Government Programs and Policies for Children with Special Needs PDF

Government Programs and Policies for Children with Special needs.  Introduction The Constitution of India includes persons with disabilities generically within the universal categories of person and citizen; it does not even mention disability in the prohibi...

Government Programs and Policies for Children with Special needs.  Introduction The Constitution of India includes persons with disabilities generically within the universal categories of person and citizen; it does not even mention disability in the prohibited grounds. Consequently, in accordance with The Constitution of India, and Rights of Persons with Disability Act 2016, there are several government schemes and programs that can be availed by a person with disability in India. 2  Various Acts The Person with Disabilities Act, 1995 The Rehabilitation Council of India, 1992 The National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation, and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999 - constituted by the Central Government as a legal entity. Declaration On The Rights Of Mentally Retarded Persons 3  Education Law for the Disabled The right to education is available to all citizens including the disabled. Article 29(2) of the Constitution provides that no citizen shall be denied admission into any educational institution maintained by the State or receiving aid out of State funds on the ground of religion, race, caste or language. Article 45 of the Constitution directs the State to provide free and compulsory education for all children (including the disabled) until they attain the age of 14 years. No child can be denied admission into any education institution maintained by the State or receiving aid out of State funds on the ground of religion, race, casteor language. 4  Every Child with disability shall have the rights to free education till the age of 18 years in integrated schools or special schools. Appropriate transportation, removal of architectural barriers and restructuring of modifications in the examination system shall be ensured for the benefit of children with disabilities. Children with disabilities shall have the right to free books, scholarships, uniform and other learning material. Special Schools for children with disabilities shall be equipped with vocational training facilities. Non-formal education shall be promoted for children with disabilities. Teachers’ Training Institutions shall be established to develop requisite manpower. 5  The persons with disabilities (PWD) (equal opportunities, protection of rights and full participation) act, 1995 Prevention and early detection of disabilities Surveys, investigations and research shall be conducted to ascertain the cause of occurrence of disabilities. Various measures shall be taken to prevent disabilities. Staff at the Primary Health Centre shall be trained to assist in this work. All the Children shall be screened once in a year for identifying ‘at-risk’ cases. Awareness campaigns shall be launched and sponsored to disseminate information. Measures shall be taken for pre-natal, peri natal, and post-natal care of the mother and child. 6  Samagra Shiksha Launched in 2018-19, Samagra Shiksha is an Identification and assessment camps integrated scheme for School Education covering Provision of aids children with special needs from classes 1 to 12 under the Department of School Education and Appliances Literacy, MHRD. Assistive devices The Scheme is governed and regulated by the Teaching-learning materials (TLMs) provisions of the RTE Act, 2009. Transportation The scheme fulfils various educational needs of Escort and scribe allowances children with disabilities such as: Stipend for all girls with special needs. 7  Scheme of Integrated Education for the Disabled Children This is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme launched in 1974 by the Department of Social Welfare and after transferred to Department of Education in 1982. Under the scheme handicapped children are sought to be integrated in normal school system. The Hearing Handicapped (mild and moderate impaired only) are provided allowance for purchase of Books, stationery, uniform, transport. Disabled children residing in school hostels within the same institution where they are studying may also be paid boarding and lodging charges as admissible under Govt. rules/schemes. 8  Disha (Early Intervention and School Readiness Scheme) Early intervention and school readiness scheme. Children in the age group of 0-10 years are eligible. Day-care facilities for at least 4 hours in a day. Batch size 20. Provision of Therapies, trainings and providing support to family members. RO should maintain a ratio of 1:1 (including BPL and above) The ROs should also get in touch with paediatricians or experts in similar field to seek help in getting more PwD enrolled in the Disha centre. 9  Vikaas (Day Care) Day care scheme, primarily for enhancing interpersonal and vocational skills. Primarily to expand the range of opportunities available to a person with disability attaining the age of 10 years. Provision of caregiving support to PwD is in center. Helps in supporting family members of the PwDs to get some time during the day to fulfil other responsibilities. Day-care facilities to PwDs for at least 6 hours in a day along with age specific activities. RO should maintain a ratio of 1:1 for LIG (including BPL) and above LIG PwDs. Batch size 30 PwDs. Scheme will be available in the entire country. 10  NIRAMAYA (Health Insurance Scheme) Health insurance cover of up to Rs. 1.0 lakh. Facility for OPD treatment including the medicines, pathology, diagnostic tests, etc. Regular Medical checkup for non-ailing disabled, Dental Preventive Dentistry, Surgery to prevent further aggravation of disability, Non- Surgical/ Hospitalization, Corrective. Ongoing Therapies to reduce impact of disability and disability related complications, Alternative Medicine. Transportation costs. No pre-insurance medical tests required. The scheme will be available in the entire country except J&K. 11  SAHYOGI (Care Associate Training Scheme) Setting up Care Associate Cells (CACs). Provide training and create a skilled workforce of care associates to provide adequate and nurturing care for Person with Disabilities (PwDs) and their families who require it. Candidates who are at least 8th class pass or equivalent are eligible to apply to this course. It also seeks to provide parents an opportunity to get trained in caregiving if they so desire. Provide a choice of training through two levels of courses primary and advanced. 12  PRERNA (Marketing Assistance) Prerna is the marketing assistance scheme with an objective to create viable and widespread channels for sale of products and services produced by PwDs. This scheme aims at providing funds to participate in events such as exhibitions, melas, fairs, etc. to sell the products made by PwDs. The scheme also provides an incentive to the Registered Organisation (RO) based on the sales turnover of the products. The National Trust shall fund RO participation in national, regional, state and district level events. above the age of 14 years. 