Lok Sabha Question No. 1967 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-13
Subject: Challenges Faced by Children with Chronic Illness in Accessing Education
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Ranjeetsingh Naik Nimbalkar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1967

ANSWERED ON 13.03.2023

## Challenges Faced by Children with Chronic Illness in Accessing Education

## 1967. SHRI RANJEETSINGH NAIK NIMBALKAR:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has taken into cognizance the challenges faced by children with chronic illness in accessing education;
- (b) if so, the details of the steps taken by the Government to address these challenges;
- (c)  whether the National Education Policy has the guidelines to ensure quality education for these children;
- (d) if so, the details thereof;
- (e) whether the Government has undertaken steps to provide virtual infrastructure for inclusion of these children in the mainstream;
- (f) if so, the details thereof; and
- (g) if not, whether the Government plans to do the same?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRIMATI ANNPURNA DEVI)

(a)  &  (b)  The  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  of  Samagra  Shiksha  launched  in  2018-19,  has dedicated  Inclusive  Education  component  for  the  education  of  Children  with  Special  Needs (CwSN)  covering  all  CwSN  with  one  or  more  disabilities  as  mentioned  in  the  schedule  of disabilities  of  the  Rights  of  the  Persons  with  Disabilities  (RPwD)  Act,  2016  including disability caused due to chronic neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis, parkinson's disease.  It  aims  to  look  at  education  of  CwSN  in  a  continuum  from  Pre-Nursery  to  Class XIIstudying in Government, Government-aided and local body schools.

(c) & (d) The National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 advocates full equity and inclusion as the cornerstone of education to ensure that all students are able to thrive in the education system. It also  underscores  within  its  framework,  education  of  children  with  special  needs  in  order  to ensure equitable quality schooling. The Samagra Shiksha scheme has also been aligned with the recommendations of NEP 2020 to ensure that all children have access to quality education with an equitable and inclusive classroom environment in schools.

(e) to (g) Education is in the concurrent list of the Constitution and majority of the schools are under domain of respective State and UT Governments. However, in order to ensure that every student including those residing in rural and educationally backward districts of the country, gets  continuous  access  to  education,  a  multi-pronged  approach  has  been  adopted  by  the Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education. Government has launched PM e-Vidya program which seeks to leverage  all  available  technologies  such  as  radio,  TV, internet to take learning to the doorsteps of the children.

Where the digital facility (mobile device/DTH television) is not available, Ministry of Education has taken many initiatives like Community Radio Stations, a podcast called Shiksha Vani of CBSE, Textbooks& worksheets to residence of learners and organizing community/mohalla classes. Innovation Funds under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan are used to set up  mobile  school,  virtual  studios,  virtual  class  rooms  in  schools.  Continuous  Learning  Plan (CLP)  for  States/UTs has been  initiated in all States/UTs  and  pre-loaded tablets are effectivelyused in remote rural areas of States/UTs where online classes are difficult.

Also,  PRAGYATA guidelines  were  issued  to  the  States/UTs  to  facilitate  continued education  through  various  modes.  The  guidelines  inter-alia  include  situation  where  internet connectivity  is  not  available  or  available  with  very  less  bandwidth,  resources  are  shared through various platforms like television, radio etc. that do not depend on internet. Similarly, Students  Learning  Enhancement  Guidelines  were  released  in  2020  to  support  learning  of children during COVID-19. Guidelines for development of e-content for Children with Special Needs  were  released  in  2021.  Guidelines  for  Parent  Participation  in  Home-based  learning during school closure and beyond were released in 2021.

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