Accessibility and Quality Education of Persons with Disabilities in India: An Open Schooling Perspective

Abstract

Recently under the Sustainable Development Goal 4, all the countries including India are mandated to achieve the goal to eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, and children in vulnerable situations by 2030(4.5.) and 4.a: build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all. Various countries including India have taken proactive steps and mobilized huge resources for achieving Education for All by 2015. There were some policies and programmes devised to meet the goal of Education for All. However, the goal is still elusive. In this context, it is important to note how these children with Disabilities can be streamlined in the system of education, particularly through open schooling system. The paper discusses how NIOS as one of the largest open schooling system, has used various strategies for providing accessible and quality education for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs). NIOS emphasizes on using Media and ICT support both in academic and evaluation system, recognizing and accommodating learners’ needs and interests to provide them the quality education. The paper recommends for awareness and collaboration not only to provide accessibility but also to improve the usability of services rendered to the learners so that the goal of equitable participation of persons with disabilities in education can be ensured. // Paper ID 147