India Education & Career

The Centrally sponsored Scheme of Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS) has been approved by the Government and is being implementing since 01.04.2009. There is an allocation of Rs.1000 crore for the Scheme during the 11th Five Year Plan. This Centrally Sponsored Scheme aims to enable students with disabilities, who have completed eight years of elementary schooling, to pursue four years of secondary schooling (class IX to XII) in an inclusive and enabling environment.

The components of the scheme include: i) assessment of educational needs, ii) provisions of students specific facilities, iii) development of learning material, iv) support service like special educators, v) provision of resource rooms, vi) training of general school teachers to improve their capacity to teach children with special needs in an inclusive environment, and vii) making secondary schools barrier free. The Scheme covers children with one or more disabilities as defined under the Persons with Disabilities Act (1995) and the National Trust Act (1999) namely, i) Blindness, ii) Low vision, iii) Leprosy cured, iv) Hearing impairment, v) Locomotor disabilities, vi) Mental retardation, vii) Mental Illness, viii) Autism, and ix) Cerebral Palsy. The scheme is being implemented by the State Governments.