RIGHTFULLY OURS

Executive Summary

This pitch develops a strategy for teacher training workshops facilitated by legal services cells in law institutes. These workshops aim to equip primary and secondary school teachers with skills to foster inclusive classrooms, focusing on children with alternate gender identities and disabilities, both physical and intellectual. The model elaborates on the method of identification of schools, the mode of workshop, identification of resource persons, and the course design of the workshop. 

A key highlight in the structure of the workshop would be its interactive nature. Around 20 minutes would be spent on introducing concepts to the teachers, while the rest will be taken up by focused discussions in order to foster open-mindedness. These discussions will be led through prompts such as scenario-based exercises, in which teachers will be given scenarios and asked what their reaction would be. This initiative will be a broader attempt to deconstruct gender norms and destigmatise the disabled and transgender population.

Introduction

In October 2021, the National Council for Educational Research and Training (‘NCERT’) released a training module titled ‘Inclusion of Transgender Children in School Education: Concerns and Roadmaps.’ However, soon after, NCERT removed the teachers’ training manual from its website, citing its incomplete nature (Ghosh, 2021)

Three years later, a revised manual is yet to be released. Education systems continue to be inaccessible, failing both gender-diverse children and those with physical and intellectual disabilities. Responding to this need for action, our pitch aims to develop a model that empowers law schools to spearhead initiatives fostering inclusivity within educational institutions. Through targeted training programmes and strategic collaborations, our model promotes values of inclusion, tolerance, empathy and respect for diversity.

Legal Provisions and Policy Guidelines

The National Education Policy of 2020 (‘NEP’) focuses on ‘Equitable and Inclusive Education,’ reinforcing that no child should be denied education because of their socio-cultural identity.  Chapters 6 and 14 of the same discuss the issues and potential solutions on inclusive and equitable education at schools and higher education. 

The Supreme Court, in its judgement of Rajneesh Kumar Pandey v. Union of India (2020) reiterated that special teachers should be provided to schools for children with disabilities along with the compulsory training and sensitisation of teachers.

Children With Disabilities

Children with disabilities have been severely marginalised within education systems. Data from the National Sample Survey, 2018 shows that almost 50% of persons with disabilities in India are illiterate. Additionally, only 62% of persons with disability aged between 3 to 35 get a chance to attend regular school (Rao, Shrivastava & Sarkar, 2020).

It was only following the RTE Amendment Act, 2012 that children with disability were added as a disadvantaged group under section 12 (1) (c) of the Act. Further, obligations have been added upon government authorities and schools to provide discrimination-free education and opportunity, and “To train professionals and staff to support inclusive education at all levels of school education” under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2017. Additionally, NCERT has notified the first national assessment regulator in India, Performance Assessment, Review and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development (PARAKH) to ensure accessible assessment guidelines for children with learning disabilities. It also discusses the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) creating high-quality modules to teach Indian Sign Language and other subjects through the former (Ministry of Human Resource Development, n.d.).

Children With Alternate Gender Identities

The government has introduced various policy initiatives to advance the education of transgender and intersex students. NCERT offers teacher training programmes on gender sensitisation through the National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement (NISHTHA) under Samagra Shiksha. The Department of School Education and Literacy implements Samagra Shiksha, aiming for inclusive and equitable education from preschool to class XII. The NEP 2020 also identifies transgender children as Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs) and ensures equitable quality education for them (Ministry of Education, 2022). Additionally, the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 includes provisions for their inclusion in educational systems as directed by the NALSA judgement (National Legal Service Authorities v. Union of India, 2014).

Table 1: Number of Transgender Children Across Indian States

Hence, legal provisions and policy frameworks mandate that teachers receive training on inclusivity to ensure equitable education. These provisions highlight the necessity of putting teacher preparation programmes into place in order to meet the diverse needs of students.

Role of Law Schools

Law schools can play a key role in advancing such inclusivity. Section 4 (k) of the Legal Service Authorities Act, 1987 mandates legal services clinics, committees or cells in law institutions. The duties of these establishments include community development and policy implementation initiatives. Thus, law schools are well-positioned to leverage resources and expertise to develop and implement teacher training programmes focused on inclusivity.

Implementation Strategy

Through a training programme led within law schools, the proposed initiative seeks to equip educators with the knowledge and abilities needed to foster an inclusive learning environment in the classroom. It will focus on two target groups: children with alternate gender identities and children with disabilities, encompassing both physical and mental disabilities.

Target Audience and Identification of Schools

The initiative will target primary to middle schools (standards 1^st to 8^th), recognising the formative years as crucial for laying the foundation of inclusivity. Schools will be identified through GIS mapping (schoolgis.nic.in) developed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (2019). 

Figure 1 is an image from the GIS mapping website and displays the schools in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

Figure 1: Schools in Gandhinagar

Mode of Workshop and Resource Person Identification

The workshop will adopt a hybrid approach, with the first session conducted offline and recorded for subsequent sharing. It will be conducted under the expertise of resource persons from various fields including gender studies, disability rights, and education. Further, a database would be created with the recordings and the content material used in the session. This approach ensures that other law schools preparing to take up the same initiative would already have material to refer from in case there exists a lack of resources and/or trainers. This approach is based on such similar approaches taken by NGOs working in the same field (Echo, n.d.).

Course Design

The course will be designed to address specific needs of the target groups and equip teachers with practical strategies for promoting inclusivity in the classroom. The content will be derived from multiple sources such as practical manuals for teacher training developed by the UNICEF (2015), the Lesotho National Federation of Organizations of the Disabled (n.d.), GLSEN (Educator Resources, n.d.) and the Government of Assam (2015). 

