In the last two decades, several legal and policy measures highlighting the importance and the government’s commitment towards inclusive education are evident with the Right to Education (RTE) Act 2009, the Rights to Persons with Disability (RPwD) Act 2016, and more recently the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

In parallel, there have been several reports that have highlighted the impediments and barriers to adopting inclusive education practices in the Indian context. There is widespread agreement among education scholarship that inclusive education has the potential of being a conduit to meeting the education for all agenda as well as to improve the quality of education in general.

However, despite this impetus that surrounds inclusive education today, the practitioners’ voice has been conspicuous by its absence from the current discourse. The debates on inclusive education have been dominated by policymakers and researchers who have begun to show interest in the still nascent concept in India. Practitioners of inclusive education such as teachers, school leaders, civil society organizations, parents, and special educators have not had the opportunity to share their success stories nor speak about the barriers that they face in realising inclusion in practice.

Aligned strongly with the Azim Premji Foundation’s vision of contributing to a just, equitable, humane, and sustainable society, inclusive education is fast emerging as an important thrust area for the organization. With this commitment in mind, a two-day symposium is being organized on 16 and 17^th February 2024, at the Bengaluru campus to bring together researchers, and practitioners of inclusive education from different settings and contexts to deliberate upon some important questions and issues that must be answered if the vision of the RTE Act, RPwD Act, and the NEP 2020 are to be realised.

The broad themes of the symposium include: 

• Exclusion, intersectionality, and inclusive education
  
• Systems, processes, and culture of inclusive schools
• Inclusive pedagogy and practice

Where should I go within Azim Premji University, once I reach?

The symposium is accessible to everyone and also supported by speech language interpreters. The campus is wheelchair friendly and with clear wayfinding instructions.