| Introduction
India is a large country with a population of over one billion people
spread over 3.28 m. sq. km. in a federal structure of 28 States and 7
Union Territories with 32 languages and numerous dialects. There is enormous
diversity in urban, semi-urban and rural situations and this contributes
to a wide spectrum of region-specific and culture-specific differences.
Accomplishing any task in this vast country always poses a great challenge.
In recent years, the Government of India has become increasingly concerned
about the needs and rights of persons with disabilities (PWDs) and issues
that concern their participation in mainstream civil society. A particularly
important issue is the development of adequate and trained manpower to
cater for the unique needs of the large disabled population.
The Government of India began taking special interest in the education
and rehabilitation of persons with disabilities as early as 1947. However
progress was slow until the whole disability sector received a boost in
1981 with the declaration of the International Year of the Disabled Persons
by the United Nations. Although initiatives to develop human resource
in the fields of rehabilitation and special education had been in existence
in Indiasince the early part of the 20th century, there had been no standardization
in these training programmes. . As a result, the syllabi of the courses
in rehabilitation and special education offered by the various institutions
in India differed widely. In order to introduce uniformity and ensure
minimum standards and quality of education and training in the field of
rehabilitation and special education, the Government of India, after wide
consultations with experts, decided in 1986 that a Body should be set
up to standardize courses at different levels and that brought the Rehabilitation
Council into being as a registered society.
But it was soon realized that a society did not have enough authority
to enforce standardization rules on other organizations of similar nature.
As a result, the Rehabilitation Council was given
the status of a Statutory Body through a Parliamentary
Act (1992) which came into effect in June, 1993. The new body was called
the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI). Being
re-established by an Act of Parliament, RCI was given statutory powers
to enforce the standardization and regulation of all training policies
and programmes in the field of rehabilitation and special education over
the whole country. The 1992 RCI Act was amended in 2000 to make the Council
more broad based by including important duties such as the promotion of
research in rehabilitation and special education and the maintenance of
uniformity in the definitions of various disabilities in conformity with
the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection
of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995.
RCI's Objectives
The main objectives of RCI now include:
(i) Regulating training policies and programmes;
(ii) Bringing about standardization of training courses/curricula;
(iii) Promoting research;
iv) Maintaining a Central Rehabilitation Register (CRR) for the registration
of professionals/ personnel working in the field of rehabilitation and
special education; and
(v) Encouraging continuing rehabilitation education.
The Categorization of Professionals for Human Resource Development
As a result of the RCI Act, the Council has responsibility
for developing, standardizing and regulating training programmes for 16
categories of professionals/personnel to ensure quality services
to persons with disabilities. The categories that have been recognized
for developing trained manpower are as follows:
1. Audiologists and Speech Therapists;
2. Clinical Psychologists;
3. Hearing Aid and Ear Mould Technicians;
4. Rehabilitation Engineers and Technicians;
5. Special Teachers for the Education and Training of the Handicapped;
6. Vocational Counsellors, Employment Officers and Placement Officers
dealing with the Handicapped;
7. Multipurpose Rehabilitation Therapists and Technicians;
8. Speech Pathologists;
9. Rehabilitation Psychologists;
10. Rehabilitation Social Workers;
11. Rehabilitation Practitioners in Mental Retardation;
12. Orientation and Mobility Specialists;
13. Community Based Rehabilitation Professionals;
14. Rehabilitation Counsellors/Administrators;
15. Prosthetists and Orthotists; and
16. Rehabilitation Workshop Managers
RCI Recognized Institutions and Courses on Special Education
RCI has a clearly defined role as a standardizing body for human resource
development and it can run courses of its own. But RCI also recognizes
a number of institutions and organizations as having suitable infrastructures
to offer courses at different levels in specific areas. Such institutions
and organizations range from Voluntary Organizations to Universities and
Medical Colleges.
Within the span of only last ten years, RCI has grown from having 20 recognized
and affiliated training institutions to having 181 validated institutions
which conduct 41 regular training programmes in addition to short term
refresher courses. Very recently, RCI has also developed a course in the
field of Autism Spectrum Disorders(ASD), and a training course for the
Deaf-Blind.
New programmes are being continuously developed to meet the manpower requirements
in this field and so far RCI has designed 80 different curricula to meet
the challenges of manpower development. For example, the Ministry of Human
Resource Development requested the RCI to develop a short-term course
for the training of teachers in the District Primary Education programme
(DPEP). RCI developed a 45-dayFoundation Course for resource teachers
working under DPEP for Integrated Education for theDisabled (IED). This
course is a prime example of attempts being made for inclusion of disabled
children in the general education system and of RCI's efforts to gear
itself up to meet specific challenges.
RCI also developed a short curriculum for the National Trust to train
care-givers to look after the children with autism, cerebral palsy, mental
retardation and multiple disabilities. This course will help parents,
siblings and relatives to take careof these children.
Manpower Development through Innovative Methods in Special Education
The annual output in India of qualified professionals and personnel in
the fields of rehabilitation and special education is currently between
4500 and 6000. In comparison to an output of only 450 in the year 1993,
this number appears very encouraging, but it is not going to solve the
vast need for trained manpower in India.
RCI realized that creating enough manpower through the regular training
systems will take an unreasonably long time, and it has launched distance
education programmes through Open Universities in India to speed up the
supply of manpower to provide services to persons with disabilities. Through
RCI's collaborative efforts with the Madhya Pradesh Bhoj Open University
(MPBOU), 67 study centers all over the country are now conducting B.Ed.
special education programmes. For in-service teachers, a Foundation Course
has been initiated through 173 institutions. This will help the teachers
in regular schools to manage the educational needs childrenwith disabilities
within their locality because special school facilities are very limited.
