Srinagar, Apr 5: For differently-abled children, no little clarity exists on concrete measures to bridge the gap in education.
The government said most areas in Kashmir do not have any designated special school.
The Social Welfare Department, J&K, said, “At present, there is no designated special school for specially-abled children in district Kupwara.”
Detailing, the government said that it was “continuously taking measures” to strengthen inclusive and barrier-free education.
However, the government did not spell out what these “measures” specifically were on the ground, in Kupwara or in other districts.
The government said that children with special needs were being integrated into mainstream schools, “with support”.
It said that the support includes “assessment, assistive devices, and trained teaching staff”.
The government did not detail reach in the districts.
Interestingly, even the limited expansion cited by the government remains at the “proposal stage”.
The government said two special school had been proposed in Hadipora in Sopore and Dialgam in south Kashmir.
Without a special school in Kupwara, and with the lack of district-specific measures and the continued “proposal” status of initiatives, a question mark arises about the pace of the government’s inclusive education push.
The government said it was collaborating with NGOs to run inclusive or special schools.
However, it did not identify any such facility serving Kupwara or other districts directly.
