Legal Provisions with Reference to Right to Education for the Differently Abled

1. Constitutional Provisions

• 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, cast or language.

2. UN Provisions

The 1989 United Nation Convention on the Rights of Child states that disabled children have the “right to achieve participation in the community and their education should lead to the fullest possible social integration and emotional development.”The 1990 World Conference on Education for All: Meeting Basic Learning Needs states that the learning needs of the disabled demand special attention. The Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special needs Education (1994) stipulates that disabled children should attend neighborhood school. It declares that regular schools with this inclusive orientation are the most effective means of combating discriminatory attitudes, creating welcoming communities, building an inclusive society and achieving education for all. India has been a signatory to all these declarations.

Articles 5 and 24(1) of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), confirms that the right to education must be guaranteed without discrimination and on the basis of equality of opportunity.  Article 6 of the CRPD recognises that women and girls with disabilities are subject to multiple discrimination and provides that States Parties must adopt measures to ensure the equal enjoyment of their rights. The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in its interpretation of Article 24 in General Comment 4 provides that states must identify and remove barriers and put in place specific measures to ensure that the right to education of women and girls with disabilities is not hampered by gender and/or disability-based discrimination, stigma, or prejudice.  

3. Provisions under RPWD Act 2016.

Under the PWD Act, all children with disabilities below the age of 18 have the riht to free and compulsory education that is accessible. This goes even beyond the mandate of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 that calls for free education to be provided to children up to the age of 14. The further obligations placed on the government by the PWD Act with respect to formal education are that efforts must be made to see that these children with disabilities are integrated into regular schools that they attend, and that the setting up of special schools with vocational training facilities should be encouraged at the local level in the Government and private sectors, so that children across the country who require special education have access to such schools in their areas. Following are the legal provisions :

Section 16 mandates the appropriate Government and the local authorities to endeavour that all educational institutions funded or recognised by them provide inclusive education to the children with disabilities and towards that end shall make buildings, campus and various facilities accessible.

Section 25(1)(b) mandates the appropriate Government and local authority to take necessary measures for the persons with disabilities to provide barrier-free access in all parts of Government and private hospitals and other health care institutions and centres.

Section 40 mandates the Central Government to frame Rules and laying down the standards of accessibility for physical environment, transportation system, information & communication system and other facilities & services to be provided to the public in urban and rural areas. Rule 15 deals with accessibility standards for public buildings, passenger bus transport and information and communication technology. As regards public buildings, the accessibility standards prescribed under the Harmonised Guidelines and Space Standards for barrier-free built environment for persons with disabilities and elderly persons issued by Ministry of Urban Development have been adopted. This implies that all the public buildings are now required to conform to these standards.

4.  Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act.

2 [(3) A child with disability referred to in sub-clause (A) of clause (ee) of section 2 shall, without prejudice to the provisions of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 (1 of 1996), and a child referred to in sub-clauses (B) and (C) of clause (ee) of section 2, have the same rights to pursue free and compulsory elementary education which children with disabilities have under the provisions of Chapter V of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995: Provided that a child with “multiple disabilities” referred to in clause (h) and a child with “severe disability” referred to in clause (o) of section 2 of the National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999 (44 of 1999) may also have the right to opt for home-based education.]

Extra Measures :

1. Kindly Apply for a Handicap Certificate and a Unique Disability Identity Card to avail the benefits of the Law.
2. Give a Written Undertaking to the School that they shall not be held responsible if anything happens to your child and some body will be sitting with your child full time. 
3. Try to apply for admission in a government School they are not likely to deny you admission.