DNIS News Network - A seminar organised by the National Centre
for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) on
'Mainstreaming education for disabled students' was held on
September 17 in New Delhi. A recently released country-wide
survey on the enrolment of disabled children in India's
educational institutions revealed that only a fraction of them
obtain admission, impelling rights activists to present a draft
plan for including them in the educational mainstream and
curbing discrimination. Stressing the importance of the issue,
Javed Abidi, Executive Director, NCPEDP, said: "We have to
educate our disabled children!" The participants, including
disability rights activists, educationists and government
functionaries, called for a paradigm shift in priorities. The
speakers largely agreed that a major step forward would be made
if special education was be shifted from the Ministry of Social
Justice and Empowerment to the Human Resource Development
ministry. The survey results show India's education