So far more than 2800 persons have been trained through this RCI and MPBOU
collaborative programme and plans are being made to train more than 2500
teachers every year through the distance mode to meet the demand for trained
teachers of adults and children with special needs.
As a result of collaborative efforts between RCI with the Indira Gandhi
National Open University (IGNOU) 25 prominent training institutions in
the field of disability have been recently recognised as tele-study centers.
These centres have been linked with Direct Reception Systems through satellite
for conducting distance education programmes.
Another recent RCI development has been the introduction of a credit-based
modular system for its courses. Many people want to acquire higher educational
qualifications and update their knowledge while continuing to work full
time because it is so difficult to find the time or resources to study
full time. For such people credit based courses offer a very encouraging
option. The Modular and Credit System has been common practice in developed
countries for many years and in India, IGNOU and other institutes of repute
have practiced this system successfully for a while. RCI too has now started
offering courses through this system in order to make fast strides in
human resource development.
Very shortly the Council will be launching a Certificate Course in Community
Based Rehabilitation through distance mode in collaboration with
the Banglore University, Karnataka and it is also planning some Parents'
Sensitization Programmes with the help of IGNOU.
Continuing Rehabilitation Education
Education is a continuous process and to continue to be effective, rehabilitation
professionals need to be kept abreast of the latest knowledge and processes
in their field of practice. With this in mind, RCI is making efforts to
update the knowledge and skills of registered professionals. This is achieved
through a number of short term/ refresher courses/orientation programmes/
seminars/workshops supported by the Council. The Council provides Associations/Institutions/
Universities/Organizations - both governmental and non-governmental -
with financial and curricular support to conduct such programmes for the
benefit of professionals.
Special Programmes for Broadening the Reach
The Council launched a National Bridge Course Programme
during October 1998 to give an opportunity to those Special Teachers Rehabilitation
Workers, who had been working in the area of disability without any formal
training/ recognized qualification prior to June 1993, i.e. when the RCI
Act came into operation. The main objective of the Bridge Course programme
was to provide a one-off opportunity to all those experienced workers
who did not have an RCI recognized qualification to entitle them to be
included in the Central Rehabilitation Register (CRR) of RCI. The Bridge
Course was of a month's duration with modules on all major areas of
disability. This course made the trainees eligible for registration with
RCI as Rehabilitation Personnel as per existing rules. This massive programme
was conducted by over 150 institutions throughout India and it was successfully
completed in March 2002, having trained over 12,000 personnel.
In July 1999, the Council launched the National Programme
for the Orientation of Medical Officers Working in Primary Health Centres
(PHCs) to Disability Management to help improve the quality of
services for the disabled in remote rural areas. The programme sought
to promote awareness regarding various disability issues such as aspects
of prevention, earlydetection/ intervention and rehabilitation through
a number of government and non-government agencies. PHCs are the only
structures within the health care system of India that function in every
part of the country. Each PHC has at its disposal the minimum essential
infrastructure to provide a range of front line services. It is the first
and more often than not, the last contact point for people in the rural
areas worst affected by lack of basic services. RCI felt that by sensitizing
the PHC Medical Officers to some of the key disability issues, valuable
services could be rendered to disabled people and their families in rural
areas. Through this programme, the Council has so far been able to reach
28 provinces of India with the help of 71 specialised agencies. So far,
more than 600 Master Trainers have been trained who have in turn trained
around 15,000 PHC Medical Officers.
To help ensure the participation of a large number of organizations in
its activities, RCI has established Zonal Committees in 5 major parts
of the country with the active involvement of established NGOs as nodal
agencies. The sensitization of law makers, policy makers, administrators,
media persons, etc. has been taken up through these agencies in order
to ensure attitudinal changes in the society through a multi-sectoral
approach.
Need Specific Publications for Spreading Knowledge
The RCI has published a great deal of material promoting the message of
inclusion in the field of special education. Some of its main titles include:
# Catalogue of Teaching Learning Material for Children with Special Needs
# Manual for Training of PHC Medical Officers
# Bridge Course Manuals in the Fields of MR, VI, HI, & LH
# Information and Guidance Booklet for Persons with Disabilities
# Report on Continuing Rehabilitation Education (CRE) Programmes
# Career Opportunities in the Field of Disability Rehabilitation &
Special Education.
# Autism Spectrum Disorder- A Resume of Resource Material
# Status of Disability in India - 2000
# Institution Builders in the Disability Sector.
RCI's Role in the Field of Visual Impairment
RCI is an apex level institution engaged in developing manpower for all
categories of disabilities. It does not have a focus on any particular
area of disability. However, it has special relevance for development
of manpower in the field of visual impairment in the present millennium.
Many of the recent initiatives of RC have proved particularly helpful
for the field of visual impairment because of their focus on information
technology. Information technology is a great equalizer in the context
of visual impairment where the rehabilitation and education of the visually
impaired persons are intertwined multi disciplinary processes. Today,
high technology is being used to educate and facilitate the employment
of visually impaired people. For example, speech software makes it much
easier for a blind person to operate a PC. Reading machines are available
to reduce dependence on human readers. Automatic transcription from Braille
to printed text has become possible. Aspheric plastic lenses have now
made it possible for many partially sighted persons to read ordinary print.
Devices like close circuit TVs, overhead projectors and the use of satellite
technology have greatly widened the possibilities for educating visually
impaired people. By embracing the latest technology RCI has transformed
educational opportunities for visually impaired persons.
Conclusion
In its pursuit of excellence in the field of human resource development
RCI will continue to strive to provide comprehensive rehabilitation services
and special education through trained and qualified rehabilitation professionals
and workers, teachers, parents and others. |