Opinions of the teachers in Trashigang District of Bhutan on inclusive education

Abstract The present study explored teacher s opinions about inclusion of students with disabilities and special needs in to regular local schools, and factors that influenced such opinions. As Bhutan has recently embarked and is committed to diversifying education system so that children with disabilities and with special needs will also be able to access and benefit from education. They will, to the extent possible, be able to attend a local school together with their non-disabled peers. The fact that most of the teachers in Bhutan are not trained in this field, education has set a vision and objective to re-orient the teacher training in future. As such, it was interesting to survey the teachers opinions as well as their understanding of the relevant concepts. The findings could be a starting point to achieve this objective of educating teachers. It is my assumption that teachers understanding and acceptance of the policy and philosophy of inclusive education is a significant predictors of the degree to which they carry out inclusive practices and the out comes of such practices. The sample consists of 100 teachers in nine different schools- 4 primary, 2 lower secondary, 1 middle secondary, 1 higher secondary and an institute in Trashigang, an Eastern District of Bhutan. Survey was the main design, where questionnaires were the main instrument supplemented by semi-structured interviews of selected respondents. 46 % of the teachers had experience of teaching students with disabilities in their class up to 2003. Even though, in general 90 % of the teachers feel that it is the right of every child (including with disability) to attend school in their home community, yet only 55 % of them support the idea of educating children with disability in the local schools, along with their non-disabled peers in the same classroom. 64 % of them say they are not clear about the meaning of the concept of inclusive education and 56 % say the same for integrated education. Many confuse subject integration and wholesome education with these two concepts. 70 % of them expressed the need to acquire skills and knowledge on Special Needs Education that could empower them as teachers. Further, 58 % of the teachers prefer a model, where children with disabilities learn some lessons in the regular classroom as well as some in special classes. 72 % of my respondents are of the opinion that there is still the need to raising public awareness regarding the education of children with disability. The focus of teachers suggestions were on building their own competence by acquiring more knowledge and skills, which could empower them as teachers to help their students better in the inclusive setting