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Status of mainstream education of disabled students in India

N.C.P.E.D.P. recently conducted a survey on the education scenario for students with disabilities. We were expecting the research to show that the situation was bad. But the results have shocked us. Here is a summary of the research study which was supported by Amici Di Raoul Follereau (AIFO). At the end of each section are downloadable files with detailed findings.

The survey was conducted on a sample size to assess the accessibility of educational institutions for disabled students in India. This postal survey is the first of its kind carried out in the country. However we would like to declare that the information displayed is as per the responses sent to us by the participants themselves. NCPEDP does not have the wherewithal or resources to cross verify each of the responses. If anyone has experiences contrary to the claims of the institutions do inform us of the same and we shall make necessary changes after verification. Should any institution wish to include their name in this list do write to us at education@ncpedp.org and we shall make the necessary changes after verification.

The results are summarised under the following four heads. Click the section you are interested in or browse downwards to read the sections sequentially:

• Status in universities
• Status in colleges
• Status in schools
• Future directions

1. Status of mainstream education of disabled students in universities

All the 322 Universities in India were sent the research questionnaire. A total of 119 (36.9%) Universities responded.

• In the total of 119 respondent Universities, only 1,635 students with disabilities are enrolled. Therefore, only about 0.1% of the students were found to be those with disabilities. While 3% seats in educational institutions are to be reserved for disabled students, the figure of 0.1% is nowhere close to this figure!
• About 24 Universities (20%) clearly reported that they did not follow the 3% reservation for disabled students as mandated by the law of the nation! While the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 mandates a wide variety of efforts to ensure equal opportunities to disabled students for getting quality education, it also clearly states that ‘all Government educational institutions and other educational institutions receiving aid from the Government, shall reserve not less than three per cent seats for persons with disabilities.’
• In all the 119 respondent Universities, only 1,203 students with orthopaedic impairments were enrolled. Furthermore, only 18 Universities (15%) reported that they provided appropriate desks and chairs for students with disabilities, only 11 (9%) provided wheelchairs and only 9 (7.5%) of them provided access to tricycles! It seemed clear that only persons with minor physical impairments, who required minimum physical assistance of any kind, got admission in the Universities.
• In all the 119 Universities, only 311 students with visual impairments were enrolled. While only 16 Universities had special computer software, only 10 (8.4%) Universities provided access to books in Braille!
• In all the 119 Universities, only 38 students with hearing impairments study. Only 9 (7.5%) Universities reported provision of hearing aids for students while 10 (8.4%) of them provided sign language interpreters. Even these figures seem exaggerated as on further investigation one University reported that the sign language interpreters were not provided in classrooms, but arranged for during certain seminars/conferences! Only 11 Universities had students with hearing disability. Most of these had just one such student except Osmania University (Hyderabad) that had 23 of total of 38 students with hearing disability.
• In all the 119 Universities, only 22 students with mental disability were enrolled. Assuming that people with intellectual impairment were unlikely to reach the higher education level, the 1.3 % of students with mental disability in the Universities were likely to be students with mental illness. It was very clear that awareness about the abilities of persons with intellectual impairment and mental illness was lacking.
