Inclusive Education in Rural Government Schools in Lakshmipur: Exploring Perceptions, Practices, and Challenges

The idea of inclusive education is thoroughly supported in the national policy, but the transfer of promise into practice is a complicated issue in rural areas. This paper has examined the understanding and practice of inclusive education in rural government primary schools in Lakshmipur, Bangladesh, based on the awareness and perceptions, the infrastructural and teaching-learning facilities, the teacher preparedness and classroom practice, barriers to its participation and learning, and feasible recommendations for context-based inclusive education implementation. The mixed-methods methodology was adopted. Structured questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data, which was analyzed by using reliability checks, descriptive summary, and relationship tests between key constructs, and parents and teachers. Semi-structured interviews with parents and teachers were used to produce qualitative data, which were analyzed in themes to give explanations and enhance the interpretation of patterns in surveys. Results show that the stakeholders understand the significance of inclusive education, but the application is limited due to the inaccessibility characteristic and learning tools, uneven readiness to use inclusive classroom interventions, and training and practical support gaps. Further negative effects on consistent participation of learners with diverse needs are social and attitudinal barriers like stigma, peer exclusion, and the lack of home-school coordination. Altogether, the research paper shows that the reinforcement of inclusive education in rural settings should involve pragmatics of policy communication, long-term teacher support and coaching, minimum encouraging school-level conditions (enablement of environments and learning resources), and community-based approaches to curb exclusion.