EMBRACING DIVERSITY AND EQUALITY THROUGH INCLUSIVITY

MICHELLE R. MAGLAQUI

It is everyone’s right to have access and equal opportunity to education no matter who they are. Every student has their own talents, abilities, and potential that should be nurtured and nourished. In order to achieve equality and diversity within the educational system, inclusive education in every classroom should be promoted. It is about having a diverse group of students that came from different backgrounds and with different abilities and learn together in the same classroom. It is a kind of environment with diverse students who feel valued, supported, and empowered. Inclusive education promotes equality and social inclusion. It dismantles the biases that kept certain groups from accessing quality education. It ensures that students with disabilities and from marginalized communities get the same chances as everyone else. It addresses and prevents disparities or distinctiveness in educational system, and in short, it makes the system fairer. But inclusive education is more than just a strategy, it is a whole new way approach to education. It challenges the old idea that some people should be left out because they have this and that abilities or disabilities. It is in inclusive education that we can create a new way of looking at education that upholds equality and embraces diversity. Inclusive education is not just a passing trend, it is an uphill battle to take to ensure that every child, regardless of abilities and background has the right to quality education.

-oOoThe author Secondary School Teacher III at Francisco G. Nepomuceno Memorial High School