13  Samarth (Respite Care) Respite home for orphans or abandoned, families in crisis and also for Persons with Disabilities (PwD) from BPL & LIG families including destitute. Opportunities for family members to get respite time in order to fulfil other responsibilities. Group home facility for all age groups with adequate and quality care service with acceptable living standards including provision of basic medical care from professional doctors. Batch size 30 PwDs. RO should maintain a ratio of 1:1 for LIG (including BPL) and above LIG PwDs. Scheme will be available in the entire country. 14  Scholarships for the Disabled The Scheme of Scholarship is operated by union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment through State Governments to disabled persons from the 9th class onwards for general technical or professional education. The scholarship is awarded for all kinds of handicapped students subject to their obtaining of at least 40% marks at the last annual examination. 15  CBSE Relaxations for children with special needs To facilitate easy access, a few selected schools are made examination centers for special students. Teachers from schools for visually impaired are appointed as Assistant Superintendent(s) (Invigilators) at the special examination centers. However, precaution is taken to appoint different subject teachers on different days. Answer books of differently abled candidates are sent separately by the Centre Superintendents A separate column is provided on the title page of the answer book for indicating the category of differently abled candidates. Visually Impaired candidates are permitted use of screen reading software (like JAWS- Job Access with Speech) with prior approval of the Board. They also have the facility of using a computer or a typewriter for writing answers. Use of calculator is not permitted in any of the examinations conducted by the Board. 16  Candidates with visual and hearing impairment, Spastic, Dyslexic, Autistic and candidates with disabilities as defined in the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 have the option of studying one compulsory language as against two. Physio-therapic exercises are considered as equivalent to Physical and Health Education course of the Board. Alternative type questions are provided in lieu of questions having visual inputs for Visually Impaired candidates in the subjects of English Communicative and Social Science. Separate question papers in enlarged print are provided in the subjects of Mathematics and Science. Given separate question papers containing Multiple choice questions based on Practical component in lieu of practical in the subjects of Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Candidate shall have the discretion of opting for his own scribe and shall have the flexibility in accommodating change in scribe in case of emergency. The government of India is providing a considerable number of services and benefits to all disabled citizens of India. The main welfare schemes are central to the theme of imparting scholarship for higher education, aid to purchase instruments, free distribution of tools, easy loan policies for entrepreneurship are provided. The recent suggestion of our PM Mr. Narendra such as entitling differently abled as Divyang in place of Viklang is a good initiative to reshape the mindset of the masses. 18 RCI- Rehabilitation Council of India  Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) RCI was set up as a registered society in 1986. On September,1992 the RCI Act was enacted by Parliament and it became a Statutory Body on 22 June 1993.The Act was amended by Parliament in 2000 to make it more broadbased. The mandate given to RCI is to regulate and monitor services given to persons with disability, to standardise syllabi and to maintain a Central Rehabilitation Register of all qualified professionals and personnel working in the field of Rehabilitation and Special Education. The Act also prescribes punitive action against unqualified persons delivering services to persons with disability. Its specific role is to develop, standardize and regulate training programmes/courses at various levels in the field of Rehabilitation and Special Education. It also maintains the Central Rehabilitation Register for qualified Professionals in the area of Rehabilitation and Special Education Promotes Research in Special Education. 20  Obectives 1.To regulate the training policies and programmes in the field of rehabilitation of persons with disabilities 2.To bring about standardization of training courses for professionals dealing with persons with disabilities 3.To prescribe minimum standards of education and training of various categories of professionals/ personnel dealing with people with disabilities 4.To regulate these standards in all training institutions uniformly throughout the country 5.To recognize institutions/ organizations/ universities running master's degree/ bachelor's degree/ P.G.Diploma/ Diploma/ Certificate courses in the field of rehabilitation of persons with disabilities 21  Objectives continued 7. To recognize degree/diploma/certificate awarded by foreign universities/ institutions on reciprocal basis 8. promote research in Rehabilitation and Special Education 9. To maintain Central Rehabilitation Register for registration of professionals/ personnel 10. To collect information on a regular basis on education and training in the field of rehabilitation of people with disabilities from institutions in India and abroad 11. To encourage continuing education in the field of rehabilitation and special education by way of collaboration with organizations working in the field of disability. 12. To recognize Vocational Rehabilitation Centres as manpower development centres 13. To register vocational instructors and other personnel working in the Vocational Rehabilitation Centres 14. To recognize the national institutes and apex institutions on disability as manpower development centres 15. To register personnel working in national institutes and apex institutions on disability under the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment  At present, the Council has 58 standardized Training programmes developed with the help of respective Expert Committees constituted by the Council, which include programmes in the field of Clinical Psychology, Rehabilitation Psychology, Prosthetics & Orthotics, Speech and Hearing, Hearing Impairment, Visual Impairment, Intellectual and Developmental Disability, Locomotor & Cerebral palsy, Autism spectrum & disorder, Learning disability, Rehabilitation Therapy, Vocation Counselling & Rehabilitation Social Work, Community based rehabilitation and Inclusive Education.