India has achieved phenomenal growth in the field of special education and rehabilitation in the last two decades, J.P. Singh, Chairman Amity Foundation and Developmental Disabilities (AFDD), Amity University, Uttar Pradesh, said today.

Speaking at a two-day national summit, which began here, Singh said that there were only 20 recognised institutions in 1991, which swelled to 450 institutions in 2012, indicating the growth of the country in the field of special education.

“The Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2016 Act was a land mark legislation offering five per cent reservation for persons with disabilities,” he said.

The summit: Inclusion – Means or End hosted by Avinashilingam University for Women and co-organised by the University of Minnesota as part of the Obama–Singh 21st Century Knowledge Initiative Project.

Dr. Brian Abery, the Indo –U.S. partner, who joined online, traced the U.S. perspectives of Inclusive Education, U.S. legislation and most importantly the significant of equity which is an essential component for inclusive education.

The Chancellor of Avanashilingam University, P.R. Krishnakumar, highlighted how Ayurveda has impact on the curative function of disabilities.

The summit focuses on inclusive education, which reflects values and principles and concerned with challenging the ways in which educational systems reproduce and perpetuate social inequalities with regard to marginalised and excluded groups of students across a range of abilities, characteristics, and socioeconomic circumstances.

Hence, inclusion is linked with the principles of equality and social justice in both educational and social domains, a release said.

About 200 people including teachers, educators, NGO professionals, school teachers, and teacher trainees and pre-service teachers, are attending the summit.