Question : Education for Differently Abled Children

(a) whether it is a fact that after implementation of the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act the differently abled students in schools across the country still facing serious infrastructure and pedagogy problems and if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether it is a fact that the schools have failed to provide differently abled friendly educational material and majority of teachers are also not trained to understand the special needs of differently abled students
(c) if so, the steps taken/being taken by the Government to address the issue in light of the study of NCERT;
(d) the details of Government run schools for differently abled children along with the funds allocated, sanctioned and utilised for such schools during the last three years, State/UT-wise; and
(e) whether the Government has any proposal for establishment of more such schools and any special schemes for higher education for differently abled persons in the country and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
(DR. SATYA PAL SINGH)

(a) to (c):- The provisions of RTE Act, 2009 were implemented through centrally sponsored scheme of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) up-to 2017-18. In the year 2018-19, the Department of School Education & Literacy, MHRD has launched Samagra Shiksha – an integrated scheme for School Education covering children from classes I to XII which subsumes the erstwhile Centrally Sponsored Schemes of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) & Teacher Education (TE). One of the objectives of the Scheme, is removal of architectural barriers in schools so that Children with Special Needs (CwSN) have access to classrooms, laboratories, libraries and toilets in the school. So far, 2,65,069 number of ramps and 14,113 number of CwSN friendly toilets have been sanctioned under the Schemes for elementary schools across the Country.
Contd..
There is a dedicated inclusive education component for the education of children with special needs as part of Samagra Shiksha. Support has been enhanced from Rs. 3000/- per child per annum to Rs. 3500/- per child per annum under the scheme which includes specific student oriented interventions like aids and appliances, assistive devices, teaching-learning materials, Braille & large print books, and ICT resources like JAWS and SAFTA etc. in order to appropriately address their educational requirements. The intervention for home based education is provided to the children having multiple and or severe disabilities and who cannot access neighbourhood schools. Additionally, stipend for girls with special needs has been expanded to classes I to XII in order to encourage girls to enroll and complete their schooling. In 2018-19, an outlay of Rs. 1023.5 crore has been approved for the education of children with special needs, under Samagra Shiksha.
NCERT has developed curricular and resource materials for students, teachers and other stakeholders for promoting inclusive education. The list of recently developed materials is given below:
• Including children with Special Needs: Primary Stage (Hindi & English)
• Including children with Special Needs: Upper Primary Stage (Hindi & English)
• Barkha: a reading series for all (40 UDL based printed booklets)
• Modules for Enhancement of Quality Education: A Training Package (Hindi and English)
• Inclusion in Education: A manual for School Management Committees (Hindi and English)
• Including Children with Autism in Primary Classes: Teacher’s Handbook
NCERT also conducts in-service training programmes for teachers, resource persons and other stakeholders.
(d) & (e):- The National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2005, developed by National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), states that, “Inclusive education is about embracing all.” According to the NCF 2005, “the participation of all children needs to be ensured in all spheres of their life in and outside the school. Schools need to become centres that prepare children for life and ensure that all children, especially the differently abled, children from marginalised sections, and children in difficult circumstances get the maximum benefit of this critical area of education.” Accordingly, Samagra Shiksha adopts an inclusive pedagogy wherein, children regardless of their abilities/disabilities participate and learn together in the same class, thus creating an enabling educational environment for all students. Samagra Shiksha aims to mainstream differently abled children within the fabric of formal schooling, thus there are no provisions for establishment of separate or special schools under the scheme.
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