• Seven Universities (5.8%) categorically mentioned that they do not admit students with disability, conveniently ignoring the law.
• Some of the notable Universities which did not reply to the questionnaire in spite of reminders, were Delhi University, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (New Delhi), Indira Gandhi National Open University (New Delhi), Jamia Millia Islamia University (New Delhi), Bangalore University (Karnataka), University of Calcutta (West Bengal), University of Calicut (Kerala) and Indian Agricultural Research Institute (New Delhi), amongst many others.
• About 76.3% of the disabled students were males, while 23.7% were females. The government focus on educating girls did not seem to have much impact on the education level of girls with disabilities.
• Osmania University (Hyderabad) was the only one that projected a healthier trend in giving opportunities to students with different disabilities - out of its total number of 60 students with disabilities, 13 had orthopaedic disabilities, 3 visual disability, 23 hearing disability and 21 had mental disabilities.
• Banaras Hindu University (U.P.) and Aligarh Muslim University (U.P.) had the number of disabled students in three digits – 208 and 202 respectively. 38 Universities (31%) had no disabled students. These included Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (Mumbai), University of Allahabad, Guru Nanak Dev University (Amritsar), University of Rajasthan, Rabindra Bharati University (Kolkata), and Manipal Academy of Higher Education (Karnataka) among others. 31 Universities projected less than 5 disabled students, which included National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (Bangalore), School of Planning and Architecture (Delhi), Indian Institute of Technology (Kanpur), Punjab Agricultural University (Ludhiana), NorthEastern Hill University (Shillong), and University of Pune. 23 Universities had more than 5 but less than 20 disabled students. These included Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, Punjab University, Chandigarh, Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, Roorkee, Mumbai, and G.B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Uttaranchal.
• While 112 Universities (94%) mentioned that they gave admission to disabled students, only 24 (20%) of them provided special equipment for the students. Clearly, it was just by chance that the others had a few students with disabilities in their institutions.
• When given a chance to explain reasons for not admitting disabled students, very few Universities were forthcoming. Only 6 admitted to the lack of trained staff and only 5 admitted to lack of infrastructure.
• Out of the 119 respondent Universities, 47 Universities mentioned that they gave scholarships to disabled students and 29 gave financial assistance. It was clear from the minimal number of disabled students in these Universities that these facilities were being provided in general for all students and disabled students could get them by sheer chance. For example, though 73 Universities mentioned that they provided hostel facility for disabled students, it was unlikely that any hostel had even a single toilet/ room/ mess area accessible for a wheelchair user! And it is lack of proper hostels and financial constraints that greatly limit the choices disabled students have for higher education.
• Only 50% of the 119 Universities reported being aware of the UGC schemes and only 11 (9%) Universities had received UGC grant under the schemes including Banaras Hindu University, University of Mumbai, Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi), Tata Institute of Social Sciences (Mumbai), and Aligarh Muslim University. The University Grants Commission initiated two schemes in 1998: one for the preparation of teachers for special education at the B. Ed. and M. Ed. levels and the other for the provision of facilities for promoting higher education for disabled students.
• About 80% of the respondent institutions reported that disabled students were easily able to reach the classrooms, offices, toilets, auditorium, sports area, library, canteen, laboratories and the hostels! The institutions obviously did not understand the issue of access and were under the impression that all the places were accessible for all present and future disabled students.

