Date: 27/01/2023

Relevance: GS-2: Welfare Schemes for Vulnerable Sections of the population by the Centre and States and the Performance of these Schemes; Mechanisms, Laws, Institutions, and Bodies constituted for the Protection and Betterment of these Vulnerable Sections; Issues Relating to the Development and Management of Social Sector/Services relating to Education.

Key Phrases: Children with Disabilities, Benchmark Disabilities, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Inclusive Education, Reasonable Accommodation.

Context:

• Children with disabilities (CWD) face difficulties during school days because of inaccessible and unsafe infrastructure. So some efforts are needed for making an inclusive, accessible and safe infrastructure for children with disabilities.

Key Highlights:

• As per the Census 2011, there are 26.8 million persons with disabilities in India, making up 2.21 per cent of the total population.
• The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment established the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) to ensure focused attention to policy issues related to persons with disabilities and work towards their empowerment.
• There has been no mention of disabled persons in the constitution and the preamble.

Status of Children with Disabilities in India:

• A UNESCO 2019 report mentioned that CWD comprises 1.7% of the total child population in India (Census 2011).
  • As per the report, Children with disabilities are faced with physical, institutional, socioeconomic and communication barriers from an early age, more than 70% of five-year-olds with disabilities in India have never attended any educational institution.
• Many CWD also tend to drop out of school as they grow older.

Barriers to Accessibility:

• Inaccessible and Inappropriate Infrastructure
  • Several barriers impede the participation of CWD in accessing educational opportunities such as inaccessible school buses; inaccessible facilities in schools (drinking water facilities, canteens and toilets); and inappropriate infrastructure in classrooms (uncomfortable seating, slippery flooring and low illumination).
• Misinformed Attitudes and Perceptions
  • Misinformed attitudes and perceptions among parents, teachers, staff, and communities further influence the child’s emotional development.
• Lack of Teaching and Learning Practices
  • The lack of teaching and learning practices that integrate inclusive technologies and digital equipment to engage the child, such as assistive devices, are additional challenges.

United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD)

• The Convention was adopted by the General Assembly in December 2006 and it came into force on in May 2008.
• Parties to the convention are required to promote, protect, and ensure the full enjoyment of human rights by persons with disabilities and ensure that persons with disabilities enjoy full equality under the law
• It is intended to protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities.
• The convention is monitored by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Efforts by the Govt:

• Article 21A of the Constitution and the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 outline the fundamental right to education and the right to have free and compulsory education for children aged 6-14 years.
• The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, which adopted a ‘zero rejection policy’, emphasizes that “every child with special needs, irrespective of the kind, category and degree of disability, is provided meaningful and quality education”.
• India ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
  • Aligning with this commitment, the government launched the Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan) in 2015.
• The government has also been supportive of the principle of Leave No One Behind (LNOB), which is the central, transformative promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Need of the Hour:

• To motivate all children to meaningfully participate in all indoor and outdoor activities without barriers or limitations, the school ecosystem has to be made safe, accessible, and reliable.
• The involvement, cooperation and sensitisation of family members, teachers, school management authorities and the local government departments are required so that all the barriers are actively addressed.
• Children, school faculty and staff should be informed about different types of disabilities among children and the specific barriers experienced in different infrastructure zones of a school through interactive training sessions and simulation exercises that encourage empathy-building towards Children with disabilities.
• Various good practices, guidelines, and standards for making buildings, campuses, and infrastructure safe, accessible, and inclusive should also be showcased.
• A multi-pronged participatory approach towards providing an enabling environment for the empowerment of future citizens is needed to ensure that stakeholders in the school ecosystem collectively work towards promoting accessibility and inclusion in schools.
  • This includes awareness and sensitisation programmes for children, parents, and caregivers; training trainers for upskilling of school faculty and special educators and providing access to updated teaching toolkits and materials; technical training for local government departments; and a co-learning platform for knowledge-sharing between all.
• Five principles — equitability, usability and durability, affordability, cultural adaptability, and aesthetic appeal — should be embedded from the planning to implementation to evaluation stages of providing infrastructure services in schools.
  • With the realization of such an approach, removing the barriers to accessibility in schools will be an uphill battle, but not an insurmountable one.
• Reasonable accommodation is necessary to help persons with disabilities exercise their rights and participate in society equally with others.
• Person with Disabilities requires empathy and understanding, not sympathy.

Conclusion:

• Developing inclusive and accessible schools will be a big step towards not only challenging perceptions about CWD, and the associated discrimination, but also actualising the zero-rejection policy in schools.

Source: The Hindu

Mains Question:

Q. What are the issues with children with disabilities in accessing education opportunities? Suggest the measures to solve these issues. (150 Words).