Nexus of Good: Blueprint for inclusivity

“The highest priority of school education will be Universal Acquisition of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) Skills for ALL children”

— NIPUN Bharat

Universal acquisition means when every child is learning, but despite the national mission, none of the mainstream FLN initiatives today are accessible to children on margins due to several gaps and challenges in terms of physical, social and learning access. Children on margins are those who have disabilities, mental illnesses, critical illnesses or are violence-affected. One in six children are on the margins today, and we will never be able to achieve FLN mission till we do not address their needs and enable inclusion for them. While India is putting its efforts in Access and Quality, Equity remains unaddressed.

Sol’s ARC is an NGO that has been working in the space of inclusive education since the past 20 years. From working directly with children on margins to then partnering with some of India’s leading NGOs like Educate Girls, Teach for India etc., the work is now being taken up at a systemic level to ensure that every last child learns. Its partnerships with two state governments, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, have helped us build an impactful inclusion model that can be replicated and institutionalised in any state.

Sol’s ARC systemic transformation model aims to align the national missions and programmes to include children on margins. It works with the state government, Samagra Shiksha as a Project Management Unit (PMU), and a technical partner to address challenges on non-identification and low learning outcomes for these children. The model provides implementable solutions to key stakeholders in the system to enable inclusion in even low-resourced mainstream government classrooms.

Here is how we developed solutions for stakeholders in the state ecosystem:

India has some of the most advanced policies around the world for inclusion but the problem lies in the implementation. As a Project Management Unit (PMU), implementation and process gaps are identified and help is provided to the state to build a vision for inclusion and work on critical aspects like mainstream programme alignment, inter-ministry convergence, unlocking budgets, building capacity of state officials, and streamlining implementation processes through clear directives.

Children on margins often face challenges to learn at the pace and in a way a mainstream classroom functions today. The content and methods are singular and do not provide opportunity for learning in different ways; nor do they provide additional support for struggling learners.

To address this, accessible learning materials based on Universal Design for Learning are built. This is an evidence-based approach for addressing diverse needs of children aligned to the materials the other children are using. This makes it easier for the teacher to include these children, as the teaching topic remains the same, but the workbooks children have are more accessible and appropriate to them. The same goes for assessments — both the formative as well as summative assessments are adapted in the same way.

17 lakh children in Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu use the inclusive learning materials that the NGO has created for literacy (English, Tamil) and numeracy (Math).

“I can see an improvement in Darshini, she now gets involved and participates in class activities after receiving the enrichment books. While conducting the progress assessment for the consecutive weeks, I was surprised with her answers,” says Saranya, teacher, Panchayat Union Middle School, Karuvelnayakanpatty.

Teachers often lack knowledge to understand the different risks children face, like disability, mental health challenges etc. This is addressed by providing them a teacher handbook with simple jargon-free information, alongside visuals about different risks children face, as well as an app-based universal screening tool to identify them at early stages.

Over 1.2 lakh teachers use these handbooks and have undergone various capacity-building trainings to understand how to make their classrooms inclusive.

Over 50 lakh children in Tamil Nadu have been screened to identify risks for health, nutrition, mental health challenges and disabilities.

“The app is new and unique and not only helps Children with Special Needs but other children too! We have learnt that these children shouldn’t be excluded as they have skills and are also entitled to many schemes that we have learnt today”, says Ms Suhasini, Panchayat Union Middle School Teacher, Marakkanam block, Villupuram District.

Capacity building and role clarity is undertaken for various stakeholders like HM’s, district officers, block officers, and special educators, to ensure they monitor and support all relevant stakeholders.

“In the DC trainings, the BLC officers shared their best practices in ensuring that the enrichment books, related circulars and other directives reached on ground. The District Collectors, District Officers and Assistant Project Officer came together to understand the challenges in implementing solutions for children on margins in their districts and learnt from each other through mock BLC meetings, and experience sharing”, says the State Project Coordinator.”

Sol’s Arc has developed a holistic model that provides solutions as well as builds capacity of the state machinery to foster equitable and inclusive schools. India’s first model of how a state can adopt an inclusive approach in ensuring Foundational Literacy and Numeracy truly becomes universal, for all has been built and demonstrated. The aim now is to replicate this model across multiple states in the country.

As scale is built through replication, Sol also believes that it cannot be the only organisation that works towards inclusion in education. With this in mind, the aim is to build capacity of mainstream organisations working in the FLN space to prioritise inclusion in the work they do. A workshop known as ‘The AAHA 2023’ was conducted recently in which content creators from across 35 organisations in the country participated to understand how they can adopt inclusion in their programmes. It was heartening to see this community sensitised and excited about adopting inclusion in their work.

"Together we explored the boundless possibilities of inclusive education, discussing innovative ways to make learning accessible for all. The event’s immersive sessions, thought-provoking workshops, and heartfelt stories reinforced the importance of diverse and equitable learning environments. Let’s continue our journey towards empowering every learner and building a more inclusive world." — Key Education Foundation

Under the inspired leadership of Sonali Saini, Sol presented a commendable model that is replicable and scalable. It deservedly won the Nexus of Good Award, 2023.

Views expressed are personal