Kopele V Tepa, special educator and the proprietor of Bumblebee Inclusive School in Kohima, who dedicated her career to advocating for the inclusion of children with disabilities in mainstream education has been honored with the prestigious NCPEDP-Mphasis Universal Design Award 2023 for Category B: Working Professionals.
Tepa’s journey in the field of special education began in 2007, and since then, she has been dedicatedly promoting inclusion for children with disabilities in schools.
In 2012, she founded Bumblebee Inclusive School, which has become one of Nagaland’s pioneering inclusive institutions.
Today, Bumblebee Inclusive School boasts of a team of 13 dedicated educators and accommodates 98 students, with continuous growth on the horizon. Tepa’s unwavering commitment to the inclusion of children with disabilities has made her a beacon of hope and progress in the field of special education.
“The school aspires to serve as a knowledge hub for educators and professionals working with individuals with disabilities while fostering the concept of inclusion in the wider community. Awareness alone is insufficient to promote inclusion; it must be ingrained and exemplified from a young age,” Tepa said.
It may be noted that National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) is a cross-disability non-profit organisation working with a range of stakeholders; to advocate for the rights of persons with disability along with encouraging their employment; increasing public awareness; creating and disseminating knowledge, information, and opportunities; and working towards easy and convenient access to all public places, products, services, and technologies.