Tripura Government is taking initiatives aiming to create an inclusive ambiance in schools where Divyanga students. Moreover, in accordance with the New Education Policy (NEP), ‘Mission Mukul’ with a focus on Early Childhood Care & Education (ECCE) was initiated jointly by the Department of School Education and the Department of Social Welfare and Social Education.

Addressing a press conference, School Education director Chandni Chandran said a number of initiatives have been taken for implementing inclusive education in the state and establishment of four Model Inclusive Schools is one of such initiatives.

Kshudiram Basu English Medium School in West Tripura, Kirit Bikram Institution in Gomati District, Kabi Nazrul Vidyabhavan in Khowai District and Padmapur H.S. School in North Tripura district are the four proposed schools.

In these Model Inclusive Schools various facilities will be provided to the Children with Special Needs so that they can receive education in an inclusive environment along with other students, the School Education Director said.

As per the plan, 12 Special Educators specialized in different disabilities will be appointed in each school for providing need based support to the children with special needs. Also, infrastructure of the schools will be designed providing easy access to the Divyanga children.

The teachers already visited two Inclusive schools- Montfort School in Agartala and Montfort H.S. School in Champaknagar for setting up the four Model Inclusive Schools in the State.

Mission Mukul

Chandni Chandran also detailed about ‘Mission Mukul’ which will be initiated jointly by the Department of School Education and the Department of Social Welfare and Social Education.

The ‘Mission Mukul’ will focus on Early Childhood Care & Education (ECCE) in accordance with the National Education Policy.

The objective of the ECCE is to achieve universal acquisition of foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) which is an indispensable pre-requisite for all future schooling and lifelong learning. Under this perspective, Pre-School Education for children in the age group of 3-6 years who are enrolled in Anganwadi Centers (AWCs) of the state needs to be emphasized.

Joint Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Mission Mukul has already been issued, she said.

One of the important features is that 2-3 AWCs would be tied up with nearby government schools which would be treated as Nodal School for the purpose. This will done after taking into account of topography, communication and other allied factors, she said.