Education of children with special needs is a relatively new concept and requires a

great deal of technical expertise to deal with the needs of children having different
kinds of impairments. Education systems have come to be guided by policies to raise
educational standards, on the one hand, and by policies to promote inclusion on the
other. In case of the children with special needs, inclusion illustrates the shift in
services from mere access to education to personal development. Inclusion is based
on recognition of the capacities and potential of all children to develop if the
environment is responsive to their needs.

Considering the fact, Government of India had taken initiatives to provide access to
education for the children with special needs. One of the great and contemporary
initiatives is ‘Universalization of Elementary Education’ (UEE).

CWSN: state agencies role and their assistance in CWSN

The Government of India is fully committed to the goal of Universalization of

Elementary Education (UEE). For promotion of UEE, the Parliament of India has
passed the Constitutional (86th Amendment) Act, making free and compulsory
elementary education a Fundamental Right, for all the children in the age group of 6-
14 years through inclusion of the new Article 21A in Part III of the constitution, as
follows:

‘The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of
six to fourteen years in such manner as the State may, by law, determine.’ This
amendment has given a new thrust to the education of Children With Special Needs
(CWSN), as without including them the objective of UEE cannot be achieved.

Various centrally flagship programmes and projects are implemented in the state by
the central government in partnership with the state government and Non-
Governmental Agencies to provide elementary education and improve quality in the
field of education. Improvement in the delivery of Government services in education
and its impact in reducing disparities is evident with the implementation of SSA,
Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), the Right to Education Act (RTE)
2009, and various other centrally schemes and projects in the state. Some of the roles
played by state agencies for implementation of inclusion of CWSN and the facilities
provided can be discussed as follows:

I. Social welfare department

The Department of Social Welfare is assigned with task of implementing schemes
aimed at the upliftment of the vulnerable and the weaker sections. Ever since its
inception in 1968, the department has been implementing social welfare
programmes connected with the promotion and development of various welfare
activities including the welfare of the Disabled.

i. Scholarship:

The Government of India started giving scholarships for elementary and higher
education to the visually impaired, hearing impaired and locomotor impaired
children in 1955. In 1974 the scheme was transferred to the states and today most of
the states are awarding scholarships to those children with special needs who are
pursuing elementary education in regular schools without support services.

ii. RAISE Nagaland

The Regional Action on Inclusive Education (RAISE) Nagaland was launched on

April 12, 2016, for providing holistic support to children with special needs. It is a
project initiated to complement the programme of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan on
inclusive education to improve the quality of education for children with disabilities
in government and government supported schools in selected districts of Assam,
Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura. The project supported by three
international agencies, Christoffel Blinden Mission (CBM), Light for the world and
Liliane Fonds was implemented by 15 NGOs in these five states of the region.

The project focus on combating challenges such as changing the attitude of people
towards children with disability, changing the attitude of stakeholders that are
involved with children with special needs. The Societies under RAISE also provide
technical support to selected government or SSA schools for inclusive education.

II. State Education Department

The major intervention of the department of School Education, Government of

Nagaland for the education of CWSN is to identify children with their disabilities
and assist them in a supportive and barrier free school environment. The department
is working towards inclusion of the CWSN in the field of education through
implementation of centrally sponsored schemes like SSA, RMSA and other schemes
Aids and appliances should be provided to all the required children through
convergence with Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, State Welfare
Departments, National Institutions or NGOs.

SSA:
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) as the main programme for universalising elementary
education for all children from 6-14 years of age and this covers children with special
needs (CWSN).

SSA provides resource persons at the Block Resource Centre (BRC) exclusively for
CWSN. There is no prescribed ratio of trained teachers for CWSN including children
with learning disabilities as the focus of SSA is on providing inclusive education to
CWSN in mainstream schools. general teachers have been specifically trained under
SSA on learning disabilities.

To further facilitate the inclusion of CWSN in mainstream schools, the National

Council for Education Research and Training has prepared books on curricular
adaptations for children with visual impairment, hearing impairment, cognitive
impairment and intellectual impairment for general teachers at primary and upper
primary levels.

As per Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 every
child is entitled to free textbooks under SSA. Moreover, CWSN are also provided
assistive devices and educational material free of cost. Under SSA, CWSN have been
provided assistive devices and necessary educational material like communication
boards, daily living skill kits, augmentative and alternative communication tools etc.

IEDSS-RMSA: At the Secondary level, the Government is implementing the scheme

of Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS) under the Rashtriya
Madhyamik Shikha Abhiyan (RMSA) with an objective to enable all students with
different abilities who have completed eight years elementary education, an
opportunity to complete four years of secondary schooling.

At the secondary level, necessary education material is provided in Government and

Government aided secondary schools. The IEDSS scheme provides access to learning
material ensuring that each student with special needs will have access to learning
material like textbooks, audiotapes, talking books and textbooks in large print, as per
the individual requirement.

The Kendriya Vidyalayas have a provision of horizontal reservation of three percent

in admissions to promote the inclusion of students with special needs.

In Kendriya Vidyalayas all teachers are being trained to deal with various learning
disabilities among the students. counsellors have been appointed to ensure
facilitation of learning of all students and sensitization of teachers, students and
parents.

Conclusion:
Inclusive Education has been a concern of Indian government since the beginning.
The primary target is to maximize the education opportunities for each and every
student. Every policy and program initiated by the government was aimed at
improving the educational levels in the country. However, there are still many
obstacles for the implementation when it comes to inclusion of Children with Special
Needs. Some of the biggest barriers include the attitudes in resisting the
accommodation of students with disabilities and learning issues, lack of physical
facilities to accommodate which may be due to misuse of funds by the state
government or inadequate funds, the rigid curriculum, untrained teachers etc.

Overcoming the many barriers requires understanding different problems of

students with disabilities and the state initiatives to provide basic amenities to
Persons with disabilities to make them part of society, besides additional funding.

iii. ADIP Scheme:

Education of CWSN cannot be successful until they are provided those essential aids and appliances
that enhance their functional ability. The state has been availing the Scheme of Assistance to
Disabled Persons for Purchase/Fitting of Aids and Appliances (ADIP) Scheme launched by the Union
Ministry of Social Welfare. The main objective of the scheme is to assist the needy disabled children
in procuring durable, sophisticated and scientifically manufactured, modern, standard aids and
appliances that can promote their physical, social and psychological well being by enhancing their
educational potential. The scheme provides aids and appliances to locomotor disabled, visually
disabled, hearing disabled, mentally disabled and multiple disabled.