Student name: Shazia Bano Abbasi

Course: emerging issues in education in Pakistan

Semester: Fall 21

Mentor: Prof. Dr. Anjum Bano Kazimi

Assignment: 3

Topic: Five issues in special education in Pakistan

Date: -11-2021

Issue 1. Acceptance of special need children in family and society.

Allah subhanautalah created all human being equally in the entire world, but unfortunately, there
are some people among us who are mentally and physically ill by birth, or because of any injury
and malady as well but unluckily our society does not accept them even I myself have seen many
people who don’t accept them. They make fun of them and ignore them rather make them feel
comfortable and treat like normal human being which is very disgusting in our society.
According to the available information, Pakistan has 3.2 million of its population out of 208
million, have different types of impairments, There are many problems with special education of
this population having special needs.

Even though,When a child born with special need in a family their parents neglect them and do
not treat as they treat their normal children. They might think this child is useless and will not
benefit in future and they consider them burden on society but let me clear one thing here I am
not talking about the all parents, no doubt there are very few sensible and educated parents who
give special care to their special need children because they believe that their child is not disable
but differently able and Allah has sent them with some other special abilities through that they
can conquer the arena of the world.

Furthermore, there are many myths regarding this kind of special need children such as it is
considered the sign of curse in the result of their parent’s sins. These sort of comments from the
surrounding make their parents guilty and depressed that could be one of the factors behind the
neglecting behavior towards the education of their special need children.

This is fact that the special need children needs extra care attention and time as compared to
normal children but unfortunately their parents could not fulfill their needs as they have other
normal children. Moreover, with special need children are ignored on every stage of life like
games, extra curriculum activities and social gatherings as well as in education setting because
their parents think if they take this child out with them people will pity on their child and will
pass negative or heartbreaking comments that must be hurting the parents as well as the child. So
parents keep them in isolation and do not let them out to interact with normal people.
I would like to highlight one more thing it was noticed that students with special needs who are
educated at separate schools in a boarding or non boarding model are deprived from their rights
to actively participate in social life within the process and they feel isolated. Since 1970s,
legislations have been made to allow for them to be educated with their normal peers in the same
environment. Positive reflections of these legislations was effective in the adoption of inclusive
education for students with special needs today

Students with special needs, especially young people, help develop socially acceptable behavior
at an early age. In cases where social acceptance is low or nonexistent, children with special
needs are observed to be lonely and worthless, with low self-esteem and academic achievement,
and poor academic performance, expressed through behaviors such as distaste and disobedience
(Sucuoğlu 2006; Demir Şad 2007; Ergüden 2008)

Solution:

If we really want to make every individual affective and progressive in the nation then we need
to aware the society as a whole for the good will of these special need children, according to my
point of view Media can play a very crucial role in this regard, by inviting the religious scholars
and Medical experts in different programs to enlighten this type of condition according to the
religious teachings as well as in medical sciences to aware the people. Make them realize that
special need children might be a test by the creator so accept his will and treat these children as
normal children to make their creator happy, Secondly the medical experts can provide the
information regarding different impairments in children to their parents, they also can teach
people how to deal with these kind of children to bring them towards normal life. The teachers in
educational institutes can arrange programs and invite some successful impaired people to share
their success journey with the students. The teacher can tell the stories of such people in the class
to convincing the normal children to accept these kind of children as they are also an important
part of the society. These special need children have many abilities to do things better as many
others do. Special need children should provide chance to get education with their normal peers
in inclusive education system. Inclusive education aims to provide support services for children
with disabilities to increase their independence in life, to be educated in the same environment as
their peers, to achieve academic and social success through interaction, and to gain opportunities
for self-development. Effective and productive members of society (Kardzhaali and Iftar 1998,
Akchamette and Seber1999; Sucuoğlu, 2006).

