RTE: Children with Disabilities

vrhope.org/rtetn/rte-children/rte-children-with-disabilities/

Why does the Act have special benets for disabled children?
Children with disabilities are among the most disadvantaged in terms of access to schooling and completion of
elementary education. More than one-third of all out-of-school children are disabled. Most of them are from the
poorest strata of Indian society. Disability is frequently both a cause and consequence of poverty.
Not only do these children suer from a variety of physical and mental handicaps, they are also the victims of
societal prejudice, including our schools. Some schools explicitly refuse admission or actively dissuade them
from joining. The design of schools, and facilities such as toilets, do not keep their needs in view. Additional
support by way of special teachers and learning materials are not provided. The school environment is
indierent to their learning and psychological needs, and consequently many discontinue schooling, or do not
even enter school.
The RTE Act attempts to provide an enabling environment for disabled children to enter school, attend and
complete elementary education.
Who are the disabled children that can benet from the Act?
While the original RTE Act passed in April 1, 2010 specically mentions children with disability, the Amendment
passed in 2012 resulted in an expanded denition of children with disability and other enabling measures. This
broader denition now includes:
A child with disability is to be included in the Acts denition of children belonging to a disadvantaged
group.
A child with disability as dened in 1995 Persons with Disabilities Act
A child with disability and severe disability as dened in National Trust for Welfare of Persons with
Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999.
Types of provisions of the Act and Maharashtra Rules for children with disabilities
The Act and Maharashtra Rules have two types of provisions for disabled children:
1. Provisions that apply specically to disabled children, or mainly to disadvantaged groups of students and thus
disabled children
2. Provisions that apply to all children, and thus disabled children
The following discussion focuses on the rst category of provisions, and will include the second category where
relevant.
Enabling provisions of the Act and Maharashtra Rules to help disabled children with access to school
Every child of the age of six to fourteen years, shall have the right to free and compulsory education in a
neighbourhood school till the completion of elementary. This includes disabled children.
Free education means that no fees or donations can be charged in government schools, and includes
textbooks, uniforms and writing materials, etc. The Maharashtra Rules specically mention that children
with disabilities shall be provided special learning and support materials.
Compulsory education means that the State/Local Education Authorities are legally compelled to provide
a neighbourhood school, and ensure compulsory admission, attendance and completion of 8 years of
elementary education.

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The Maharashtra Rules dene a neighbourhood school as one within 1 km walking distance for students
in Classes 1-5, and 3 km for students in Classes 6-8. These distances can be relaxed if necessary.
The Maharashtra Rules specically mention that since children with disabilities are prevented access from
schooling, the State Government or Local Authority should provide appropriate and safe transportation
arrangements for disabled children to attend school and complete elementary education.
The Maharashtra Rules also separately indicate that the State Government or Local Authority could
provide free transportation, residential and other facilities.
All children have a right to full-time elementary education in a recognised school with basic facilities and
teachers.
The government and Local Authority are to undertake school mapping to establish neighbourhood
schools, and also conduct annual surveys to obtain information on all children living in the area, including
out of school children and dropouts.
Right of access and 25% reservation provision of the Act
The 2012 Amendment includes children with disabilities under the denition of disadvantaged. Under the
25% reservations requirement of the Act, disabled children will now be eligible for admission to private
unaided and minority aided schools, as well as specied schools. They will receive free education
including textbooks, and other facilities.
Enabling provisions of the Act and Maharashtra Rules for school admissions and transfer of children with
disabilities
While admitting children, including those with disabilities, no child or parent can be subject to tests,
interviews or any screening procedure or should be required to pay capitation fees or donation of any kind.
This includes disabled children.
No child can be denied admissions due to lack of age-proof. Admission should be given until an
appropriate document attesting proof of age is provided.
No child can be denied admission. Children can be admitted even after the prescribed date of joining
school.
No child can be denied admissions to a school if the child is overage or has not attended school.
Such older children are to be admitted in an age-appropriate class, and provided special training and
additional ongoing academic support to bring them on par with the rest of the class.
No student once admitted can be detained in a school or expelled till the completion of elementary
education.
If in a school there is no provision for completion of elementary education, children have a right to transfer
to a government or government-aided school.
Children have a right to transfer within or outside the state to a government or government-aided school.
Delay in producing a transfer certicate cannot be grounds for delaying or refusing children admission to
a school.
All the above 8 provisions for facilitating school admissions and transfers of students apply to children with
disabilities.
Enabling provisions of the Act and Maharashtra Rules for the academic support of disabled children
The Act recommends that older children, who are out of school, should be admitted in an age-appropriate class

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in recognised schools, and provided special additional training. The Maharashtra Rules devote an entire section
(Part II, Section 3) to such academic support for older children often the case with disabled children
admitted in an age-appropriate class.
The Maharashtra Rules state that this training is to be provided, in addition to the normal hours of classroom
instruction. These special classes can be taught by teachers or specially appointed teachers in school, or outside
in authorised bridge courses. The Maharashtra SCERT is responsible for developing age-appropriate learning
materials and the planning of training programmes for teachers.
RTE: Implications of Act provisions and Maharashtra Rules for the education of disabled children
Disabled children, like migrant children and other disadvantaged groups of students, face similar access,
admission, transfer and support problems. The Act and the Maharashtra Rules expect the State Government
and Local Authority to address these issues. Children with disabilities have, in addition, specic problems, like
travelling sometimes even short distances to school, for which they are to be provided special and safe transport.
They are also to be provided with special materials free, can be admitted late into school and are expected to
receive additional academic support.
The Act has clearly specied full-time schooling in recognised government schools for disabled children. Under
the 2012 Amendment, the only exceptions are children with multiple or profound disabilities who have the right to
opt for home-based education. Since disabled children are included in the denition of disadvantaged children in
the 2012 Amendment, they are also eligible for admission to private and specied schools under the 25%
reservation provision.
Translating the letter and spirit of the provisions of theAct would involve a radical change in the way schools
function. School buildings and classrooms will have to go beyond merely providing ramps to help disabled
children, but also include other features such as stair rails and accessible sanitation facilities. Incorporating
children with varying disabilities in regular classrooms, and teaching them, will mean that teachers will have to
enhance their range of teaching styles and methods. The ability of schools to respond to these challenges will
not only depend on school leadership, but on the quality of academic and supplementary support provided by the
State Government and Local Authorities.

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