India 2018

Education 159
III. Inclusive Education
a. SCs/STs and Muslims
Enrolment of SC children has gone up from 19.06 per cent in 2010-11 to 19.8 per
cent in 2015-16 at elementary level which is more than their share in population
at 16.60 per cent (as per Census 2011). Enrolment of ST children has marginally
gone down from 10.70 per cent in 2010-11 to 10.35 per cent in 2015-16 at
elementary level which is more than their share of population at 8.60 per cent
(as per census 2011). Enrolment of Muslim children has grown up from 12.50
per cent in 2010-11 to 13.8 per cent in 2015-16 at elementary level which is slightly
less than their share in population (14.2 per cent as per Census 2011).
b) Children with Special Needs
RTE-SSA seeks to ensure that every child with special needs, irrespective of the
kind, category and degree of disability, is provided meaningful and quality
education. The main components of SSA interventions for children with special
needs include 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, monitoring and evaluation and a special focus on girls
with special needs.
(c) Textbooks for Children
All children are provided free textbooks up to class VIII. In 2016-17 provision
was made for providing text books to 8.38 crore children. Concomitantly
workbooks and worksheets are being provided by several states, to facilitate
activity-based classroom processes and to supplement learning processes.
IV. Sub-Programmes under SSA
a) The Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat (PBBB), a sub-programme of the SSA, in
classes I and II is focusing on foundational learning in early grades with an
emphasis on reading, writing and comprehension and mathematics. States and
UTs have been implementing specific interventions like ABL in Tamil Nadu,
Nalli Kali in Karnataka, Pragya in Gujarat; steps have been taken to develop
specific teacher training modules for teachers teaching students in classes 1
and 2. Punjab, Meghalaya, Delhi have introduced programmes for strengthening
teaching of maths in classes 1 and 2; in Sikkim schools have set up reading
corners for children in the foundational classes through support from community
members.
b) The Rashtriya Aavishkar Abhiyan (RAA), also under the SSA, aims to motivate
and engage children of the age group 6-18 years, in science, mathematics and
technology by observation, experimentation, inference drawing and model
building, through both inside and outside classroom activities. Schools have
been adopted for mentoring by institutions of higher education like IIT's, IISER's
and NIT's.