Accessibility study carried out in 500 schools finds that TN and Odisha have better facilities for differently-abled
Schools in India, both private or government, do not have basic facilities for differently-abled children, finds an accessibility survey conducted by Samarthyam, an organisation working with such kids. The survey was conducted in 500 schools across 16 states. Based on the survey findings, Samarthyam has now released a guide "Making Schools Accessible to Children with Disability".
The guide, launched by UNICEF in association with Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and Ministry of Human Resource Development on Tuesday, highlights what needs to be done to make schools accessible to differrently-abled children. The Ministry has urged all schools to adopt the information available in the guide.
The survey found that most of the schools only have basic infrastructure for students, typically a ramp, but other facilities like disabled-friendly toilets, signages, hand railings for visually-disabled students were missing.
Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh schools were the worst when it comes to being disabled friendly, while Odisha and Tamil Nadu had the best facilities. Delhi is not good enough either, with most schools lacking basic facilities to create a barrier-free environment. In the list of 16 states, Delhi came in at 11, the survey found.
"Accessibility is a mere tokenism for most of the schools in India, be it (a) government school or private school. When we did the survey, we found that even the best of schools do not have all the facilities to be called barrier-free for students," says Anjlee Agarwal of Samarthyam.
"Most of the schools have provided only ramps but they are not connecting all the areas, not even the drinking water area. How is a children with disability who is in a wheelchair supposed to go there? Another big lacuna that we found was lack of accessible toilets for these students. Either the toilets are too small or they have heavy doors, which will be difficult to push for a child in a wheelchair," she adds.
The survey also found out that Braille signages were missing in many schools. Basic requirements for visually-disabled children like tactile pavers were not available at a lot of places.
Some schools have libraries on first or second floors, making them inaccessible to students with wheelchairs, confining these students inside the classroom most of the time.
"It is not that schools are not doing anything, but they are not doing enough to create a barrier-free environment. More needs to done in this area," adds Agarwal.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "differently-abled")
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}