Question : DISABLED FRIENDLY SERVICES

(a) whether any gaps have been identified in delivery of education services to disabled people at school and college level and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether the facilities at schools and colleges are disabled friendly and if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether reports of shortage of braille textbooks for blind students in schools and colleges have come to the notice of the Gove- rnment and if so, the details thereof; and

(d) the corrective action taken by the Gove- rnment in this regard?

MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SMT. SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a) & (b): To enable education for children with disabilities (CWSN), the Government of India is implementing the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) which as a programme for universalising elementary education for all children from 6-14 years of age and includes components to faci- litate inclusion of CWSN in schools. Under the SSA, 82.33% schools have been made disabled friendly by providing them barrier free access.

At the secondary level, CWSNs are provided assi- stance under the Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS) component of the Rasht- riya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), where girls with disabilities, inter alia, are given an addi- tional stipend @Rs. 200 per month per girl child at the secondary level.

The University Grant Commission (UGC) has impleme- nted a scheme called “Higher education for Persons with Special needs (HEPSN) which is basically meant for creating an environment in higher education institutions for differently-abled persons, which includes, inter alia, constructions aimed at impro- ving accessibility, purchase of equipments to enrich learning etc.

(c) & (d): No reports of shortage of Braille textbooks for blind students in schools and colleges have come to the notice of the Government. Under SSA, 87.3% blind students were provided Braille Books in 2013-14.