2nd Inclusive Education Conference For Tibetan School Leaders Commences in Delhi [Tuesday, 16 November 2010, 4:07 p.m.]

New Delhi:
The Department of Education of the Central Tibetan Administration is
conducting the Second Inclusive Education Conference for school leaders
in Delhi from 16 – 18 November.The inaugural session was held at the conference hall of Central Tibetan Schools Administration (CTSA) in Delhi. A
group of thirty-three heads of Tibetan schools are attending the
conference to explore ways to involve all sections of schoolchildren,
regardless of their individual characteristics or difficulties, in
order to make the schools more supportive and inclusive to them.  Education
Officer Tsering Phuntsok said that the conference aims to give impetus
to the inclusive practices in the Tibetan schools and expressed hope
that the training would help school administrations in enhancing
understanding on the issues and challenges to make schools supportive
and inclusive to all sections of children. He said the education
department is attaching great importance in making best efforts to
educate students with special needs in regular schools together with
other students, in accordance to the principles enshrined in the
education policy.  Ms Nicola Tansley from UK is the resource
person who has rich experience on inclusive education and worked among
the Tibetans to address the issue in Tibetan schools. Outlining the
objectives of inclusive education, Ms Tansley said the system is not
just about serving disabled children, but a holistic approach to make
every child fully part of the whole by sharing their needs and
listening to their ideas. The conference aims to identify barriers to
learning and participation, and to develop understanding that
overcoming barriers to inclusion improves schools for everyone, she
added.

From left: Ms Nicola Tansley, an expert on inclusive education, speaks during the course of three-day conference on inclusive education for Tibetan school leaders in New Delhi

 It
was emphasised that the teachers should be more sensitive to the
children’s feelings, which will help to mitigate discrimination. The
participants were urged upon to actively deliberate to come up with a
concrete action plan in strengthening inclusive education in Tibetan
schools.The participants will discuss issues for inclusion in
Tibetan schools based on the finding from the department of education
and other work. Sessions on brain and learning, bullying, disabled
children, school improvement, infrastructure and systems are on the
agenda.  The participants from twenty-seven different Tibetan
schools have been invited to participate in the workshop cum
conference. These include Principals, Rectors, Headmasters/mistress and
a Director from the Central Tibetan Schools Administration, Snow Lion
Foundation, Nepal, TCV Majnu-ka-tilla, TNMF School Clementown and
Ngoenga Special Needs School, Dehradun.Shri S C Khuntia,
Chairman/CTSA and Joint Secretary to the Ministry of Human Resource
Development, Government of India, will be the chief guest on the
closing function on 18 November. CTSA Director Alok Verma, Education
Officers A.S. Rawat, S.P. Rana and Kalsang Gonpo, Education Officer,
Bureau of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, New Delhi will attend the
closing programme. Department of Education, CTA officials Education
Officer Tsering Phuntsok and Under-Secretary Kalsang Rinchen are
coordinating and organising the whole programme.The first
inclusive education conference for school leaders was conducted in
January 2010 for school leaders of Tibetan schools in the Northern
India. (Report filed by Tsering Phuntsok, Education Officer, DOE)