FACTORS AFFECTING THE ATTITUDE OF TEACHERS TOWARDS INITIATIVES OF THE GOVERNMENT TO DEVELOP INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS

Inclusive Education is an approach to education where students with special needs including those with disabilities are educated in neighborhood schools in age-appropriate regular classroom settings along with students without disabilities under one roof.The disabled students are provided with support and services to ensure their active participation and engagement in all activities of the school.It denotes that the children, irrespective of their strengths and weaknesses, will be part of the mainstream education.The Government has been initiating several schemes and policies towards promoting inclusive education during the past several decades.The teachers working in inclusive schools should have a positive attitude and right perceptions towards inclusive education, providing equal opportunities to disabled children on par with their peers without disabilities.The present study is an attempt to explore the factors affecting the attitude of primary school teachers towards the initiatives of the Government to develop inclusive education.The study was conducted using survey method.The sample of the study consists of 500 teachers (120 Headmasters and 380 Secondary Grade Teachers) selected randomly from 120 primary schools from Kakinada District of Andhra Pradesh.The data were collected from the respondents using a self-developed questionnaire by the researcher.The variables considered for the study include gender, age and location of the school.The data were analyzed using differential and inferential statistics.The findings of the study revealed that gender and location of the school have no influence on the attitude of primary school teachers towards initiatives of the Government to develop inclusive education.However, the age of the teachers has a positive significant influence on their attitude towards initiatives of the Government to develop inclusive education.