Knowledge, attitudes and practices to children with disabilities in Bhutan: a contextualized literature review

ABSTRACT

The challenges of providing education for a heterogeneous student population (in respect of gender, poverty levels, language and learning aptitude and level) have been major issues in refining Bhutanese policy and practice. These challenges are noted in respect of children with ‘special needs’ in the Bhutan Education Blueprint, 2014–24 (NSB/MoE/UNICEF, 2014), which indicated that ‘government’s initiatives to enhance educational access for children with special needs remains a formidable challenge for the education sector owing to the limited number of special schools, facilities, support services and capacity of the teachers’ (p. 26). This literature review scopes some of the key issues implied by this current situation, using the existing literature on ‘children with disabilities’ CWD from both recognized academic sources as well as the so-called ‘grey’ literature. It points to an emerging recognition of both ongoing challenges and opportunities in Bhutan which parallel those in diverse international contexts.

Keywords:

• Disability
• Bhutan
• knowledge
• attitudes
• practices

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Philip Garner was recently Professor of Education at the University of Northampton (UK).

Jane Murray is an Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer in Education based at the Centre for Education and Research at the University of Northampton, UK. She specialises in research and publications concerning education, early childhood education and social inclusion.

David Preece is an Associate Professor in the Centre for Education and Research. His main research interests focus upon autism and the experience of families living with disability.

Richard Rose is Professor of Inclusive Education at the University of Northampton. He has conducted research and consultancy in many parts of the world and was Principal Investigator on Project IRIS, a four-year longitudinal study of special educational needs provision in Ireland.

Yu Zhao is a Doctoral Student within the Faculty of Education and Humanities at the University of Northampton (UK), and has worked as a Research Assistant for several international projects.