: India has achieved phenomenal growth in the field of special education and rehabilitation in the last two decades, a senior official of Amity Foundation and Developmental Disabilities (AFDD) said here today.
This growth could be gauged from the fact in the number of recognised institutions which had swelled from just 20 in 1991 to 450 institutions in 2012, J P Singh, Chairman of AFDD, Amity University, Uttar Pradesh, said.
Speaking as chief guest at a two day national summit 'Inclusion - Means or End' which began here, he said the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2016 Act was a landmark legislation offering five per cent reservation for persons with disabilities.
The summit is being hosted by Avinashilingam University for Women and co-organised by University of Minnesota as part of the Obama-Singh 21st Century Knowledge Initiative Project.
Dr Brian Abery, the Indo-US partner who joined the summit online, traced US perspectives of Inclusive Education, U.S. legislation and the significance of equity, which is an essential component for inclusive education, a University release said.
Avanashilingam University for Women Chancellor P R Krishnakumar highlighted how Ayurveda has had an impact on the curative function of disabilities.
The summit focuses on Inclusive Education, which reflects values and principles and is concerned with challenging ways in which educational systems reproduce and perpetuate social inequalities with regard to marginalised and excluded groups of students across a range of abilities, characteristics and socio economic circumstances.
Hence inclusion is linked with the principles of equality and social justice in both educational and social domains, the release said.
About 200 delegates, including teachers, educators, NGO professionals, school teachers,teacher trainees and pre-service teachers are attending the summit.
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