India 2018

Education 165
Abhiyan. It provides assistance for the inclusive education of the disabled
children in classes IX-XII. The aim of the scheme is to enable all students with
disabilities, after completing eight years of elementary schooling, to pursue
further four years of secondary schooling (classes IX to XII) in an inclusive and
enabling environment. The scheme covers all children passing out of elementary
school and studying at the secondary stage in government, local body and
government-aided schools, with one or more disabilities as defined under the
Persons with Disabilities Act, (1995), and the National Trust Act (1999), namely
i) blindness, ii) low vision, iii) leprosy cured, iv) hearing impairment, v) locomotor
disabilities, vi) mental retardation, vii) mental illness, viii) autism, ix)
cerebral palsy and may eventually cover Speech impairment, learning
disabilities, etc.
The components of the scheme include assistance for two major
components i.e.-
A) student-oriented components: i) assessment of medical / educational needs,
ii) provision of student specific facilities, like assistive devices, therapeutic
service, books support services etc. iii) development of learning material, iv)
purchase of screen reading software. Girls with disability receive special focus
and efforts made under the scheme to help them gain access to secondary schools
with a provision of monthly stipend of ` 200/- for the disabled girls. ` 3,000/-
per child per annum is provided as Central Assistance to be topped by the States
by a scholarship of ` 600/- per disabled child per annum.
(B) Other Components: i) appointment of special educators, ii) special pay for
general teachers trained in special education -` 400/- per month iii) construction
and equipping of resource rooms, vi) training of general school teachers to build
their capacity to fulfill the needs of children with special needs vii) make schools
barrier free.
At the central level, a project approval Board approves the proposals
received from the State Governments and also for monitoring and evaluation.
This also has several experts in the field of inclusive education as members.
Approval Board approve the proposals received from the state/UTs.
Accordingly approval was given for providing assistance to state/UTs for
appointment/continuation of 3,245 special educators.
A total of 2,20,481 Children With Special Needs (CWSN) was covered
under the scheme during the year 2016-17.
Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Teacher Education
(A) Strengthening Teacher Education
The Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Teacher Education was initiated in 1987
pursuant to the formulation of the National Policy of Education, 1986. The
scheme was revised for the 12 th Five Year Plan. It aims to establish DIETs in all
districts created up to 2011, thereby increasing their numbers from existing 571
to 646; strengthen existing 106 to 122 Colleges of Teacher Education (CTEs) and