Education > Schemes > Ministry of Human Resource Development

Ministry of Human Resource Development schemes

The National Policy on Education (N.P.E.) brought the fundamental issue of equality centrestage. The objective should be to integrate physically and mentally disabled people with the general community as equal partners, to prepare them for normal growth and to enable them to face life with courage and confidence.

National Policy on Education, 1986

The National Policy on Education (N.P.E.) brought the fundamental issue of equality centrestage. Section 4.9 of the Policy clearly focusses on the needs of the children with disabilities. The objective should be to integrate the physically and mentally handicapped with the general community as equal partners, to prepare them for normal growth and to enable them to face life with courage and confidence. The following measures will be taken in this regard:

• Wherever possible, the education of children with motor handicaps and other mild handicaps will be common with that of others.
• Special schools with hostels will be provided, as far as possible at district headquarters, for severely handicapped children.
• Adequate arrangements will be made to give vocational training to disabled students.
• Teachers’ training programmes will be reoriented, in particular for teachers of primary classes, to deal with the special difficulties of the handicapped children.
• Voluntary effort for the education of children with disability will be encouraged in every possible manner.

Plan of Action, 1992

The N.P.E. was followed by Plan of Action (P.O.A.) in 1992. The P.O.A. suggested a pragmatic placement principle for children with special needs. It is postulated that a child with disability can be educated in a general school only and not in special school. Even those children who .are admitted to special schools for training in plus curriculum skills should be transferred to general schools once they acquire daily living skills.

Enabling legislation

Some enabling legislation in this regard is: Rehabilitation Council of India Act (R.C.I. Act), Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995, and National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Retardation and Multiple Disability, 1999:

The last Act, especially, is a landmark legislation for the welfare of persons with autism, cerebral retardation and multiple disability. This Act seeks to protect and promote the rights of persons who, within the disability sector, have been even more marginalised than others. Though the National Trust Act of 1999 does not directly deal with education of children with special needs, one of its thrust areas is to promote programmes that foster inclusion and independence by creating a barrier-free environment, developing functional skills of the disabled and promoting self help groups.

Major schemes

Schemes dealing with C.W.S.N. can be categorised into educational and supplementary schemes. The former includes the Integrated Education of Disabled Children (I.E.D.C.) and the latter includes the Scholarship as well as the Assistance to Disabled Persons for Purchase/fittings of aids and appliances(A.D.I.P.).

Integrated Education of Disabled Children (I.E.D.C.): This scheme provides educational opportunities for disabled children in common schools, to facilitate their retention in the school system and also to place in common schools, such children already placed in special schools after they acquire the communication and daily living skills at the functional level. The scheme provides for the following:

• Actual expense on books and stationery up to Rs 400 per annum.
• Actual expenses on uniforms up to Rs 200 per annum; transport allowance up to Rs 50 per month. If a disabled child resides in the school hostel within the school premises, no transportation charges would be admissible.
• Reader allowance of Rs 50 per month in case of blind children up to Class V.
• Escort allowance for severely disabled children with lower extremity disability at the rate of Rs 75 per month.
• Actual cost of equipment subject to a maximum of Rs 2,000 per month for five years.

Besides these, it also provides for teachers’ salaries, facilities to students in terms of board and lodging allowance, readers allowance, transport allowance, escort allowance, cost of equipment, cost of uniform, cost of removal of architectural barriers, and provision of resource room, etc.

Supplementary Schemes

This includes Assistance to Disabled Persons for purchase/fitting of aids and appliances (A.D.I.P.) Scheme.

Initial attempts towards integrated education in India

Early attempts to include C.W.S.N. in regular schools were through Project Integrated Education (P.I.E.D.) and District Primary Programme (D.P.E.P.).

Project Integrated Education for the Disabled (P.I.E.D.): This was the first pilot project on integrated education in India. Launched in 1987, P.I..E.D. was a joint venture of the Ministry of Human Resource Development and UNICEF. This project was implemented in one administrative block each in M.P., Maharashtra, Nagaland, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Mizoram, Delhi Municipal Corporation and Baroda Municipal Corporation. In these 10 blocks, 6,000 children with special needs were integrated in regular schools.

District Primary Education Programme (D.P.E.P.): The success of P.I.E.D. led to the inclusion of Integrated Education of the Disabled (I.E.D.) under the D.P.E.P. This was a scheme launched by the Government of India for the development of elementary education. At present, I.E.D. (in D.P.E.P.) is in existence in 242 districts in 18 states. In these states approximately 6.21 lakh children with special needs have been enrolled in regular schools with adequate support services.