“If a child can’t learn the way we teach, lets teach them the way they learn” Naushad, an eight years old is like every other child of his age; curious, boisterous, full of energy and life. When his younger brother, Javed comes back from school, they get to play together like normal siblings. Except that all is not normal, Naushad has an unfulfilled dream of going to school one day. He is specially abled and was born with a genetic defect in his legs. His father, Ghulam is a casual labourer, works as a mason who depends on daily wages to run his family. It is difficult for him to put two children through school, nevertheless he tries to send his younger son Javed to school regularly. However, his older son Naushad, however is a much more difficult proposition as no school in the vicinity has the required facilities to cater to children with special needs. When he has not read a single word in school how can we expect him to grow in life? and all efforts by the father to actuate his children go in vain. Naushad is not alone. According to the figures from the Social Welfare Department of Jammu & Kashmir, out of 1.2 lakh children with disabilities, only 83,000 were enrolled in schools. Among them 40,000 are in Kashmir and rest in Jammu and Ladakh. There are more disabled boys in Jammu and Kashmir than girls in the age group of 6-14 years Especially for girls with disabilities, the number of children with disabilities in primary school is much lower. Fewer people with disabilities attend school in the 11-14 age group than in the 6-11 age group. This indicates a high drop-out rate amongst the specially abled. A large proportion of these belong to low-income families who are unable to afford shifting to urban centres for the studies of their children. There is a shift needed towards inclusive education. Inclusive education means developing and designing our programs and activities, schools and classrooms, in such a way so that all students including the specially abled can participate and learn together. Although some schools are trying to implement inclusive education, the majority of children with special needs still do not receive formal education. The main problem is lack of awareness, unqualified teachers and delayed funding of facilities for children with special needs. In addition to providing infrastructure such as ramps, toilets, access to workshops, playgrounds, etc., it is essential to identify, assess, educate and support children with special needs. The legislature provides for equal and special rights and schemes for specially abled children, but its proper implementation is far from ideal. This gap is now being filled by recent policies. In 2018 The State Administrative Council chaired by Governor Shri Satya Pal Malik approved the Rights of Persons with Disabilities bill in Jammu and Kashmir, 2018. aimed at strengthening the rights and entitlements of the disabled. This subsumed the earlier act and addressed various matters related to the disabled with enhanced effectiveness, giving leverage to various centrally sponsored schemes and programmers so as to secure and protect the interest of the beneficiaries. It envisaged a slew of reforms in health, rehabilitation and education sectors. Furthermore, the bill increased the types of disabilities from existing 7 to 21 categories as 14 new types of disabilities were incorporated. The reservation for the persons with disabilities was also enhanced from 3 percent to 4 percent. In April this year, the administration of J&K Union Territory came up with draft rules for implementation of “The Right of Persons with Disabilities Act-2016”. These rules deal with persons with disabilities to include their rights, entitlements and structures at different levels. These rules envisage a research committee on disability to include representatives from the Health and Education departments. The Deputy Commissioners of districts have also been empowered legally in support of persons with disabilities. A nodal officer must be appointed to resolve all issues related to the admission of children with disabilities and the school facilities provided to them as per the provisions of the law. Various initiatives have been taken under the central government scheme of Samagra Shiksha for Children with Special Needs under Inclusive Education including distribution of free aids, disbursement of different allowances through DBT and providing free textbooks. More than 70 Resource Rooms have been established in all the districts of the Union Territory where special educators have been engaged under Samagra Shiksha to cater to the educational needs of children with special needs. Education is the fundamental right of all children and each and every child has the right to equal opportunity. Inclusion of all marginalized students in the mainstream is crucial and inclusive education is a much needed.
