INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN THE LIGHT OF NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY 2020

Inclusion in education signifies the flexibility of the educational system, ensuring that every child receives the optimal opportunity to develop in accordance with all their exceptional characteristics. Inclusive education means providing quality education to every learner by removing inequity and ensuring participation for all. After a long period of 34 years, a new National Education Policy was formulated in India in 2020. This article discusses the measures regarding inclusive education outlined in the NEP-2020. This is purely a qualitative study. The literature review method comprehensively applied for the present study. NEP-2020 discusses various aspects of inclusive education such as- inclusion in school education, inclusion in higher education, major challenges of inclusive education in the context of India etc. Regarding inclusion in school education this education policy states- Education is a tool for establishing social equality and justice, Education will be expanded with the aim of building an impartial and inclusive society, Gender discrimination must be eliminated from the level of school education by properly implementing Government Policies, Special emphasis on the education of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, students with special needs will learn with general students, emphasized should be placed on the participation of socio-economically disadvantaged students in education etc. to accelerate inclusion in education, proposals were made to establish initiatives such as NCC Wings, Special Education Zones, Gender-Inclusion Fund’ , ‘Inclusion Fund’, ‘Single Window System’ etc. The NEP-2020 advocates for equality and inclusion in the field of higher education. In has been stated that it must be ensured that all students in the country have access to high quality higher education. However, the NPE-2020 outlines several challenges regarding inclusive education such as- poverty, linguistic barriers, social norms, lack of school infrastructure, gender discrimination, lack of participation in education of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and minorities, inflexible curriculum, limited teaching methods, lack of funding, lack of social awareness and positive attitude, various disadvantages of using technology etc.