It has been argued that through interaction with peers and sharing experiences, students with
special needs can build healthy communication, use social role models and communication skills
effectively, and learn faster, improving self-control and self-esteem (Wu et al. 2008

Furthermore, students with special needs increase their sense of belonging to this group because
they interact closely with their regular peers. In this case, the homeroom teacher should plan
activities and activities in the inclusive classroom that can foster friendships and accommodate
students with special needs from their peers (Sucuolu 2006). Metin (1992) argues that socially
acceptable behaviors can be acquired at an early age by facilitating easy and intense interactions
between students and regular peers with special needs, especially at an early age, when inclusive
environments are well planned.

2. Untrained Teachers.

Teachers having students with special need in their class room is a big challenge for the teachers
it is very essential for the teachers to understand the problems and the needs of these special need
students to encourage them to participate in learning process so in this case teacher should be
well trained, skills full, armed with knowledge and understanding regarding the different
impairments in their students. In Pakistan the quality of teachers in schools is unsatisfactory.
According to the one of the UNESCO reports, the quality of the teachers and instruction in
Pakistani schools is of low quality [5]. This report further says that this situation is worse in
remote areas of Punjab, Sindh and Baluchistan where schools have shortage of teachers if there
are teachers in schools they do not use new methods and strategies of teaching and learning [3].
Majority of the teachers do not know about lesson planning which depict them unable of dealing
with different problems in the process of teaching and learning.

This is fact that we do not have skills full-trained professionals in education. That is why special
needs students are deprived from quality education, which takes these students downward.

If an educator do not understand a child’s ability and challenges, he and she will not have a
better idea about how to proceed with the lesson plans. A child with different impairments is
already concerned about standing out they need extra attention and support from teacher and
classmates.

Research shows that in education, the children with special needs are more bullied than normal
students, which become the cause of demotivation of participation in schools activities.
Furthermore, if a student use alternative or assistive devices to communicate and he wants to
participate in class discussion teacher mostly ignore this special needs student in the result this
special needs students feel isolated and lose their confidence and interest in the learning process.
Teaching more effectively to these special need children by understanding the different
impairments in them and also understanding their needs, teachers should be provided a proper
trainings and make them aware about new techniques and methodologies useful for these
students in the classroom to provide quality education. Unfortunately, there is lack of training
opportunities for teachers in Pakistan. Whenever we have various teacher training institutes in
Pakistan. But there is no proper framework for the professional development programs of
teachers. Furthermore, These training institutes are even not well resourced and trained
human resource like expert trainers and administrators. According to the information available,
A National Training Center for the Disabled was created in Islamabad, as well as a National
Mobility and Independence Training Center for special education instructors.

This initiative has received funding from the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF,
UNESCO, and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Shortage of trained teachers is
not only existed in special education but also we have shortage of trained teachers in general
education. In Sindh, PITE Provincial Institute of Teacher Education is also producing trained
teachers but the production of trained teachers by PITE is not much satisfactory according to
the need and demands. Many teachers can not avail this opportunity because of the unfair
selection of the trainees for training. I myself know many of the teachers who really want to be
trained teachers, they want to enhance their professional skills by attending different teachers
training programs and wish to perform more effectively in classroom.

Solution:

In my opinion, pre-service and in-service training should be mandatory for all teachers to
enhance their professional skills. Teacher training should be top priority by the government.
Professional development programs should be run on regular basis in order to achieve the
objectives of education and to meet international standards of SDGs. Continue professional
development enable the teachers of special need children to deal with them accordingly and
can tackle the problems of these students in learning process in the classroom.

Educators are the role model of our society. They can make young people equipped with the
information they need to become productive citizens Educators continue to move students
progressively upwards.

Training is very essential for improvement of quality performance of the teachers. No doubt,
teaching is a challenging job, it requires continue professional development. So, I suggest
teacher should be provided training annually and make sure the 100% involvement of teachers
in it. Trainings can be arrange phase wise in all areas of country. I believe, only the skillful
teachers can bring a gigantic change in education system by providing quality education to the
students and can make them productive citizens. According to the information available, A
National Training Center for the Disabled was created in Islamabad, as well as a National
Mobility and Independence Training Center for special education instructors. This initiative has
received funding from the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, UNESCO, and the United
Nations Development Program (UNDP). We need to produce skillful trained professionals by
utilizing these training facilities properly.

