Parents and teachers cheering students with intellectual disabilities during a run organized by the Tamil Nadu Council of Special Schools, in Madurai. , photo credit: R Ashok
“Madam, may I go to the toilet?” or “Can I go outside to play?” These are usually innocuous requests by most school children. But for children with disabilities/disabled (CWD), these are difficult tasks, as higher care is required to complete the tasks. These actions are made difficult in schools that do not have accessible spaces and other guiding infrastructure to access safely.
a UNESCO 2019 Report It is mentioned that CWD comprises 1.7% of the total child population in India (Census 2011). As they face 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, the report said. . Many CWDs tend to drop out of school as they grow up.
In order to motivate all children to participate meaningfully in all indoor and outdoor activities without any barriers or limitations, the school ecosystem has to be made safe, accessible and reliable.
barriers to access
Multiple barriers hinder the participation of CWD in accessing educational opportunities such as inaccessible school buses; Inaccessible facilities in schools (drinking water facilities, canteen and toilets); and inappropriate infrastructure in classrooms (uncomfortable seating, slippery floors and poor lighting). Misconceptions and assumptions among parents, teachers, staff, and communities further affect a child’s emotional development.
Additional challenges are the lack of inclusive technologies to engage the child, such as assistive devices, and teaching and learning practices that integrate digital tools. In recent training programs organized by UN-Habitat India and IIT Kharagpur, school teachers and special educators said that accessible infrastructure within schools, such as ramps or tactile paths, are either deficient or constructed using appropriate materials have not been done. School management officials said that if such provisions are maintained regularly and adequate funds are made available for creation of new infrastructure, then we will have accessible places. There is a need for cooperation, involvement and sensitization of parents and caregivers, teachers, school management officials and local government departments to proactively address all these barriers.
Article 21A of the Constitution And this Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 Outline the fundamental right to education and the right to free and compulsory education for children in the age group of 6-14 years. The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, which adopted a ‘zero rejection policy’, emphasizes that “every child with special needs, irrespective of the type, category and degree of disability, is provided with meaningful and quality education”. . India confirmed United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Aligning with this commitment, the Government launched Accessible India Campaign (Accessible India Campaign) In 2015. An important pillar of this campaign is access to the built environment. The Government has also been supporting the principle of Leave No One Behind (LNOB), which is a transformative promise of the Central Government. 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, anchored under Mainstreaming the LNOB Project A pilot training program on increasing access and inclusion was implemented in two schools in Delhi by UN-Habitat in collaboration with IIT Kharagpur and Department of Social Welfare, Government of Delhi.
Through interactive training sessions and simulation exercises that encourage empathy building, over 400 participants, including children, school faculty and staff, were exposed to the different types of disabilities among children and the specific challenges experienced in various infrastructure areas of the school. Notified about constraints. After the simulation exercise, children said they would try harder to help their classmates whenever possible. Various good practices, guidelines and standards were also displayed to make buildings, campuses and infrastructure safe, accessible and inclusive. Regardless of which combination of these accessibility features are added or adapted to schools, it can go a long way in creating inclusive spaces.
towards inclusiveness
The development of inclusive and accessible schools would be a major step in not only challenging perceptions about CWD and associated discrimination, but also in actualizing a zero-rejection policy in schools.
Empowerment of future citizens requires a multi-pronged participatory approach towards providing an enabling environment to ensure that the stakeholders in the school ecosystem collectively work towards promoting access and inclusion in schools work. This includes awareness and sensitization programs for children, parents and caregivers; training of trainers and providing access to updated teaching toolkits and materials for skill development of school faculty and special educators; technical training for local government departments; And a co-learning platform for knowledge sharing among all.
Additionally, five principles – equity, usability and sustainability, affordability, cultural adaptability, and aesthetic appeal – should be embedded in schools from the evaluation stages of providing infrastructure services to implementation.
With such an approach realised, removing barriers to access in schools will be an uphill battle, but it will not be an insurmountable one.
Adishree Panda ‘Leave No One Behind’ Project Coordinator, UN-Habitat India; Hemanti Banerjee is Professor, Architecture and Regional Planning, IIT Kharagpur