School

Safety framework. The National Education Sector Plan (2016-2021) which is

currently being developed will also include the needs and rights of people with

disabilities are mainstreamed into the plan.


INCLUSIVE EDUCATION: PHILLIPINES The Philippines’s special education and inclusive education is

centered on the existence of the disabled persons contact and relationship with his community. Collaboration and attention from both private and public sectors on the well being of the disabled members of the community is very much emphasised (Darlene Descallar Echavia, 2007).

The Philippines decade of Persons with Disabilities 2003-2012 is declared by the government orchestrating the effort to implement plans, programmes and activities towards the development of persons with disabilities from all government bodies (Teresita G. Inciong, 2007).


INCLUSIVE EDUCATION: PHILLIPINES The Special education centers’ roles are enhanced to conduct

assessment for children with special needs, provide in service training for creating inclusive schools and assist regular teachers to have provide appropriate educational program, curricular modification and individualised support services for children with disabilities (Teresita G. Inciong, 2007).

The MOE of Philippines plays prominent roles in ensuring inclusive education takes place in mainstreamed schools. Initiatives such as advocacy caravan for schools without SEN programs, provision of modified materials and curriculum, handbook of inclusive education, search for outstanding SPED centers and other support systems are given for schools (Olores, 2014)


INCLUSIVE EDUCATION: SINGAPORE

Singapore education system is very well prepared and embraces the concept of inclusion for students with SEN

The Ministry of Education of Singapore has successfully placed the majority of students with SEN to be fully included in inclusive schools (MOE Singapore, 2014)

Students with mild to moderate disabilities are supported in mainstream schools with initiatives that focussed on training and deployment of Special Needs officers, additional funding for resourced schools, training mainstream teachers to teach students of special needs and provision for providers of early intervention in primary schools (Cohen, 2009).


INCLUSIVE EDUCATION: THAILAND

• Framed by three main legislative and policy framework; The National Education Act BE 2002, Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand 2007 and the Education for Individuals with Disabilities Act 2008.

• Emphasis on the education for the disabled must be provided by the state as at the same education opportunities as accorded to others.


INCLUSIVE EDUCATION: THAILAND

• The implementation of inclusive education is carried out by the Office of the Basic Education Commission that provides services for Special education needs in various inclusive settings: mainstreamed education, regular classes with Special Support Services in Resource Rooms, Classes for Special Needs education, Special education schools and special education centers.

• Ministry of Education of Thailand envisions an inclusive education which is distinct from special education. Inclusive education must be reflected in the national curriculum, in expanded core curriculum activities and non-academic activities that exist within a least restrictive environment.


INCLUSIVE EDUCATION: VIETNAM The practice of inclusive for CWD in Vietnam can be concluded as

thriving and efforts are made to rectify the challenges in the implementation of inclusive education. The MOET and MOLISA should be given appraisal for their efforts to ensure that Vietnam will advance into the right directions in implementing inclusive education despite the obstacles and problems faced.

In recent years inclusive education mainly focused on raising the number of children with disabilities but neglected the quality of education as the schools lack of means such as tools and equipments to provide inclusive education.


INCLUSIVE EDUCATION: VIETNAM Vietnam introduced Special Decree on inclusive education for

children with disabilities in 2006, the Law of Persons with Disabilities

in 2010 and Strategy for Education Development 2011-2020 which

aimed at increasing the enrolment of children with disabilities up to

70% in schools by 2020 (Bui The Hop, 2014).

Need to overcome challenges in terms of practicing the standard

inclusive education, the initiative to create adaptive curriculum and

classroom settings that can cater to the CWD learning environment

(Hang M. Le, 2013). Many schools who are willing to embrace

inclusive education for CWD are located in urban cities and teachers

need pedagogical training in inclusive classroom (Bui The Hop,

2014).


SEAMEO REGIONAL CENTER FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION

The youngest center to be established in 2010 in Malaysia and is fully in operational in May 2013.

The purpose of establishing the center as dictated in the SEAMEO SEN Enabling Instrument (2013) is to “assist the Member States to improve education in the field of special educational needs in their respective countries and, the Centre shall undertake research and development, provide training, serve as an information centre and clearinghouse as well as engage in other related activities within and outside Malaysia” (Enabling Instrument, 2013).


SEAMEO REGIONAL CENTER FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION

SEAMEO SEN’s vision to be a leading centre for quality teaching and learning in Special Education Needs and the mission to promote and enhance the quality of Special Education Needs practices among SEAMEO member countries.

SEAMEO SEN’s First Five Year Development Plan (2014-2019) is based on the trend of educational agenda that focuses on Post education 2015. The emphasis on Inclusive education is very much evident in the plan. The support is given through training of SE teachers in the region to upgrade on their existing skills or knowledge on Inclusive education.


SEAMEO SEN’S INITIATIVES FOR INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

Conducting Regional Training for Special Education teachers for upgrading existing skills and knowledge in inclusive education.

Contributes suggestions and recommendations to Malaysian Council for Disable, MOE Malaysia and related Ministries in Malaysia in terms of implementation of Inclusive Education.

Organise seminars and workshops as platforms to convene ideas and best practices in Inclusive Education.

Conduct research to inform policy makers and ministries of education on best practices in inclusive education.


WAY FORWARD FOR INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN SEA

The practice of inclusive education in the eleven SEAMEO member countries in the Southeast Asian region is positive and moving towards the right directions. Singapore and Brunei Darussalam have succeeded to carry out inclusive education to date. It is undeniable that leadership style, financial and support from government and policies have impacted the practice of inclusive education at its best in these countries.

For Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia the practice of inclusive education for the disabled is heading towards improvements in implementation of inclusive education through pilot projects and practices that best suited the countries’ settings. With educational policies and regulations these countries need to translate the policies into tangible actions.


WAY FORWARD FOR INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN SEA

As for Cambodia, Myanmar, Lao PDR and Vietnam, the provision for inclusive education for children with disabilities is a new awareness and focus. Although they have just reached political and internal stability, these countries have shown tremendous efforts and interests in undertaking inclusive education in their educational system. With heightened understanding of the importance of inclusive education for their children, no doubt these countries will also be able to provide appropriate settings for their disabled children in the inclusion settings.


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