3.Involvement of parents:
In my opinion the second issue in special education is lack of parents involvement.
Unfortunately, the prevailing view in society is that people with disabilities do not need
to study. They cannot compete for different opportunities in life. So it is not necessary
to spend on their studies. And that we must look at them with pity. People with
disabilities are believed to remain dependent on other members of the family they were
born into. Thus, they are seen as a burden rather than a useful member of society.

In Pakistan, and in developing countries mostly the parents of special needs children who are
illitrate and even poor too they have no knowledge regarding the impairment of their child, this
unawareness and their financial position of these parents hinden their accessibility to education.
But if we talk about educated parents except fewer, do not disclose disability of their child at
early stage of their lives and do not take steps for their rehabilitation and education, particularly,
in case of girls. If there are few parents who understand the needs and requirments of their
special need child and they take initiative to educate their child and enrolled them in educational
institute, but the mistake those parents mostly do by keeping themselves out of touch with the
teachers and the schools. . They don’t know even they don’t want to know, what their child is
learning at school because they think that they have fulfilled their responsibility to enrolled their
child in a school and now they are the responsibility of teachers and schools. In addition, to
explain this issue I would like to give the reference of the research done by the Gill
Crozier* and JaneDavies, University of Sunderland,UK.with Bangladeshi and Pakistani
heritage families in the north-east of England. They examine ways schools may or may not
try to “engage” parents, discuss ways in which discord may arise between the needs, values, and
traditions of the family and the school. They argued that rather than parents not aligning with the
values and requirements of the school, it is the schools themselves that fail to differentiate and
realize the potential that parents can bring.

In that research they have used the term ‘’Hard to reach’’, the term 'hard to reach parents' refers
to parents who are socially excluded and who, ostensibly, need to be 'pulled in' and re-engaged
as stakeholders, whether they live on the outside of school or society as a whole (cf Levitas,
1998).

Solution:

This is a common consideration that home is the first school for a child and parents can
play a vital role in the education of special needs children by home-School relationship. In
the “transplant model”, professionals transfer their skills and expertise to parents to help
them become more competent and able to play the role of co-teachers/co-educators, for
example, in parent classes; Start listening to their child read, play with it or use the toy
library. Therefore, parents are seen as a resource (Dale, 1996, p. 9). These two types place
the balance of power in the hands of professionals and it is best to simply “allow” parents
to support them in a way that is based on their decisions. This transplant model can be
more effective for the development and progress in the education of the special need
children.

4. Frequent change in policies

One of the main causes of ineffective implementation of special education policies is the
uncertainty of policies related to special education and inclusive education. The National Policy
on Rehabilitation for Persons with Disabilities was developed in 1986. This policy focuses on
inclusive education for children with disabilities by providing them with facilities in general
schools. . This policy was repealed in 1988 when a new policy recommended separate
educational institutions for people with disabilities. Then again in 2002, the National Policy on
Special Education introduced the idea of inclusive education in Pakistan. "

Ironically, this changed again in 2006 when the idea of inclusive education was removed from
the national action plan. 2007 of the United Nations Commission on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities. In addition, Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals calls for inclusive
education. It is clear that special education policies in Pakistan are uncertain and, for most of
the time, they are inconsistent with the United Nations policies and charters that Pakistan has
ratified. The government's enforcement arm remains hesitant and uncertain, so it's people with
disabilities who benefit.

Solution:

I must suggest here that our higher authorities and policy makers should pay more attention
towards the special education in order to raise the standard of special education in our country.
Government should make proper policies according to the needs of these mentally or physically
impaired peoples’ education and let the institutions work on the implementation of these
policies with consistency to get healthy results. It would be better if our Government take help
from the health department to make effective policies in order to improve the standard of
special education because medical experts know well about these special need children and
their problems so they can help out more effectively in policy making process.

