Status Report on the Inclusion

of Children with Disabilities in

Registered Schools, Chennai
District

Prepared by:
Volunteers:
Keshav Vijayan
Aditya Krishnamoorthy
Bhaskar Narayan

Chennai.

Table of Contents:

S.No

Particulars

2.

Scope, Methodology & Limitations

3.

Introduction

4.

Key Findings

5.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Annexure
1. Questionnaire
2. References

2. Objective, Scope, Methodology and Limitations

Objective
The objective of the report is to provide a status on the inclusion of children with disabilities
and to the extent in which the environment facilitate inclusion of children with disabilities in
registered educational institutions. This report will be used as a tool for advocacy with the
School education department in order that nations commitment to its citizens through its
various policies and Legislations and through United Nations Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) are realised and fulfilled.
Rationale
Approximately 20% of the population of persons with disabilities in Tamil Nadu are children
with disabilities in the age group 5 to 18 years1.
World report on persons with disabilities estimates a gap of 10% in India between disabled
and non-disabled children in accessing schools and nearly a quarter of children with
disabilities are out of school even in high performing states like Karnataka 2. The report tells
us that the share of disabled children not enrolled is more than 5 times the national rate.
As a nation we guarantee:
A. universal primary education for all children between 6 to 14 years of age,
B. Inclusive education in an appropriate environment under the Persons with disabilities
(Equality of Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995 and
C. the respect for evolving capacities and inclusive education in an environment that
lead to academic and social development among children with disabilities on an
equal basis with others as mandated by the United Nations Convention on the Rights
of Persons with Disabilities on an equal basis with others.
The question is why is there a gap? To address these questions we need to have a
baseline report on the status of education of children with disabilities.
As we move towards the post 2015 millennium development agenda, we must be in a
position to at least engage with the policy makers and decision makers so that an
understanding is established on the gaps, resources required to plug the gap. This will
help us to understand the gaps and therefore, as a movement we will be in a position to
effectively engage in a debate with the government towards reforming the existing
policies and programmes so that the right to education of all children with disabilities can
be respected, protected and promoted.
1 PCA- Government of India, Census Commission
2 http://who.int/disabilities/world_report/2011/chapter7.pdf

Scope
The status report is based on the survey conducted in schools in Chennai. Schools include
Government run, Government aided and unaided private schools registered with the
government of Tamil Nadu and include schools following Central Board Syllabus,
Matriculation Syllabus, Anglo Indian and State Board Syllabus.
Methodology
A random sampling survey of schools that are not categorised as special schools for children
with disabilities was adopted to understand the status of inclusion of children with disabilities.
The process began with an initial secondary analysis of the number of registered schools
under any stream /syllabus in order to decide the sample. We used the general education
statistics of Government of Tamil Nadu to decide our sample size 3. According to the statistics
there are 1497 schools across all levels of learning (Primary, Secondary, Higher secondary).
The sample size was 34 schools, randomly chosen. The validity of the sample size is verified
using the sample size calculator from macorr.com.
A questionnaire is prepared to collect information from the key informant from the chosen
school. The sample of the questionnaire is given as Annexure.
The first part of the questionnaire is aimed at understanding the educational institution, its
nature, category, syllabus followed and the students strength.
The second part of the questionnaire is designed to gather information on the perspective of
the institution towards implementing the mandates of the Right to free and compulsory
education Act of 2009 and on inclusion.
The third part of the questionnaire collects data on the enrolment of children with disabilities,
whether the institution offers a facilitating environment and the reasons for not including
children with disabilities.
Once the sample size is decided a volunteer from symbiosis law school was trained to do
the survey. The training included a general understanding of the situation of education of
children with disabilities and an understanding of the questionnaire. The volunteer is well
aware of the general issue faced by persons with disabilities and has an experience of
interning with one of the leading organisation working with persons with disabilities.

3 Genedustat.pdf

Limitations
1. The status report is based on the survey conducted in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
2. The report is restricted to the facilities and accessibility in educational institutions
registered with the Government of Tamil Nadu, which facilitates inclusion of children
with disabilities on an equal basis with others.
3. The survey has not included inputs from students with and without impairments and
teachers in the institutions.
4. The survey is not conducted in schools that implement the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
programme.

