Inclusive Education in New Delhi, India

subsequent implementation of various policies and programs by the Indian government to enhance the participation of students with disabilities in regular schools, there has been a steady growth of inclusive education. Such initiatives, however, have placed new demands on schools, especially on teachers who have the major responsibility for implementing inclusion at the classroom level. Literature from other countries indicates that for inclusion to be successful, it is essential that classroom teachers ’ concerns about implementing such programs be identified and systematically addressed. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of research about teacher concerns regarding inclusive education in India. This study was undertaken to identify the concerns and perceived barriers of regular school teachers in Delhi, India about the inclusion of students with disabilities. Respondents were secondary school teachers working in schools in Delhi that were involved in teaching special needs children. Two focus group interviews and 20 individual semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data from the participants. The flexible qualitative analysis program QRS NVivo was utilized for data analysis. Three concerns and eleven barrier themes emerged