5. Low budgetary allocation for Special needs children education:

Finance is considered the fuel of engine for any running system. Pakistan's education system has
been dameged mainly due to financial unavailability. In 2014, government allocated less than
2.5% of their budget to the education sector, which is not enough for the nation's growing
educational needs today. In many countries in the developing region, such as Sri Lanka and
Bangladesh, the allocation of funds to education has increased. But it is decreasing in Pakistan
with the passage of time.

In order to run any institution we need enough required Educational resources such as books,
libraries, furniture, and many other facilities are important for a smooth educational process.
There are no facilities for books, libraries and reading materials at any educational institution in
the country. In addition, there are overcrowded classrooms, a shortage of teachers, and poorly
equipped laboratories.

Now I am highlighting the issue of low budget for special needs education , I researched on some
fact that Financial resources for the basis for the success of any intervention. There have not
been enough budgetary allocations. Government of Punjab has allocated Rs. 1.3 billion for
special education in 2019-20 budget with Rs. 210 million for establishment of 11 new special
education institutions in the province. This allocation is less than Rs. 1000 per disabled person in
Punjab. The situation in Province of Sindh is even bleaker. Financial Year 2018-19 budgetary
allocation for special education in Sindh stood at Rs. 200 million. ‘And this is coritimious trend
in Sindh. During Financial Year 2015-16 Rs. 200 million were allocated, meaning thereby that
special education is neglected sector in annual provincial budgets/ Furthermore, federal
government does not have special head for special education in budget document, similar is the
case in budget documents of KP and Baluchistan. Federal government supports families with
disabled persons under social proJction program under Individual Financial Support by Bait-ul-
Ma1. During 2018-19 Rs 2s Million were disbursed, which is not sufficient.This , insufficient
budgetary allocation, creates several issues for provision of special education,
The size and extent of disability suggests that the current number of special education institutions
cannot accommodate even 10% of the population with disabilities in the country. With current
budget allocations, the scope of special education cannot be realized. As mentioned above, there
are 202 special education institutions in Pakistan, excluding Balochistan. To meet the special
educational needs of people with disabilities, new infrastructure activities are needed. This does
not seem to be possible without adequate financial allocation. This means that financial
constraints are an obstacle at the implementation level, as new special education institutions can
not be built without sufficient funding. This affects access to education especially in less
developed rural areas, where there are more people with disabilities.

Solution:
In my view, the Government should adopt the concept of Inclusive education in the country
because if our Government is unable to provide sufficient amount for special Education then I
think it would be great idea to merge the current special education budget into the budget of
general education and combine them and initiate Inclusive education in the country. According
to Thomas and Vaughan (2004) the goal of Inclusive Education is to value all children equally in
education as they become able to take full part in social life of society in their future adult life.
Government should work seriously on the improvement of special education to produce these
special need children as effective citizen and progressive part of the society. I am quite sure that
if special need children provided the quality education, they can surely contribute productively in
the society same as normal people.

References:

1. M.S. Farooq, Journal of Quality and Technology Management , PROBLEMS FACED

BY STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS IN ORDINARY PAKISTANI
SCHOOLS , June 2012
2. Ahmad Iqbal 1, Kahil ur Rehman2, Asghar Ali 1, Itbar Khan 1, Fazal Akber Khan 1
International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education (IJERE) Critical Analysis
of the Problems of Education in Pakistan: Possible Solutions, June 2014.
3. Crozier Gill and Davies Jane, British Educational Research Journal, Hard to reach
parents or hard to reach schools? A discussion of home–school relations, with
particular reference to Bangladeshi and Pakistani parents, June 2007
4. Renick R. Patricia, EDITORIAL, Current Issue: Electronic Journal for Inclusive
Education (Summer/Fall 2015)

5. Hafeez Amjad, SPECIAL EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN: Problem Tree Analysis:

Challenges and Policy Intervention, November 2019