Download detailed findings on Universities in Excel format

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2. Status of mainstream education of disabled students in colleges

The Survey was conducted on 294 colleges across the country. About 10 colleges from each State and 1 college from each Union Territory were contacted. Response was received from 96 colleges (32.65%).

• In the 96 respondent colleges, only 679 students with disabilities were enrolled. A mere 0.52% of the student population consisted of disabled students, far away from the 3% mandated by the law!
• Out of the 96 respondent colleges, 27 (28%) did not have a single disabled student. And 45 (46.87%) colleges had 5 or less than 5 disabled students enrolled with them! However, only 12 (12.5%) colleges reported that the college does not admit students with disabilities.
• The Ram Krishna College at Madhubani, Bihar reported having 115 disabled students, the only college crossing the 3 digit mark!
• Colleges with a percentage of 2.5 and above of students with disabilities were Rajapalayam Raju’s College in Tamil Nadu, Govt. Autonomous College at Kalahandi, Orissa, and Malangiri College in Orissa. However, all of them reported that they were not aware of The Disability Act, 1995!
• As many as 32 (33.3%) respondent colleges clearly mentioned that they were not aware of The Disability Act, 1995!
• 59 (61.1%) colleges were not aware of the UGC Schemes, which provide grants for facilitating higher education for disabled people. Although 36 colleges (37.5%), reported being aware of the UGC Schemes, but not a single respondent college were recipients of the grant.
• Out of the students with disabilities, maximum had orthopaedic impairment. They formed 52.43% of disabled students. Students with visual impairments formed 22.96% of the group, while 14.58% consisted of students with speech/hearing impairment. The others were mentioned under the category of ‘other’ disabilities.
• Women formed 43.4% of the total student population, while out of the 679 disabled students, women consisted of only 22% of the group! Clearly, women with disabilities were completely neglected by our higher education system.
• Only 11 women with speech/ hearing impairment had access to higher education in the respondent 96 colleges! This seems to be the most neglected disability group.
• Though the percentage of disabled students in the respondent colleges was as low as 0.52%, very few of the respondent colleges expressed their concerns openly. Only about 15 of the respondent colleges reported lack of infrastructure and trained staff as their apprehensions.
• Out of the 96 respondent colleges, only 3 reported of providing training to teachers for working with disabled students. Out of these 3 colleges, however, Govt. College of Arts Science & Commerce, Goa had no disabled student and St. Mary’s College, Meghalaya had only 1 disabled student!
• About 8 colleges mentioned that teachers with special education training are also employed. Out of these colleges however, St. Xavier College, Ranchi had only 6 disabled students, Tura Govt. College, Meghalaya had 4, Xavier Labour Relation Institute, Jamshedpur and Islamia Faridia College, Kishtwar, Jammu & Kashmir had 1 each, while Harkamaya College of Education, Gangtok had no disabled student! Sree Kerala Varma College, Thrissur and St. Xavier College, Mumbai had 17 and 24 disabled students enrolled with them.
• With 35 disabled students, 100 teaching staff and a total of 1,984 students, Farook College, Calicut, Kerala, not only employed teachers with training in special education but also provided training to its teachers for working with students with disabilities.
• While 356 students with orthopaedic impairment were enrolled in 62 respondent colleges, only 10 colleges reported providing appropriate desks and chairs, only 5 provided wheelchairs and only 3 provided tricycles!
• Only 27 (28%) of the respondent colleges were accessible for students with visual impairment, amounting to 156 students. And only 3 of them provided special computer software and only 4 (4%) provided books in Braille! The others were left to fend for themselves!
• Only 3 colleges mentioned having sign language interpreters but none of these colleges had any student with hearing impairment!

Download detailed findings on Colleges in Excel format

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3. Status of education of disabled students in mainstream schools

The sample comprised 10 schools from each State and 5 from each Union Territory. A total of 318 schools were contacted across the country. 89 schools (28%) responded, 229 schools (72%) did not bother to fill up the questionnaire, probably due to indifference or because they did not have anything to report.

