The Future of Education

This artice reflects on the transition from the mainstream education and special education system to the inclusive education system. The purpose of this review article is to assess the best practices in inclusive education and how the transition has been affected in the developed regions (Australia, Canada, and U.K) and developing countries (India, Sri Lanka). The paper also aimed to determine the current status of inclusive education in Punjab, Pakistan and proposed a way forward to make the education system more inclusive. A four-pillar framework is used to analyze the best practices of inclusive education. The situation of different regions is assessed by using this conceptual framework. The research is based on secondary sources such as publications, articles, and reports. The findings of the research suggest that best practices of inclusive education are thedevelopment of educational policies, willingness, and acceptance of change by key players, collaboration among them,training of teachers and educators and changes in the curriculum. The research also inferred that the inclusive education is better implemented in the developed regions than developing regions. Moreover, two major projects (PIEP and IVS) initiated by the Special Education Department, Government of Punjab contributed in shifting the mainstream education system to the inclusive education in Punjab.

Keywords: Inclusive education, mainstream education, special education, children with disabilities, developed regions and developing regions;