INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN SSA

The key objective of SSA is Universalization of Elementary Education (UEE). Three

important aspects of UEE are access, enrolment and retention of all children in 6-14
years of age. This goal of UEE, has further been facilitated by 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. This Amendment has given
a new thrust to the education of Children With Special Needs (CWSN), as without
their inclusion, the objective of UEE cannot be achieved. In-fact inclusion of one of
the groups, which is extremely crucial for UEE, is perhaps that of the CWSN. Hence,
education of CWSN is an important component of SSA.

Provisions for CWSN under SSA

SSA provides upto Rs.1200/- per child for the inclusion of disabled children, as per
specific proposal, per year. District plan for children with special needs is formulated
within the Rs.1200/- per child norm. The interventions under SSA for inclusive
education are identification, functional and formal assessment, appropriate
educational placement, preparation of Individualized Educational Plan, provision of
aids and appliances, teacher training, resource support, removal of architectural
barriers, research, monitoring and evaluation and a special focus on girls with special
needs. The guidelines on inclusive education in SSA are given at Annex-I.

SSA’s Policy on Inclusion

SSA ensures that every child with special needs, irrespective of the kind, category and
degree of disability, is provided meaningful and quality education. Hence, SSA has
adopted a zero rejection policy. This means that no child having special needs should
be deprived of the right to education and taught in an environment, which is best,
suited to his/her learning needs. These include special schools, EGS, AIE or even
home-based education.

The major thrust of SSA is on inclusion or mainstreaming CWSN into the fabric of
formal elementary schooling. Experiences of programmes like DPEP and various
research findings have shown that inclusion is best determined by the individual
needs of the child. Most children with special needs can be enrolled and retained in
regular schools if adequate resource support is provided to them, whereas there are
others who might have to be provided some kind of pre-integration programmes,
before they can be mainstreamed in a classroom. There might also be still some
CWSN with severe profound disabilities, who would require an educational
programme and intensive specialized support completely beyond the purview and
scope of a formal school in the current situation.

Thus, SSA has adopted a more expansive and a broad-based understanding of the
concept of inclusion, wherein a multi-option model of educating CWSN is being
implemented. The dual objective of embracing this model is to bring more CWSN
under the umbrella of SSA and to provide to CWSN appropriate need based skills, be
it vocational, functional literacy or simply activities of daily living. Further, an
attempt is being made to provide these skills in the most appropriate learning
environment.
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Efforts so far

The implementation of this multi-option model of inclusion in SSA has been made
possible due to the flexibility offered to each State by the programme. Although most
SSA States have identified and enrolled CWSN in schools, they differ in the
approaches and strategies adopted to achieve the ultimate objective of inclusion.
States like A.P., Bihar, Madhya- Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and U.P. have conducted
residential bridge courses for CWSN with the main objective of preparing CWSN for
schools, thereby endeavouring better quality inclusion for them. Whereas Rajasthan is
conducting these bridge courses entirely through NGOs, U.P is conducting them
through the resource teachers especially recruited by the District SSA Societies for
this purpose. Andhra- Pradesh has adopted a mixed model, with some districts
conducting these courses through NGOs and others through the District SSA
Societies. Besides this AIE model, 11 States are also covering CWSN through the
EGS. So far in SSA, 112033 CWSN are being covered through AIE/EGS in 17 States.

Another practice adopted by SSA States (21 States so far) is that of the home-based
education for children with severe-profound disabilities with the objective of either
preparing CWSN for schools or for life by imparting to them basic living skills.
Again States have adopted different ways to provide home-based support to CWSN.
States like Himachal-Pradesh and Uttarakhand are using NGOs for this purpose,
whereas States like Haryana and Kerala have appointed resource teachers who visit
the homes of CWSN to provide them basic functional skills. Still other States like
Tamil- Nadu are using special schools as resource centers to provide short-time or
part-time help to individual children with special needs and their parents. Parental
counseling and vocational training are two important aspects of the entire home-based
instruction programme. Through home-based education, SSA has been able to cover
77140 CWSN. A notable feature of this programme has been an increased and a
sustainable school- community linkage by actively involving parents in the
educational process of their CWSN.

No matter what the educational setting, it is widely accepted that there can be no
inclusion of CWSN without adequate resource support. This aspect has been taken
care of in SSA mainly through NGOs, inclusive education resource teachers (IERTs),
volunteers or by imparting long- term training to regular teachers on inclusion. States
like Haryana have opened model inclusive schools in every block and equipped them
with all possible facilities (like transport, equipment for physio- therapy, occupational
therapy, resource teachers etc.) mainly to provide all kinds of support services,
including remedial teaching to CWSN.

