Lok Sabha Question No. 3274 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-16
Subject: Education of Children with Disabilities
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri Raja A

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3274

ANSWERED ON 16.12.2024

## Education of Children with Disabilities

## 3274. Shri Raja A:

Will the Minister of Education be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of steps taken under various schemes for implementation for the education to children with disabilities (CwD) in the country;
- (b) the  measures  taken  by  the  Government  for  improvement  of  school  infrastructure including  funding  for  updating  school  infrastructure  to  make  it  inclusive/disabilityfriendly;
- (c) whether any survey conducted to know the percentage of retention of CwD children in  various  schools  in  the  country,  State-wise,  since  many  such  children  drop  out because of lack of disability-friendly infrastructure, including washrooms in schools;
- (d) if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) if  not,  the  procedure  being followed by the Government to monitor the retention of CwD in different schools?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY)

(a)  to  (e)  The  Department  of  School  Education  &  Literacy,  Ministry  of  Education  has launched  Samagra  Shiksha  Scheme,  an  overarching  programme  for  the  school  education sector. There is a dedicated component of Inclusive Education under Samagra Shiksha for the education  of  Children  with  Special  Needs  (CwSN).  It  covers  all  CwSN  with  one  or  more disabilities  as  mentioned  in  the  schedule  of  disabilities  of  the  Rights  of  Persons  with Disabilities  (RPwD)  Act,  2016.  Through  this  component,  CwSN  are  provided  support  via specific student-oriented interventions such as identification and assessment camps, provision of aids, appliances and assistive devices, transportation, scribe and escort allowance support, Braille books and large print books, stipend for girls with special needs and teaching-learning materials  etc.  in  order  to  appropriately  address  their  unique  educational  requirements  in general schools. Further, individualized support is also provided through therapeutic interventions at the block level.

Samagra  Shiksha  scheme  has  provisions  for  creation  of  differently-abled  friendly infrastructure such as Ramps, Ramps with Handrails, and CwSN friendly toilets for barrier free access to schools for all children. As per UDISE+ 2021-22, there are 10,69,795 schools having  ramps,  7,40,395  schools  having  ramps  with  handrails  and  4,01,487  schools  with CwSN friendly toilets for CwSN across the country. An amount of Rs.239.16 lakh for Ramps and Rs.8962.07 lakh for disabled friendly toilets has been approved through the PAB for the year 2024-25.

Further, Government has notified the Accessibility Code for Educational Institutions on January 10th, 2024 and the same has been notified in the Rules of RPwD Act 2016 on 20th June, 2024. The Code examines the physical barriers and information & communication barriers of access to school facilities for CwSN. It provides child friendly standards with cost effective  solutions  for  existing  buildings,  along  with  elements  to  make  new  buildings compliant with national accessibility standards.

In addition, Government is taking numerous initiatives for the education of CwSN which include:

- (i) A dedicated channel for the hearing impaired has been launched under PM e-Vidya initiative  on  6 th   December,  2024.  The  PM  e-Vidya  24*7  DTH  Channel  No.31 telecasts learning content in Indian Sign Language (ISL) for the benefit of the hearing impaired.
- (ii) NCERT  textbooks  are  being  converted  into  ISL, glossary  words  in  psychology, history, geography, economics have been produced and are being continually disseminated through DIKSHA portal and PM e-Vidya DTH TV Channels, on regular basis to ensure coherent access of these e-Contents. A 10,500 words ISL dictionary developed in collaboration with ISLRTC uploaded on DIKSHA.
- (iii)National  Council  of  Educational  Research  and  Training (NCERT)  conducts live interaction series, titled, 'Teaching Learning Interventions for Inclusive Classrooms'. Each episode is of half hour duration, focusing on promoting inclusive pedagogy  practices,  by  considering  one  class,  one  subject  and  one-chapter  from textbooks, with mandatory ISL interpreter.
- (iv) To promote and support inclusive education for all, NIOS has been working with the philosophy  of  reaching  the  unreached  and  pursuing  various  proactive  measures. Learning materials such as Talking Books for learners with blindness and low vision, a  subject-specific  terminological  dictionary  in  Indian  Sign  Language,  and  learning materials  in  video  format  in  Indian  Sign  Language  for  deaf  and  hard  of  hearing learners. These are available on YouTube channel of NIOS and Gyanamrit.
- (v) NIOS is the first board in the country to offer ISL as a first language subject to deaf learners.  The  use  of  sign  language  as  a  subject  (first  language)  will  enable  easy knowledge acquisition and comprehension. Provision of 'On-Demand Examinations' that give the learners a scope to appear in particular subjects' examinations as per their convenience.
- (vi) NIOS  provides  'Examination  at  Home'  that  institutes  exceptional  case  to  case provision  of  conducting  examinations  at  home  for  severely  disabled  learners.  Such flexibility brings in reasonable exemptions during examinations that provide general and specific provisions for learners with a disability.
- (vii) Several  exemptions/concessions  are  provided  to  CwSN  such  as  facility  of Scribe and compensatory time, appointment of Scribe and related instructions, fee and special  exemptions  like  exemption  from  third  language,  flexibility  in  choosing subjects, alternate questions /Separate Question etc.
- (viii) Under  the  Deendayal  Divyangjan  Rehabilitation  Scheme  (DDRS),  financial assistance is provided to the voluntary Organisations for running various projects for the  welfare/empowerment  of  Persons  with  Disabilities  (PwDs)  including  Special School  for  the  Children  with  Visual,  Hearing  and  Intellectual  disability  including children with Cerebral Palsy etc., aimed at enabling them to maintain their optimal, physical, sensory, intellectual, psychiatric or social functional levels.
- (ix) Financial  assistance  for  tuition  fee  reimbursement  to  100%  Deaf  (without  cochlear implant)  and  100%  Blind  students  enrolled  in  Classes  9  to  12  for  pursuing  STEM (Science,  Technology,  Engineering  and  Mathematics)  subjects  is  being  provided through National Institutes and Composite Regional Centres under the DEPwD. The extent  of  financial  assistance  is  limited  to  Rs.  1.5  Lakh  per  student  or  actual whichever is less.

With  a  view  to  monitor  CwD  and  facilitate  early  screening  and  intervention,  the Government through NCERT  has developed 'PRASHAST'  (Pre-Assessment Holistic Screening Tool); a mobile app to digitally screen students for possible disabilities at school level. It is available in 23 languages (English and 22 languages included in the VIII Schedule of our constitution) for easy access by teachers, special educators and school heads. Till date about 10 lakh plus users have registered on the App. The Checklist under the App helps in the early  screening  of  children  with  disabilities,  who  are  then  taken  for  assessment  and certification of the disability, which enables the schools to provide individualized education plan/ therapy/ learning assistance through special educators depending on the type and level of disability.

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