Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan expressed his concerns about how COVID-19 has "severely affected" the education system in India, just like it has everywhere else in the world. It was during Question Hour in Lok Sabha that he spoke about how, owing to school closures, the Centre, states and educational institutions had to take to the online mode of learning to ensure that there is a continuation of the education of students.
The Education Minister mentioned that when it comes to Samagra Shiksha's inclusive component, states and union territories have been provided with financial assistance so that they are able to undertake identification and assessment of those children who have special needs, including aids and any appliances, as needed; books and braille kits; the necessary teaching and learning resources and stipend for those girls students who have disabilities. This has been done to ensure that the dropout rate is curbed and so that school education is more universalised, as stated in a report by PTI.
"The e-contents are supplementing the regular classroom transactions by assisting teachers with UDL (Universal Design for Learning)-based resources to be used in the teaching-learning process," the union minister added, as quoted in a report by PTI.
Pradhan also mentioned how these resources will also help children when it comes to adapting to regular schools and will go a long way in encouraging inclusive classrooms.
The minister said that Samagra Shiksha looks at Children with Special Needs (CwSN) and their continued education from pre-school to Class XII.
The scheme covers all children with special needs with one or more disabilities as mentioned in the Schedule of Disabilities of the Right of the Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016 studying in government, government-aided and local body schools, he said.
