The Indian Institute of Teacher Education (IITE), Gandhinagar, is set to launch a new course for special educators, i.e. educators who teach children with special needs.
IITE, established by the government of Gujarat, has begun the admission process for the four-year BSc-BEd integrated course for special educators who are trained in specific disabilities, including learning disabilities, speech or language impairments, visual impairments, among others.
The university said it has received approval from the Rehabilitation Council of India for 30 seats and will start offering the BSc-BEd integrated course from this academic year.
Notably, IITE set up a Centre of Special Education in 2019 to address the growing needs of inclusion for children with special needs by training and nurturing existing human resources in the field of rehabilitation and inclusive education. The university said the Rehabilitation Council’s approval for the integrated course for special educators comes after a thorough assessment of the centre’s activities.
IITE vice-chancellor Harshad Patel said it is essential children with disabilities get the proper education.
“There are 12 types of disabilities. Each has its own challenges and also needs to be handled differently. The integrated course aims to help the special educators develop the right skillset so they can offer the right guidance and counselling to the differently-abled children,” he said.
Special educators can have career opportunities as special educators in schools or colleges, project managers in special education projects, counsellors or therapists at rehabilitation centres and hospitals, CSR verticals of corporates, etc.
The New Education Policy 2020 also envisages that knowledge of how to teach children with specific disabilities will be an integral part of all teacher education programmes.