Introduction
As a country we have committed for an inclusive education to all children including children
with disabilities through various Legislations, International Laws and Policies.
1. Right to free and compulsory education for all children up to elementary level is a
fundamental right guaranteed by our Constitution.
2. Article 3 General Principles and Article 24 Education of the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which India has ratified in the
year 2007 obligates the states parties to ensure education of children with disabilities
across all levels of education in an environment that maximises learning and social
participation keeping the goal as inclusion on an equal basis with other children.
3. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009, which was further
amended to clarify on the inclusion of children with disabilities in the year 2012 also
reaffirms the constitutional mandate of a no rejection policy.
4. Through the XII Plan the nation has committed to universalisation of secondary and
higher education, inclusive of children and individuals with disabilities.
It is important to understand the status of inclusion of children with disabilities in both public
and private schools across all levels of education in the light of UNCRPD and RTE Act 2009
apart from the existing laws of the land.
It is important to understand the status of provision of a facilitating environment by
educational institutions in order to ensure inclusion of all children with disabilities.
This report will help us to engage with the education sector effectively to fill up the gaps in
ensuring Education for All.
Due to the geographic location of the organisation and given the financial constraint the
survey is carried out only in the educational institutions in Chennai. There is a possibility to
scale up the study for the State of Tamil Nadu in future.
Some statistics and Data
The population of persons with disabilities in the age group of 5 to 19 in Chennai city
amounts to 16723 as per census 2011.
Through SSA 5115 children with disabilities are targeted to inclusive education under the
programme for the current financial year as per the SSA progress report 2014-15. This
makes us understand that the remaining population of children with disabilities in Chennai
must be included on other schools registered under the school education department of
Tamil Nadu.
There is a lack of data on the enrolment of children with disabilities in other schools under
any level of education.
There is no data available to compare the education indicator of children without disability
and children with disability in Chennai or even for the entire State.
Outcomes

In Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 24% of the schools are run by Government, 25% of the
schools receive Government grants and 49% of the schools are private unaided
schools.
1. Commitment to Implementation of RTE Act

Chart showing the catrgories of Schools Surveyed

Government Schools
9 2 9

Matriculation Schools Unaided

29

50

CentralBoard Syllabus Unaided

Anglo Indian -Unaided
Montissory

All the schools surveyed are covered under the RTE Act under its clause n of section
2.
Only 2 out of the 17 schools surveyed following the CBSE syllabus are exempt to
provide for 25% reservation for children belonging to the disadvantaged section of
the society.
The analysis of the data revealed that all the remaining schools chose the option Not
Applicable for the question on adhering 25% reservation as mandated by the RTE
Act.
This is a clear example of lack of respect and commitment by educational institution
towards the laws of the land, growth and development agenda of the Nation and to
the philosophy No one is left behind of the post Millennium development agenda.

2. Inclusive Policy

2 out of the 34 schools have an inclusive policy. 2 schools have only boys, 1 of the
school surveyed is exclusively for girls and 1 school is a Madrasa school. Apart from
these schools 2 schools have not stated anything and the rest of the schools have
responded that an Inclusive Policy is Not Applicable. 76% of the schools have
expressed the lack of an Inclusive policy.
3. Inclusion of Children with Disabilities
None of the Government aided and Government schools surveyed have enrolled
children with disabilities.
a. On the number of children enrolled
Off the schools surveyed:
53% of the schools have not enrolled children with disabilities.
62% of the schools that has children with disabilities(47%), do not have
a data on the number of children with disabilities studying in the school,
19% of them could only give a range for the question on the number of
children with disabilities enrolled and cannot give the exact number and
the remaining 19% of schools have data on the number of children
enrolled in their institution.
b. Inclusion of children with disabilities across various constituencies

Chart Showing the Constituency wise inclusion of children with disabilities

Children with Speech and
Hearing Impairment
Children with Medical
Conditions

18%
11%
59%

Children with Mobility

Impairment
Children with Autism

6%
6%

children with Intellectual

Impairment

19% of the schools that have enrolled children with disabilities, have
enrolled children with hearing and Speech Impairment, 12 % of schools have
stated that they have enrolled children with medical conditions other than those
specified in the questionnaire though the details and nature of impairment was
not disclosed, 6% of the schools have children with difficulty in movement and

children with Autism and 63% of the schools stated that they have included
children with Intellectual Impairment.
The following were the responses of the schools from schools that have enrolled
children with disabilities for not including children with impairments other than
those specified by the schools:
Off the schools that have enrolled children with intellectual impairments
only 2 schools gave lack of accessible environment and lack of resources
to provide reasonable accommodation and adequate man power as
reasons for not including children with other categories of impairments.
The schools that have enrolled children with speech and hearing
impairment and children with other medical condition reported that they
lack access and resources for provision of reasonable accommodation.
The remaining schools have not stated anything for non inclusion of
children with other categories of impairments.
The response to the question for understanding the measures taken to ensure
accessibility and other facilitating environment by the institution in order to
ensure effective participation of students with disabilities on an equal basis with
others reflected the following:
Chart showing the details of Measures taken to ensure accessibility and other
facilitating environment:

Number of Schools
25
20
15
10
5
0

Number of Schools

It is to be noted that out of the schools that have enrolled children with
impairments, 31% of the schools stated that they do not have any facilities
mentioned in the question on accessibility.
None of the schools surveyed adheres to the mandates such as accessible
classrooms, toilets, resource materials, extra curricular activities, sign language
interpretation etc,.