22 States have appointed 6678 resource teachers and 687 NGOs are involved in the
IE programme in 28 States. An important and unique facet of this involvement is the
range of activities that the NGOs have undertaken in the States for IE. These activities
vary from planning for inclusion as in West- Bengal, to implementation and
monitoring of IE, like in Tamil- Nadu. Other States have engaged NGOs for
designing and initiating innovative programmes. These include theme-based camps in
Orissa and development of low-cost/ no- cost simulation park for social inclusion of
CWSN in every BRC of Tamil- Nadu to training of Key Resource Persons from the

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Families of CWSN in West- Bengal and preparation of adapted TLM for CWSN in
Karnataka.

Two additional forms of resource support, complimentary to each other, being

provided to CWSN are through assistive devices and barrier free access. Both of
these aim enhancement of the functional capacity/ mobility of CWSN to promote
their easy access to the schools. 7.11 lakh CWSN (76.44% of the CWSN requiring
aids and appliances) under SSA have been provided assistive devices through various
modes. Some States like Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and U.P. have converged with
District Disability Rehabilitation Centers, local Red Cross, Composite Regional
Centers, NGOs etc. and some States like Kerala and A.P. have made arrangements to
provide the necessary equipment to CWSN through the State Government supported
organizations – like A.P. Viklaangula Corporative Corporation (APVCC) and Kerala
State Electronic Development Corporation (KELTRON). However, the largest
provider of aids and appliances to CWSN under SSA is ALIMCO (Artificial Limb
Manufacturing Corporation of India), a public sector undertaking functioning under
the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJ&E) with which an
agreement has been signed at the national level, as per which 60% of the cost of the
assistive devices would be borne by MoSJ&E and 40% by the State SSA Societies.

Schools are being made more disabled friendly by incorporating barrier free features
in their designs 5.02 lakh schools have been made barrier-free and very focused
efforts are being made by all the States to cover more schools in a phased manner.

The Outcome

These practices and innovations in SSA are no doubt leading to a gradual increased
identification of CWSN. From 14.59 lakh CWSN identified in 2003-04, 30.38 lakh
have been identified in 2006-07. Similarly, the enrollment of CWSN in 2006-07 has
gone up to 19.97 lakh CWSN as compared to 11.71 lakh CWSN in 2003-04. More
CWSN are likely to be covered this year through various interventions and strategies.
The current coverage of CWSN is 21.86 lakh (71.99%).

Besides increasing the physical coverage, the expenditure on inclusive education in

SSA has also shown an upward trend. From a mere 26% expenditure in 2003-04, the
States have shown an overall expenditure of 65.50% on CWSN inclusion related
activities in 2005-06.

The Challenges

It can be seen from the foregoing that several novel initiatives have been taken up to
address the divergent needs of special children. An endeavour has also been made to
develop in teachers, the necessary attitude, skills and competencies required to deal
effectively with children with various special educational needs. The focus of SSA is
now on reaching out to those out of school CWSN, not covered so far and developing
a strategy that will ensure that every child with special needs receives continuing on
site support. This perhaps is the biggest challenge of all and a crucial determinant
of the success of the inclusive education programme under SSA.

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However, there are a few important issues in IE that also need to be adequately
addressed. These have been listed below:

• The percentage of CWSN identified seems to be low, being only 1.54 % of the
total child population in SSA in comparison to Census 2001 data, wherein
2.1% of the population has been found to have some disability. Hence, States
should streamline their identification procedures
• Retention of CWSN after their identification and enrollment should be
monitored and encouraged so that they complete the cycle of elementary
education
• States to maintain their efforts to provide more assistive devices to CWSN as
76.4% children have got the required equipment
• Effective monitoring mechanisms should be developed by the States to assess
both the quantitative and qualitative progress and problems in IE
• Emphasis should now to be on classroom practices and teaching methods
adopted by teachers for effective classroom management of CWSN
• To ensure that every child with special needs receives continuing on site
support
• Involvement of more NGOs in the IE programme of SSA needs to be
strengthened
• Only 47.14% schools have been made barrier-free. This aspect of IE in SSA
needs more focus
• Although States have increased pace of expenditure, it needs to be further
geared up.

