CBSE, States Boards, Rehabilitation Council of India, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and other stakeholders have been asked by the High Court to hold meetings and formulate a comprehensive policy to achieve the objectives of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. (Representational image)
USE OF personal or school-provided laptops by children with special needs during their board examination, a portal to address the grievances regarding their education, relaxation in their attendance and an orientation course for school teachers regarding inclusive education are some of the proposals before the Central Board of School Education (CBSE) for development of a comprehensive policy for education of differently-abled children in the country.
In accordance with the Punjab and Haryana High Court orders asking it to hold a meeting for a uniform policy for the education of such children, the CBSE Monday informed a division bench of Justices Rajesh Bindal and Deepak Sibal that a meeting of all stakeholders for preparation of the policy will be held on June 12 in Delhi. Many state governments, including Punjab and Haryana, have also sent their suggestions to the CBSE in this regard.
CBSE, States Boards, Rehabilitation Council of India, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and other stakeholders have been asked by the High Court to hold meetings and formulate a comprehensive policy to achieve the objectives of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.
According to a preliminary report submitted before the division bench on Monday, the CSBE has requested the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to develop an orientation programme for regular school teachers. CBSE is also planning to develop a portal to address the complaints regarding the challenges faced by differently abled children in their educations and examinations.
Regarding the new provision on use of laptops in the Board examination, the CBSE, in the report, has said schools can provide laptops with pre-loaded software to the candidates with special needs who cannot afford to bring their own laptop.
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, according to the preliminary report, has also told the CBSE that there is a need of 30 percent mandatory attendance to ensure effective participation of the children. The ministry has also suggested to the CBSE to provide an option of using mother tongue for imparting education to the differently abled at its schools.
CBSE will also add a ‘Special Olympic’ competent in its sports policy for the differently abled children, according to the report. Regarding the examination centres for the differently abled students, CBSE counsel Monday told the court that there was a proposal to keep the centres within their schools for such children but only for vocational courses.