Lok Sabha Question No. 927 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-07-29
Subject: Accessibility and Inclusivity in Education for Divyangs
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri K E Prakash

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.927 ANSWERED ON 29.07.2024

## ACCESSIBILITY AND INCLUSIVITY IN EDUCATION FOR DIVYANGS

## 927 Shri K E Prakash:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- a) whether  the  Government  is  considering  any  new  policies  to  improve  accessibility  and inclusivity in education for persons with disabilities;
- b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons for their implementation; and
- c) the necessary action taken or likely to be taken by the Government to ensure the effective execution of these policies for the educational development of persons with disabilities

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (c)    The Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education has launched an  overarching  programme  for  the  school  education  sector-Samagra  Shiksha  Scheme.  The scheme aims to look at education of Children with special needs (CwSN) in a continuum from pre-school to class XII. The scheme 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.

There is a dedicated component of Inclusive Education under Samagra Shiksha for the education of CwSN.  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 also has provisions for creation of differently-abled friendly infrastructure  such  as  ramps,  ramps  with  handrails  and  differently-abled  friendly  toilets  for barrier free access in schools.

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.

The  Government  has  amended  the  Schedule  to  Right  to  Free  and  Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 and notified the Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) for Special Education Teachers in general schools with 10:1 PTR at primary level and 15:1 PTR at upper primary level.

In  addition  to  above,  Government  also  provides  several  exemptions/concessions  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.

Besides,  teaching  learning  materials  are  easily  available  in  accessible  digital  form  for instance talking books in DAISY/ e-Pub for Learners with Blindness and Low Vision.  Indian Sign Language (ISL) introduced as a language subject at Secondary level by National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) and also as a language subject to Deaf and Hard of Hearing Learners at Secondary level, study materials have been developed as videos in ISL format, one-hour live telecast in ISL thrice a week on PM e-Vidya TV Channel to disseminate awareness of ISL across the country.

National  Council  of  Educational  Research  and  Training (NCERT)  is  conducting  a 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.

NCERT textbooks have been converted into ISL related to curricular content for classes I  to  VII, glossary  words  in  psychology,  history,  geography,  urdu,  economics have  been produced  and  are  being  continually  disseminated  through  DIKSHA  portal  and PM  eVidya DTH TV Channels, on regular basis to ensure coherent access of these e-Contents. A 10,500 words ISL dictionary uploaded on DIKSHA in collaboration with ISLRTC.

Further,  to  improve  the  identification  of  CwSN,  the  Government  has  introduced  the Prashast  App  for  early  screening  and  identification  of  CwSN  in  regular  schools.  Teacher capacity  building  programs  are  being  undertaken  under  NISHTHA  in  hybrid  mode  to  train general teachers to address the leaning needs of CwSN.

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