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 Annex-II a
Number of Disabled Children Identified and Covered Under SSA

No. Name of the CWSN CWSN % CWSN CWSN % CWSN

State Identified Enrolled in Enrolled Enrolled in provided covered
Schools in schools EGS Home against
Centers Based identified
Edn CWSN
1 A.P. 138467 127851 92.33 4712 5904 100.00
2 Ar. Pradesh 6917 3858 55.78 500 63.00
3 Assam 106209 66780 62.88 4208 11216 77.40
4 Bihar 182655 153636 84.11 11229 7647 94.45
5 Chhattisgarh 26302 26113 99.28 0 189 100.00
6 Goa 2340 208 8.89 8.89
7 Gujarat 77819 61224 78.67 78.67
8 Haryana 27810 20966 75.39 6264 580 100.00
9 HP 26370 24217 91.84 0 2153 100.00
10 J&K 34825 23080 66.27 66.27
11 Jharkhand 36376 27073 74.43 945 171 77.49
12 Karnataka 129491 117401 90.66 10327 98.64
13 Kerala 132193 129972 98.32 1331 890 100.00
14 MP 100929 85332 84.55 9573 4373 98.36
15 Maharashtra 1040325 345241 33.19 40354 14234 38.43
16 Manipur 7411 4739 63.95 - 63.95
17 Meghalaya 9306 4942 53.11 939 168 65.00
18 Mizoram 4838 4033 83.36 83.36
19 Nagaland 4490 3160 70.38 70.38
20 Orissa 129659 114276 88.14 10291 5092 100.00
21 Punjab 46320 24603 53.12 1408 1018 58.35
22 Rajasthan 149093 145131 97.34 3275 687 100.00
23 Sikkim 0 0 0.00 0.00
24 TN 95913 94802 98.84 409 702 100.00
25 Tripura 8546 3741 43.77 43.77
26 UP 351084 251536 71.65 1692 72.13
27 Uttrakhand 12049 10510 87.23 1065 474 100.00
28 West Bengal 140699 115834 82.33 14134 10731 100.00
29 A & N Islands 896 642 71.65 41 76.23
30 Chandigarh 1500 1296 86.40 204 100.00
31 D & N Haveli 268 0 0.00 0.00
32 Daman & Diu 110 73 66.36 66.36
33 Delhi 4028 3128 77.66 77.66
34 Lakshadweep 100 20 20.00 20.00
35 Pondicherry 2700 2359 87.37 43 88.96
Total 3038038 1997777 65.76 112033 77140 71.99

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 Annex-II b

State wise Number of Resource Teachers in SSA

No. Name of the State No. of Resource Teachers

1. A.P. 647
2. Assam 140
3. Bihar 199
4. Chhattisgarh 6
5. Gujarat 20
6. Haryana 70
7. HP 146
8. Jharkhand 20
9. Karnataka 606
10. Kerala 380
11. MP 110
12. Maharashtra 938
13. Mizoram 9
14. Orissa 328
15. Punjab 145
16. Rajasthan 160
17. TN 778
18. Tripura 56
19. UP 1187
20. Uttrakhand 15
21. West Bengal 709
22. Chandigarh 9
Total 6678

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 Annex-II c
Progress on Aids & Appliances in SSA

No Name of the Aids & Aids & % of Aids &

. State Appliances Appliances appliances
Required Provided
1 A.P. 103647 97077 93.66
2 Ar. Pradesh 5804 2604 44.87
3 Assam 20106 14783 73.53
4 Bihar 95356 71212 74.68
5 Chhattisgarh 40492 20979 51.81
6 Goa - - -
7 Gujarat 43908 39716 90.45
8 Haryana 23407 19500 83.31
9 HP 1745 1475 84.53
10 J&K 3050 2545 83.44
11 Jharkhand 10737 6596 61.43
12 Karnataka 18360 15062 82.04
13 Kerala 36805 36805 100.00
14 MP 32660 27664 84.70
15 Maharashtra 66596 53127 79.78
16 Manipur 1970 1110 56.35
17 Meghalaya 1583 1284 81.11
18 Mizoram 1019 693 68.01
19 Nagaland 1445 471 32.60
20 Orissa 103614 51250 49.46
21 Punjab 41788 14700 35.18
22 Rajasthan 24569 19619 79.85
23 Sikkim - - -
24 TN 69603 57843 83.10
25 Tripura 7599 1334 17.55
26 UP 115457 111488 96.56
27 Uttrakhand 17662 5930 33.57
28 West Bengal 40410 34707 85.89
29 A & N Islands - - -
30 Chandigarh - - -
31 D & N Haveli - - -
32 Daman & Diu 11 11 -
33 Delhi 2003 1986 99.15
34 Lakshadweep - - -
35 Pondicherry 400
Total 931406 711971 76.44

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 Annex-II d
Teacher Training on Inclusive Education in SSA

