Bhat Imran
Srinagar, May 23: In Jammu and Kashmir, at least 1.5 percent students either enrolled or out of schools have been identified as Children with Special Needs (CwSN).
The officials said that among the total of CwSN, School Education Department have enrolled 19,867 CwSN from Pre-Primary to Higher Secondary levels.
Director of School Education Kashmir (DSEK) said this in a communique to Chief Executive Education Officers (CEOs) of the region.
The director has called for the screening, identification and mainstreaming of Children with Special Needs (CWSN).
DSEK said that National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 is in complete consonance with the provisions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act 2016 and is compliant with all its recommendations with regard to school education considering inclusive education as a system of education wherein students with and without disabilities learn together and the system of teaching and learning is suitably adapted to meet the learning needs of different types of students with disabilities.
“It also envisages barrier-free access to education for all the children with disabilities,” reads the communique.
It also reads, “In this regard, the National Sample Survey (NSS) as per definition of 21 disabilities has identified 1.5 percent of students as CwSN in JK, out of which 19,867 CwSN are enrolled from Pre-Primary to Higher Secondary.”
DSEK further said that it has also observed that there is a significant drop out of children with special needs from class VIII onwards as per UDISE+ data.
“As such it is requested to CEOs to intensify the measures for annual exercise for early screening and identification of children with disabilities through Prashast mobile app be it physical, intellectual or learning disabilities, so that they may be given the right kind of interventions at a very early age to help them overcome academic difficulties that they may face at higher levels of education,” DSEK said.
