Education of Children with Disability – Policy and Reality
Dr. I.P. Gowramma
Introduction
UNICEF Report on the Status of Disability in India 2000 states that there are around 30 million children in India suffering from some form of disability. The SixthAll-India Educational Survey (NCERT, 1998) reports that of India’s 200 million school-aged children (6–14 years), 20 million require special needs education. When it is time for a National Policy yet again, it is essential to analyse the earlier policies are practices to lead towards catering to this huge demand.Policy in India has always leaned towards inclusion of children with disabilities in education. From the Constitution to the Kothari Commission (1966) in the early days of the republic, to the 2005 Action Plan for Children and Youth with Disabilities and the 2006 National Policy for People with Disabilities recently, the Indian government tends to write inclusive policies on education. However, these policies often are not perfectly inclusive. Many of them tend to discriminate against people with “severe” disabilities, or people with intellectual disabilities, especially in terms of mainstream versus special schooling. Still, at present, the policies governing the education system are inclusive.
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Education of Children with Disability – Policy and Reality
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