Two-day conference for practitioners and policymakers on inclusion that works for children with disabilities

Date: 6th & 7th October, 2023
Location: Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIM-B), Bannerghatta Road

Updates

Why?

There is an urgent need to accelerate efforts and action to ensure that persons with physical, emotional, developmental and intellectual disabilities are not left behind. Despite many actions that have been taken, children/learners with disabilities are among those at highest risk of being excluded from school, or to be taught in segregated settings. We invite relevant stakeholders to ‘never-the-less’, the 2-day conference to emphasize the importance of ensuring more inclusive education systems to cater for the needs of the most vulnerable learners and communities as imperative for advancing human rights and sustainable development.

Aim

Presenting current Indian context of inclusion in education for children with disabilities within schools (Article 24 of United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities - UNCRPD; Right to Education (RTE), 2009; Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD), 2016).

Showcasing of Best Practices and Innovations to ensure equitable and inclusive education for all children, particularly those at highest risk of being excluded. Examples of Fourth Wave Foundation along with other leading solution providers, corporates and educational institutions.

Deliberating the framework of SDG 4 (Quality Education) and impact Education for All and the long term strategic interventions by corporate partners and funders.

Organisers

Schools Where All Belong

Schools Where All Belong of the Fourth Wave Foundation, established to empower children with disabilities and help them become a part of mainstream education, is based on the philosophy of inclusion. The program supports the vision of the Indian National Education Policy 2030, ensuring that all girls and boys have access to quality, equitable, and free Primary, and Secondary Education, leading to Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals of effective learning outcomes.

IIM-B

Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore is a renowned academic institution fostering excellence in management, innovation and entrepreneurship for business, government and society. The institution offers degree-granting programmes, certificate programmes, Executive Education Programmes and specialised courses in areas such as entrepreneurship and public policy. IIM-B has also been declared an Institute of National Importance under the IIM Act of 2017 and is the only Indian B-school in the Global Network for Advanced Management convened by the Yale School of Management.

400 Participants

Policymakers – advocating for greater support and guidance within the government for teacher education reforms, advocating for teacher education institutions to embrace new ideas, reform their practices, or implement new policies.

Heads of Institutions – to convince their teacher education institution directors (or colleagues) of the need for change; and/or who may want to join in a call for change at the government policy level or support other stakeholders to call for and implement changes.

Enablers of Education – work with corporate and social development investors who focus on teacher education as part of their call for improvements to address the problem of inclusion of people with disabilities.

Therapists and Practitioners – push for improvements in the pre-service teacher education that they and their future colleagues receive, so as to better prepare them for the realities of increasingly demanding and diverse classes.

Teacher Educators – lobby the government for policy change on teacher education and/or for support in reforming teacher education practices in the institutions; and/or who may want to do ‘internal advocacy’ to encourage more teacher educators to support change in the teacher education system.

Speakers

Shri Madhu Bangarappa

Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Government of Karnataka

Alphonsa Joseph

HOD, Psychology, Dr. S. R. Chandrasekhar Institute of Speech and Hearing

Dr Ankur Madan

Director, School of Education, Azim Premji University

Arman Ali

Executive Director, National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People

Ashwini Saxena

Chief Executive Officer, JSW Foundation

Dr Ashwin Mahesh

Advisory Board, Fourth Wave Foundation

C Balagopal

Advisory Board, Fourth Wave Foundation

V S Basavaraju

Former State Commissioner- Rights of Persons with Disability Act, Government of Karnataka

Cauvery B B IAS

Commissioner for Public Instruction, Government of Karnataka

Dr Gayathri Vasudevan

Chief Impact Officer, Sambhav Foundation

Dr Gitanjali G Govindrajan

Founder, Snehadhara Foundation

Dr Indumathi Rao

Regional Advisor, CBR Network, South Asia

C C Joseph

Director, Fourth Wave Foundation

Krithika Sambasivan

Senior Specialist, Inclusive Education, Pacta

Kumari Shibulal

Founder and Chairperson, Shibulal Family Philanthropic Initiatives

Madaiah Madegowda

Professor, Indian Institute of Health Management Research

Dr Meenu Bhambhani

Vice President- Global Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (GIDE) Business Consultant, State Street

Dr Mukta Kulkarni

Chairperson, Internal Committee, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore

Dr Niranjanaradhya V P

Development Educationist and Social Activist

Paul Ramanathan

President, Disability NGOs Alliance

Prateek Madhav

Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer, AssisTech Foundation

Dr Prathibha Karanth

Managing Trustee, Com DEALL Trust

Radhika M Alkazi

Founder, ASTHA

Raja Shanmugam

Advisory Board, Fourth Wave Foundation

Rishikesha T Krishnan

Director, Indian Institute of Management - Bangalore

Rukmini Krishnaswamy

Director, Spastics Society of Karnataka

Dr G N Sangeetha

Documentarist, N.M.K.R.V. Women’s College

S D Shibulal

Co-founder and Former Chief Executive Officer, Infosys

Sunil Jain

Chairman, Indian Wheelchair Tennis Tour

Swarup B R

Advisory Board, Fourth Wave Foundation

Uma Mahadevan IAS

Additional Chief Secretary, Rural Development & Panchayat Raj Department, Government of Karnataka

Dr B K S Vardhan

Director, State Institute for School Leadership, Educational Planning & Management

Vasanthi Srinivasan

Chairperson, Digital Learning, IIM-B. Advisory Board, Fourth Wave Foundation

Dr Vishal R IAS

Secretary, Fiscal Reforms, Government of Karnatak

Dr Zelalem Birhanu Taffesse

UNICEF, Chief of Field Office for Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana

Working Group