To commemorate the birthday of French educator Louis Braille who developed the tactile codes for people with visual impairment, the World Braille Day is celebrated on 4th January. The Braille system made it possible to educate the visually impaired people in a big way. It would pertinent to know what Indian's National Education Policy has to offer to children with special needs after recognition to 21 different disabilities.
The National Education Policy (NEP-2020) recognises the importance of providing the children with special Needs (CWSN) the same opportunities of obtaining quality education as any other child. Even otherwise, the RTE Act ensures the Children with Special Needs (CWSN)) free and compulsory education either until the completion of the elementary stage of school education or till the age of 18 years. Further, the RTE Act also provides to parents of children with severe and profound disabilities the right to opt for home-based education, informs the draft NEP.
In the document specific additional policy initiatives to ensure that every CWSN is provided meaningful and quality education will include the following main provisions which have been summarised in the following table:
Here are some details from the document.
Inclusion of in regular schools: One of the priority areas of action in regard to education programmes for CWSN will continue to be mainstreaming them in neighborhood schools and supporting their participation in the schooling process from the Foundational stage through Grade 12.
Financial support for initiatives for educating CWSN: Clear and efficient avenues for obtaining financial support will be provided to schools or school complexes for integration of CWSN, as well as for the establishment of resource centres at the village/block level where needed for learners with severe or multiple disabilities - such centres would assist parents/guardians in part-time or full time home-schooling and in skilling such learners (including in ISL or other local sign languages if they exist, and accessing provisions available through NIOS).
Equitable and Inclusive Education: Physical access to schools for CWSN will be enabled through prioritising barrier-free structures, ramps, handrails, disabled-friendly toilets, and suitable transportation for CWSN to comfortably attend schools. While in the long-term, the goal will be for all schools to have such facilities, in the interim schools and school complexes will be able to apply for funding to arrange and build such facilities as needed.
Inclusion of children with special needs: Assistive devices and appropriate technology-based tools, as well as adequate and language-appropriate teaching-learning materials (e.g. textbooks in accessible formats such as large print and Braille) will be made available to help CWSN integrate more easily into classrooms and engage with teachers and their peers. To this end, research efforts to develop and test solutions that are effective in local contexts will be supported. The other components of interventions will include functional and formal assessment, appropriate educational placement, and preparation of Individualised Educational Plans (IEP).
Provisions for home-based education: Home-based education will be provided for children with severe and profound disabilities who are unable to go to schools, with the objective of enabling them to complete school education, including through NIOS. Orientation of parents/caregivers along with wide-scale dissemination of learning materials to enable parents/ caregivers to actively support their children’s learning needs will be accorded priority.
The programmes for inclusive education of CWSN will be implemented in collaboration with resource centres for CWSN as well as NGOs and volunteer organisations who may wish to participate. Local resource centres and NGOs would be involved in the planning of inclusive education, awareness generation, community mobilisation, early detection, identification and assessment of CWSN.
Availability of open schooling for hearing-impaired students: NIOS will develop high quality modules to teach ISL, and to teach other basic subjects using ISL.
Special educators and therapists with cross-disability training: To assist teachers in catering to the needs of all learners more fully, each school complex will appoint an adequate number of special educators with cross-disability training to work with all schools within that complex. Resource centres at the block level in conjunction with special educators at the school complex level will support the rehabilitation and educational needs of learners with severe or multiple disabilities, and will assist parents/guardians in achieving high quality home-schooling and skilling for such students.
Scholarships for differently-abled students: As a part of the efforts to enhance participation of differently-abled children in school education, scholarships for talented and meritorious students will be offered on a more liberal scale, especially at the secondary stage of education, to facilitate their entry into higher education.
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