No. Name of the No. of 1-day % of 1-2 3-6 day % of 45/90 day
State Teachers orientation day training 3-6 training
on IE orientation orient
ation
1 Andhra 277724 161031 57.98 223604 80.51 633
Pradesh
2 Arunachal 9581 1800 18.79 340 3.55 0
Pradesh
3 Assam 154010 154010 100.00 86824 56.38 540
4 Bihar 222752 160475 72.04 64243 28.84 984
5 Chhattisgarh 117053 60094 51.34 21271 18.17 240
6 Goa 7328 0 0.00 0 0.00 0
7 Gujarat 174504 174504 100.00 25816 14.79 5116
8 Haryana 71179 67651 95.04 25000 35.12 300
9 HP 46726 43903 93.96 4657 9.97 804
10 J&K 63557 15000 23.60 608 0.96 150
11 Jharkhand 137858 60954 44.22 9048 6.56 110
12 Karnataka 215790 188026 87.13 102643 47.57 21669
13 Kerala 129359 151709 117.28 42536 32.88
14 MP 304575 79320 26.04 11934 3.92 2572
15 Maharashtra 433055 383082 88.46 383082 88.46 2000
16 Manipur 14656 2810 19.17 1210 8.26 140
17 Meghalaya 24178 8792 36.36 1576 6.52 212
18 Mizoram 11217 1956 17.44 1172 10.45 40
19 Nagaland 12043 0 0.00 0.00 76
20 Orissa 154408 108985 70.58 88775 57.49 533
21 Punjab 73246 0 0.00 0 0.00 300
22 Rajasthan 179647 51589 28.72 60206 33.51 707
23 Sikkim 5702 0 0.00 0.00
24 TN 210624 163306 77.53 28911 13.73
25 Tripura 29059 20547 70.71 4247 14.62 300
26 UP 489116 286595 58.59 141610 28.95 448
27 Uttarakhand 44917 38170 84.98 42465 94.54 9587
28 West Bengal 319938 122654 38.34 98958 30.93 2732
Andaman & 40 1.29 200 6.46
29 3095
Nicobar
30 Chandigarh 3400 0 0.00 723 21.26 300
31 Dadar & 0 0.00 0.00
Nagar Haveli 1278
32 Daman & Diu 415 0 0.00 0.00
33 Delhi 47792 47792 100.00 0 0.00 0
34 Lakshadweep 445 0 0.00 0.00
35 Pondicherry 4742 2071 43.67 20 0.42
Total 3994969 2556866 64.00 1471679 36.84 50493

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 Annex-II e
NGOs Involvement in IE in SSA
No. Name of the State No. of NGOs involved
1 A.P. 78
2 Ar. Pradesh 15
3 Assam 17
4 Bihar 13
5 Chhattisgarh 8
6 Goa
7 Gujarat 17
8 Haryana 15
9 HP 15
10 J&K
11 Jharkhand 4
12 Karnataka 45
13 Kerala 5
14 MP 7
15 Maharashtra 18
16 Manipur 7
17 Meghalaya 12
18 Mizoram 8
19 Nagaland 2
20 Orissa 83
21 Punjab 10
22 Rajasthan 27
23 Sikkim
24 TN 42
25 Tripura 1
26 UP 6
27 Uttrakhand 15
28 West Bengal 196
29 A & N Islands
30 Chandigarh 6
31 D & N Haveli 0
32 Daman & Diu 0
33 Delhi 5
34 Lakshadweep 0
35 Pondicherry 10
Total 687

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 Annex-II f

Progress on Barrier Free Access in SSA

No. Name of the State No. of Schools* Barrier %

Free
Access

1 Andhra Pradesh 79754 16898 21.19

2 Arunachal Pradesh 2808 16 0.57
3 Assam 41278 28532 69.12
4 Bihar 70174 33246 47.38
5 Chhattisgarh 40871 28666 70.14
6 Goa 1561 NA 0.00
7 Gujarat 53555 31531 58.88
8 Haryana 13581 7007 51.59
9 HP 14421 4305 29.85
10 J&K 16320 2500 15.32
11 Jharkhand 34311 8704 25.37
12 Karnataka 69109 51770 74.91
13 Kerala 14400 12131 84.24
14 MP 106493 29661 27.85
15 Maharashtra 99849 58834 58.92
16 Manipur 3477 NA 0.00
17 Meghalaya 7610 140 1.84
18 Mizoram 2272 152 6.69
19 Nagaland 1839 0 0.00
20 Orissa 39687 20372 51.33
21 Punjab 19097 1325 6.94
22 Rajasthan 60226 19230 31.93
23 Sikkim 1159 62 5.35
24 TN 51014 8564 16.79
25 Tripura 5405 1962 36.30
26 UP 133491 79133 59.28
27 Uttarankhand 16330 10173 62.30
28 West Bengal 59876 43506 72.66
29 Andaman & Nicobar 423 NA 0.00
30 Chandigarh 106 35 33.02
31 Dadar & Nagar Haveli 363 0.00
32 Daman & Diu 88 NA 0.00
33 Delhi 3710 3710 100.00
34 Lakshadweep 36 NA 0.00
35 Pondicherry 578 0.00
Total 1065272 502165 47.14

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