None of the schools surveyed have a system to sensitise school management,

staff and children studying in the school on the rights of children with disabilities.

Conclusion & Recommendations

It is obvious from the data collected that the education sector heavily relies on the private
institutions are not taking appropriate measures to include children with disabilities. It is also
to be noted that these institutions do not believe in the need to adhere to the laws of the land
and international commitments. This could be due to:
a. Lack of awareness
b. Lack of monitoring mechanisms on the part of the Government in implementing
legislation
c. Lack of strict enforcing mechanisms
d. Heavy reliance on private bodies and therefore lacks enforceability.
It is recommended:
a. Establishing strict enforcing mechanisms including effective punitive measures.
b. Mandate sensitisation of Management and staff of different educational institutions
on the rights of persons with disabilities as obligated by article 8 of UNCRPD
c. Provision of subsidies/ initiating schemes su1bsidising or grant in aid for unaided
institutions in the provision of Reasonable Accommodation. Denial of reasonable
accommodation amounts to discrimination (Article 5 of UNCRPD). This is also
mandated by the RTE Act.
d. Effective monitoring for adhering to Persons with Disabilities Act and the GO passed
by Government of Tamil Nadu on ensuring access in institutions.

Annexure

Date:
Questionnaire: (Please fill in clear legible hand writing) Filling this is only
optional.

Section 1: About the School

1. Name of the School:
2. Address of the School:
3. Year of Starting:
4. Category of School (organised in alphabetical order): Tick applicable
a. Anglo Indian
b. CBSE,
c. ICSE
d. Matriculation
e. State Board
5. Nature of the School
a. Primary,
b. High School,
c. Higher Secondary
6. Type of School
a. Government
b. Aided
c. Unaided/private
7. Number of Students Studying in the School
8. Number of Boys
9. Number of Girls
10.Do you follow the 25% reservation as mandated by the RTE Act 2012?
a. Yes,
b. No
c. N.A
11.If yes can you list the nature of disadvantage experienced by children
studying in your school?
12.Do you have an Inclusive Policy?
a. Yes,
b. No
c. NA
Section II : Inclusion of Children with Disabilities
13.How many children with disabilities are studying in your school?
14.Give the nature of impairments of the children with disabilities studying in
your school
a. Locomotor impairment,
b. Visual impairment,
c. Hearing and speech impairment,
d. Autism,
e. Cerebral Palsy,

f. Intellectual Impairments,
g. Multiple disabilities
h. Other medical conditions. Please mention the condition:
--------------------------------------i. You can tick more than one and state the number of children under
each condition.
15.Can you give the number of boy children with Disabilities?
16.Number of girl children with disabilities
17.What measures have been taken to ensure access to quality education for
children with disabilities? Choose from the list. You can choose more than
one option.
a. Ramps
b. Toilets that are universally designed
c. Allowing assistants to support children with disabilities.
If yes Is the provision is by
a. School
b. Family
d. Sign language interpreter
e. Braille / audio learning materials
f. Accessible teaching and evaluations methods
g. Elevators / lifts
h. Accessible chairs and tables
i. Audio, visual and accessible library
j. Alternative and augmentative communication support and devices
k. Reasonable accommodations such as breaks in between, silent space,
scribe and computers to take exams, notes etc,. (choose which ever is
applicable)
l. You can explain if you have any other best practice

18.Does your school conduct sensitisation programme on the rights of

persons with disabilities among management?
a. Yes,
b. No
c. NA
19.Does your school conduct sensitisation programme on the rights of
persons with disabilities among staff?
a. Yes,
b. No
c. NA
20.Does your school conduct sensitisation programme on the rights of
persons with disabilities among children?
a. Yes,
b. No
c. NA
21.Does your school conduct sensitisation programme on the rights of
persons with disabilities among parents?
a. Yes,
b. No
c. NA
22.If you have no children with disabilities enrolled in your institution, can you
state the reasons for not including children with disabilities? You can
choose one or more of the following
a. Lack of accessible environment
b. Lack of trained manpower
c. Lack of resource to provide reasonable accommodations
d. Perceive Children with disabilities cannot perform on an equal basis
with other children
e. Any other reason. Please state
23.If the answer to question number 14 is only one or two of the list, can you
state the reasons for not including the others? You can choose one or more
of the following
a. Lack of accessible environment
b. Lack of trained manpower
c. Lack of resource to provide reasonable accommodations
d. Perceive Children with disabilities cannot perform on an equal
basis with other children
e. No application received from any of the others.
24. Name and designation of the person filling the questionnaire.
References
1. General Education Statistics Government of Tamil Nadu
2. RTE Rules Government of Tamil Nadu
3. RTE Act 2009 & its Amendment 2012

4. UNCRPD