Put up boards highlighting rights of special students, schools told

Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, April 11

Following the recent instructions of the High Court, the Education Department has asked all schools to put up boards highlighting the rights and privileges of differently abled students at the main gates. They have been given a two-week deadline to follow the instructions.

Schools have also been asked to give free admissions to such students. Besides, education without discrimination, education be made available in the sign language, free helping material, provision of 15 additional minutes after every hour and facility of interpreters and writers to the students during PSEB exams are among the directions that have been issued to the schools.

All associated, affiliated and adarsh schools in the state will install boards on their premises mentioning the rights of differently abled students in terms of the provisions of the Disabilities Act 2016. They will also have to put up the contact number of the persons who can be contacted in case of any problem faced by specially abled students.

As per the Act, students with special abilities are supposed to be given admission and free education at schools nearest to them without any discrimination. The directions say specially abled students should be given free books as per their need and arrangements for free helping material also be made available to them.

The instructions further say the schools, which have the transport facility, should make transport arrangements for their special students. The facility of special toilet and potable water also be made available for the students. Besides, special scholarships be given to students with special abilities by the school or board.

Students who want to participate in sports and extracurricular activities, as per their abilities, be allowed to participate without any discrimination.

The Punjab School Education Board has provided various facilities to the special students during examinations, including special type of question paper, facility of a writer, freedom in choice of subject and exemption in the second and third language.

Manish Aggarwal, a teacher at an aided school in the district, said, “The major advantage of these directions is that the students will not face any discrimination now. The provisions of the RTE Act and the Disabilities Act already regulated this, but these guidelines were not being implemented. We were also getting ramps and proper washrooms constructed. With the implementation of the Act, the guidelines will now be stringently followed. Besides, for the first time, formal declarations have also been made for the interpreters and writers for students, which weren’t previously there.”

Disability activist Amarjit Singh Anad said, “Various regulations have been introduced from time to time for special students. These are certainly path-breaking, but all are needed to be implemented.”

DEO Satnam Singh said, “Rooms for disabled children in all schools are already present. But with the new instructions, the students’ needs and requirements will be taken care of strictly. All facilities mentioned in the letter will be provided to them. The instructions are to be implemented within two weeks. At the district-level, orders will be issued to all schools, including government schools, to implement the instructions from Thursday morning onwards.”