Inclusion in Higher Education: A Way Towards Perception to Reality

Teachers are perceived to be an integral component in the implementation of inclusive education. According to the University Grants Commission (UGC, 2014), 6% of India's youth population is in Universities and Colleges. However, just 1.2% of the 3.6 lakh disabled youth, who should have been studying according to India's norm for the general youth population, are in the Universities and Colleges. It brings the stark reality into an established truth that India's higher educational system is not accessible to 98.8% of its disabled youth. Although inclusion has been at the core of teaching and learning in higher education for some time, universities and colleges are still a far cry from beginning truly inclusive. Among the supporting factors, studies have shown the importance of faculty's perception toward students with disabilities, their awareness of these students' needs, and their knowledge of the reasonable accommodations available. These perceptions influence success or failure of students with disabilities, and affect inclusion in higher education. With this background the researcher is motivated to investigate the issue of perception of university teachers in Indian context.