EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS: A WAY TO SUCCESSFUL INCLUSION.

Inclusive education is the most feasible plan of getting across of education to each child. When a country talks about education, it is ?Education for All?, without leaving anyone. The fundamental principle of inclusive school is that all children should learn together wherever possible regardless of any difficulties or differences they may have. When the trend of inclusion prevailing not only across the country but also all over the world, in that condition how the Anganwadi centers which provide pre-primary education, meaning thereby to make the child ready for the elementary education in inclusive set up, be untouched with this trend of inclusion. With the emergence of ?Inclusion? Anganwadi is also supposed to deal with the children with special needs. Anganwadi centres might be envisaged as the best preparatory centre for the holistic development of children which uses play way method of teaching with indigenous approach. It is contributing towards preparing the child for elementary school. And at last, it is a move towards universalization and qualitative improvement of primary education. The relevance of the present paper lies in the fact that Anganwadi centre which covers a large area across the country should meet the needs of children considering their different rates and styles of learning in uniform manner. The present paper intends to bring forth the role of ECCE provided through Anganwadi centres and measures to be taken to equip Anganwadi centres to include children with special needs into mainstream.