CBID Curriculum Development in India

Karnataka, India - Partially visually impaired After-School Club (ASC) Coordinator Chethankumar (2nd from right) leads 'Cheering Up', a highly inclusive exercise that gets the children enthusiastic about engaging with one another.
© CBM/Wyatt

CBM in India is part of a core group led by the Indian Government and the University of Melbourne to develop a national competency-based training programme for field workers in Community Based Inclusive Development (CBID).

A new competency-based curriculum for CBID workers was endorsed by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities of the Indian Government in end January 2021. Formal approval by the ministry will also take place soon. The Certificate in Community Based Inclusive Development, developed with the help of CBM and two longstanding partners, is a 6-month, full-time, competency-based vocational education programme.

Developed for the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, the course is a collaborative effort with the University of Melbourne. It is a path-breaking competency-based course on CBID with three key performance areas:

  1. Inclusive Community Development
  2. Assessment and Intervention and
  3. Professional Behaviour & Reflective Practice.  

On successfully completing it, the new CBID Fieldworker will be able to competently support people with disability in their local community and bring people with and without disability together to facilitate inclusive community development for all.

The course was developed by a team of experts invited by the national government. CBM led the development of the modules on Professional Behaviour and Reflective Practice. Two CBM partners- Bethany Society, Shillong and Blind People's Association worked on the other modules - Inclusive Community Development and Assessment and Intervention.

At the second workshop in September 2019 in Delhi, over half of the 18 participants were from CBM and its partners - indicative of CBM's contribution to CBID in India. CBM was responsible for the course material on professional behaviour and reflective processes in addition to giving inputs on all modules. The course material developed in the workshop was further improved with the involvement of the entire CBM India programme team during the national lockdown in 2020.

A tentative plan of action to roll out the CBID training programme has been developed. CBM is part of the master trainer training, the training of trainers, and can opt to be a technical partner to continue to do the training.