Just as many things have taken a drastic turn due to the pandemic, there has been a shift in the field of education as well. A change from going to schools and direct learning has slowly declined and online classes using smart phones, tablets etc. has now been the way of learning.
Thus a new education policy has been introduced so that children are also aquainted with some practical knowledge along with the academic learning.
The good news is that the new education policy introduced includes “a barrier-free access to education for all children with disabilities”
Did you know that around 7.62 per cent of India’s total population with a disability was children, at approximately 2.04 million children out of 26.8 million of disabled people?
Therefore the urgency to cater to the needs of children with disabilities has increasingly become important.
In view of this, the new education policy mainly emphasises on two major aspects in its focus to children with disabilities:
- Imparting knowledge and know-how to teach faculties on how to teach children with specific disabilities.
This is very essential as teaching children with special needs requires a lot of knowledge and training on the subject matter, and only 1,20,781 special educators have been registered at present with the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI).
Thus there is definitely a need to increase the number of special educators so that children with special needs are given the right kind of attention they need.
- And secondly, the focus is also to provide barrier-free education to children with disabilities as per the RPWD Act 2016.
Right to basic education is elementary to every child irrespective of gender, sex and disability. The ways to educate children having a disability may be different and may require compensatory elements and extra time but it definitely shouldn’t be denied.
Therefore providing children with disabilities with a good and proper education is essential.
To do this, the new education policy has stated that on assistive devices, appropriate technology-based tools and language-appropriate teaching-learning materials will be made available. Also, high-quality modules to teach Indian Sign Language and to teach other basic subjects using Indian Sign Language will be developed for NIOS. Considering that the children with benchmark disabilities shall have the choice of regular or special schooling as per the RPWD Act 2016, resource centres along with special teachers and trainers will be made available to cater to the various rehabilitation and educational needs of students with severe or multiple disabilities. Under the new education policy, school premises will be provided with resources to include children with disability and appointing special teachers who are trained to teach such students.
(Source: www.sentinelassam.com)
Disability Entrepreneurship And Leadership (DEAL) Foundation works across the districts of Gadag and Bengaluru, the main objective of the foundation is to promote sustainable livelihood opportunities for persons with disabilities.
We also work to promote awareness on education for children with special needs as education is the first step to achieve sustainability.
For specific questions regarding the blog please write to us at info@deal-foundation.com
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