• In the 89 respondent schools, only 382 students with disabilities were enrolled. A mere 0.51% of the student population consisted of disabled students, again negligible as far as the 3% reservation by the law is concerned.
• Out of the 89 respondent schools, 34 (38%) did not have a single disabled student! However, only 18 schools (20%) admitted clearly that the school does not admit students with disabilities. An equal number (20%) of respondent schools were not aware of The Disability Act, 1995!
• The Springdales School, New Delhi and The Vasant Valley School, New Delhi had 3.72% and 3.23% disabled students enrolled with them! A definite exception to the usual trend observed in schools. Schools with a percentage of 2 and above of students with disabilities were Kendriya Vidyalay, Donimalai, Karnataka, Bishop Cotton School, Shimla, and St. John’s Higher Secondary School, Mizoram.
• Girls formed 41.61% of the total student population, while out of the 382 disabled students, girls consisted of only 33.25% of the group! In addition, only 18 girls with speech/ hearing impairment had access to schools in the respondent 89 schools! This seems to be the most neglected disability group even at this level of education!
• Showing an unexpected trend, out of the 382 students with disabilities, maximum had intellectual impairment. They formed 28% of disabled students though only 7 schools were open to admit them. Out of these, Springdales School, New Delhi had 59 students with mental disability, Vasant Valley School, New Delhi had 27, while Bishop Cotton School, Shimla had 14.
• About 24.1% of disabled students were those with visual impairments. Kendriya Vidyalaya, Donimalai, Karnataka had 23 students with visual impairment, Karimpuzha Higher Secondary School in Kerala had 16, while St. John’s Higher Secondary School had 14 students.
• Students with orthopaedic impairment formed 26.4% of all disability groups, while a mere 11.5% consisted of students with speech/hearing impairment. The rest 9.95% were mentioned under the category of ‘other’ disabilities.
• As mentioned earlier, 18 schools clearly mentioned that they did not give admission to disabled students. Most schools expressed apprehension about lack of trained staff and lack of infrastructure. 10 schools mentioned that there are special schools for disabled children as a reason for not giving admission to them! A few also expressed concern about the safety of the disabled child and their academic abilities!
• While 55 of the respondent schools give admission to disabled students, only 20 schools employ special educators and only 12 provide training to teachers for working with disabled students.
• As many as 57 of the 89 respondent schools did not have a counsellor or advisor for the students!
• While 55 of the respondent schools had disabled students, only 8 provided any special equipment for better learning for the students! In addition, only 16 schools provided any form of scholarship and only 13 schools provided any financial assistance to them.
• While 41 schools had students with orthopaedic impairment, only 8 provided them with appropriate desks and chairs, only 3 provided wheelchairs and only 1 provided tricycles!
• Out of the 19 schools that had students with visual impairment, only 3 provided special computer software and only 1 had books in Braille! Only 12 schools provided writers for them.
• Similarly, while 29 schools had students with speech and hearing impairment, only 3 schools provided hearing aids for them! None of the schools provided for sign-language interpreters.
• While 36 of the 89 respondent schools reported that their hostels were accessible for disabled students, only 8 schools mentioned clearly that hostels were available for disabled students!
• As many as 57 schools reported that disabled students were integrated in appropriate classes with other students!

Download detailed findings on Schools in Excel format

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Future direction

It seems that the time has come to wake up and fulfil the dream of Education for All. We must act now:

• In order to ensure that the education of disabled children be given equal importance, it is imperative that the responsibility shifts from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to the Ministry of Human Resource Development. Education is not a welfare issue, but a right of all Indian citizens, including those with disabilities. Disabled children should have access to quality education. A variety of options should be made available for the parents to choose from for their child.
• In most parts of the country, education of disabled children is still seen as the responsibility of ‘charitable’ institutions. The non-governmental organisations (N.G.O.s), however, are certainly not equipped to meet the higher educational needs of disabled students. The system of education followed by the N.G.O.s for persons with severe disabilities needs to be standardised with appropriate curriculum, teaching methodologies, equipment, teacher training, time frames, certification, etc. In addition, concrete linkages should be established between the N.G.O.s and mainstream educational institutions. The N.G.O.s on their part need to take proactive measures to advocate for mainstream education for the disabled children, at all levels.
• It should be made mandatory for all educational and training institutions to maintain data/record of all students with disabilities who apply for admission and who get enrolled.
• The Office of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities needs to ensure implementation of all the provisions for education of disabled students as per The Disability Act, 1995, and take action against those institutions that fail to adhere to the law.
• The National Education Policy needs to be reviewed. A clear stand of the nation regarding the education of disabled children, with due consideration to nature of impairment, severity of impairment, level of education, age, etc., needs to be included in the policy.
• Education should not be denied to any citizen. All disabilities should be included in The Disability Act, 1995, the National Education Policy and any future policy of the nation. For example, Delhi University had restricted the quota in admissions to only persons with physical disabilities. In June 2004, the Delhi High Court passed a landmark interim order stating that students with dyslexia be given admission under the disability quota. When a student with dyslexia, Shikhar Narang, was denied the benefit of 3% reservation meant for disabled students, the Disabled Rights Group had filed a PIL. Giving recognition to learning disabilities, the Hon’ble Court issued notices to the Delhi University, its Disability Committee and its Dean Students Welfare, and Shikhar’s application form was accepted!
• All the agencies involved in various aspects of imparting education, like curriculum development, teachers’ training, funding, etc., need to include disability in all their future agendas.
• The UGC needs to review the implementation of its schemes and take further proactive steps to enhance the access of higher education for disabled students.

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