The course structure will be designed to have approximately 20 minutes of content introduced for each module, followed by focused discussions. These discussions shall be facilitated through prompts such as scenario-based exercises. An example of this is exercise is given below:

“You have allowed the kids in your class to have a little free time. You witness a kid say to another, ‘You can’t play with us, you’re too girly!’ The student is isolated and plays alone for the remaining time with tears in their eyes. It is not the first time this child has been isolated someone from playing. How will you react?”

The teachers shall be asked to elucidate on their reactions to given scenarios, with resource persons guiding them as required.

Further, based on preliminary research, a course outline has been created. This does not serve as the final guide for the course, but a guide of the objectives to be achieved. The suggested modules are as follows:

Module 1: Understanding Children with Disabilities

Lesson Objectives: 

• Types of disabilities and the fundamental needs resulting from them.
• Individual and systemic barriers faced by children with disabilities, and solutions that can be practised on an individual level to tackle the same.
• Prominent personalities from the community, and how impactful their contributions have been for the advancement of the society.
• Implementing the Medical v. Social Disability Model to educate.

Outcome:

• Identifying the needs of children with disabilities, and basic awareness about their needs within the classroom. 

Module 2: On-site Action: Creating Inclusive Classrooms for Children with Disabilities

Learning objectives: 

• Importance of assimilation of children with disabilities with other children for mitigating risks of bullying, as well as conflict resolution.
• Creative teaching strategies such as story-telling methods, breaking of tasks into smaller portions, incorporating mnemonics, and other techniques.
• Ways in which personal assistance can be given to overcome practical difficulties in connection with the classroom.

Outcomes:

• Support for children with disabilities through inclusive pedagogy.
• Successful application of the social model of disability.

Module 3: Understanding Children with Alternate Gender Identities

Learning objectives:

• Gender diversity and its significant role in classrooms.
• Historical background of socio-cultural transgender identities and the British regime’s contribution to their stigmatisation.
• Various individual and systemic barriers faced by gender-diverse children, and solutions to be practised on an individual level to tackle the same.
• Prominent personalities from the community, and how impactful their contributions have been for the advancement of the society.

Outcomes:

• Understanding the current stigma that gender-diverse children face.

Module 4: On-Site Action: Creating Inclusive Classrooms for Children with Alternate Gender Identities

Learning objectives: 

• Making classrooms inclusive through activities like lunchtime screenings, sticker system and field trips to local businesses that host workshops for people of all gender identities.
• Effects of misgendering, deadnaming, and dialogue on gender diverse children, and integrating inclusive language.
• Value of communication and confidentiality in relationships between the home and the classroom as well as between teachers and students.
• Significance of establishing safe spaces on campus for gender-diverse children, encouraging the formation of supportive committees, and emphasising the need to eliminate stigma surrounding written materials and textbooks.
• Importance of assimilation of gender-diverse children with the other children for mitigating the risks of bullying.
• Solution strategies such as group projects, specific regular seating arrangements, and other assimilation techniques.

Outcomes:

• Understanding gender diversity
• Application of the knowledge gained through eradicating barriers within the classroom.

References

Educator resources. (n.d.). GLSEN. https://www.glsen.org/resources/educator-resources

Rao, Shrivastava & Sarkar. (2020). Towards an Inclusive Education Framework for India. Vidhi Centre for Legal Research. https://vidhilegalpolicy.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/InclusiveEducationReport_29May2020.pdf

Rajneesh Kumar Pandey v Union of India, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 132 of 2016 (2021)

Echo. (n.d.). Enhancing the ECHO Model. Retrieved on March 1, 2024 from https://www.echoindia.in/blog/iecho-enhancing-echo-model

Government of Assam. (2017). Module of Cluster level SMC members Training. https://ssa.assam.gov.in/sites/default/files/swf_utility_folder/departments/ssam_medhassu_in_oid_5/portlet/level_2/SMC%20training%20module%20Module%20_%20English.pdf

Gender inclusive holistic education in NEP. (n.d.). https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1847880

Lesotho National Federation of Organizations of the Disabled. (n.d.). Inclusive Education Practical Manual for Teachers. Retrieved on March 1, 2024 from https://www.inclusive-education-initiative.org/sites/iei/files/2021-11/LNFOD_Inclusive%20Education%20Practical%20Manual%20for%20Teachers.pdf

Medha Ghosh, Bring back NCERT teacher manual for trans students, demand raises, Maktoob Media, Retrieved from https://maktoobmedia.com/india/bring-back-ncert-teacher-manual-for-trans-students-demand-raises/

Ministry of Education. (2022). Transgender and gender non-conforming students (Unstarred Question No. 2251). Retrieved from https://pqars.nic.in/annex/256/AU2251.pdf

Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. (n.d.). National Education Policy 2020. https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/NEP_Final_English_0.pdf

Ministry of Human Resource Development. (2019). UDISE+ Unified District System for Education Plus. https://dsel.education.gov.in/sites/default/files/update/UDISE_Booklet.pdf

Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. (2022). Welfare Of Transgender Persons In India: Slew Of Measures By Central Government In Last Three Years (Report No. U-32-01-0110-300622/EXPLAINER). Retrieved from https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/documents/2022/jun/doc202263068501.pdf

National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India, AIR 2014 SC 1863 (2014)

UNICEF. (2015). ToT Modules on Inclusive Education Introductory Booklet. https://www.unicef.org/eca/sites/unicef.org.eca/files/00_ToT%20Introductory%20Booklet_March_2015.pdf