Government is providing facilities for education of children with special needs at various levels of education
New Delhi: Under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), an amount of Rs. 3000/- per child per annum is allocated for the interventions related to education of children with special needs (CWSN). The major interventions for the education of CWSN are identification, functional and formal assessment, appropriate educational placement, preparation of Individualized Education Plan, provision of free aids and appliances, transport and/or escort support, teacher training, appointment of resource teachers, therapeutical support and barrier free access. As per Unified District Information System for Education (2015-16), 22.86 lakh CWSN are enrolled at elementary level of schooling.
Under SSA, home-based education is also provided to those children who have severe intellectual and physical disabilities and who cannot access neighbourhood school owing to their condition. Home-based education is provided to a child, who after a comprehensive assessment by a team of doctors and specialists is recommended home schooling. Currently, 134229 CWSN are provided home schooling under the SSA.
Transport and escort facilities are provided to CWSN under the programme to facilitate their access to a neighbourhood school. Under SSA, 1.89 lakh CWSN and 2.09 lakh CWSN were provided transport support and escort support respectively during 2016-17.
At the secondary level, the Ministry is implementing the scheme of Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS) as part of Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) with an objective to provide all students with disabilities an opportunity to complete four years of secondary schooling (Class IX to XII) in an inclusive and enabling environment. Under IEDSS component, central assistance is provided for student oriented assistance @ ₹ 3000/- per child per annum, besides support for engagement of special teachers, equipping resource room, making school barrier free, orientation of parents, administrators, educationists etc. The scheme also provisions for stipend for girls with disabilities @ Rs. 200/- per month under the student oriented component. 2.26 lakh CWSN have been approved for coverage under the scheme in 2017-18.
This information was given by the Minister of State (HRD), Shri Upendra Kushwaha today in a written reply to a Lok Sabha question.