Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Children suffering from autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation and multiple disabilities will be able to complete four years of secondary education in an inclusive and enabling environment and join mainstream education soon, according to an ambitious plan by the UPA Government.
The Human Resource Devleopment (HRD) Ministry is in the final stages of clearing a Rs 1,000-crore Inclusive Education of the Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS) scheme that would replace the existing Integrated Education for the Disabled Children (IEDC) scheme and expand its ambit in a big way. The move is likely to benefit 6 to 7 lakh disabled children every year. The scheme has been given the go-ahead by the Planning Commission and the process to get a Cabinet approval has begun.
While the Rs 200-crore existing scheme covers mild to moderate hearing, visual, mental and locomotor disabilities, IEDSS will include another eight types of disabilities. These are mental retardation, mental illness, autism, cerebral palsy blindness, low vision, leprosy cured, hearing impairment and locomotor disabilities and is likely to be extended further to cover speech impairment and learning disabilities.
The scheme follows from the policy statement made by the HRD minister in the Rajya Sabha in May 2005 when he committed the Government towards inclusion of children and youth with disabilities in mainstream education.
IEDSS will also include a special child-specific component and ensure a barrier-free environment at schools.
“Targeted to basically retain disabled students in the schooling system through the secondary level, the scheme will take off from IEDC to a far wider area. We expect 6 to 7 lakh disabled children to be assisted through the new scheme against the 3.5 lakh children covered under IEDC in 2007-08,” said a senior official.
“A child-specific component will also be included in the new scheme and Rs 3,000 will be earmarked and given to each disabled child to address his or her personal needs — from school uniform, hearing aids, special learning material to expert help for the child,” said the official. IEDSS will also ensure that all schools have ramps and various other features to do away with architectural barriers. Apart from that, the scheme proposes to train teachers in specialised teaching styles and identifying children with disbilities at the secondary stage.
