Is Special Education Necessary? Can This Program Possibly be Reduced?

Abstract

In Denmark special education was introduced many years ago. In the instruction of the Danish language, in particular, special education has become a well established institution, and in recent years this program has developed to the extent where about 15 percent of all Danish school children at some time or other during their course of schooling will have received some form of remedial instruction.

The introduction of different preventive measures has in no way seemed to reduce the apparently rather heavy need for instruction of this nature.

In view of the fact that special education is often tantamount to a segregation of the pupils concerned from the rest of their class, it is in conflict with the general philosophy which tends to let the largest possible number of the pupils in a class stay together throughout the entire compulsory education period.

With the above as background, we shall now present our views on the question of whether it will be possible to reduce the need for special education by means of an overall expansion of the general educational facilities, to a sufficient extent so as to also take care of the educational needs of the pupils in question.

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