 the children with specific learning disabilities (identification and support in education) bill, 2016 a billto identify and support the children with learning disabilities in education and for matters connected therewith or incidental theretobe it enacted by parliament  in the sixty-seventh year of the republic of  india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the children with specific learning disabilites(identification and support in education) bill, 2016short title, extent and commencement(2) it extends to the whole of india except the state of jammu & kashmir5(3) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notificationsin the official gazette, appointdefinitions2 in  this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "appropriate government" means,—(ii) in relation to a state government or any establishment, wholly or substantially financed by that government or any local authority other than a cantonment board, the state government (b) "educational instutution" includes a private educational institution5(c) "dyscalculia" means a learning disability characterized by difficulty in mathematics(d) "dysgraphia" means a learning disability characterized by difficulty with the act of writing both in the technical as well as the expressive sense including difficulty with spelling10(e) "dyslexia" means a learning disability that affects a person's ability to acquire, process and use either spoken, written or nonverbal information including organization and planning, functional literacy skills, memory, reasoning, problem solving and perceptual skills or in other words, difficulty with language in its various uses including reading15(f) "dyspraxia" means a learning disability that affects the person's ability to plan motor tasks and to make an appropriate body response(g) "in service" means in service of any institution run or managed by the central or state government or run or managed with the aid of central or state government(h) "prescribed" means as prescribed by the rules made under this act2025(i) "specific learning disability" means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological process involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which disorder may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell or do mathematical calculations and includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia and development aphasia, but does not include a learning problem that is primarliy the result of visaul, hearing or motor disabilities, of mental retradation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural or economic disadvantages303 (1) the appropriate governments including local self governments shall conduct an annual survey to identify the number of persons with specific learning disabilities, the nature of facilities and assistance provided to them and the extent to which they are benefittedannual survey on persons with specific learning disabilities(2) the manner of conduct of survey, qualification of personnel involved in survey, maintenance of records and publication of reports shall be such as may be prescribed4 the appropriate governments including local self governments shall,—mass awareness campaign35(i)  conduct mass awareness campaigns to create awareness in the communityregarding special learning disability, its causes and prevention, treatment and remedial  measures;(ii)  sponsor or cause to sponsor awareness campaigns and disseminate orcause to disseminated information on learning disabilities;40(iii) educate the public through the pre-schools, schools, primary health centres,village level workers and anganwadi workers about specific learning disabilties, their causes and remedial measures;(iv) create awareness amongst the masses through television, radio and othermass media; and(v) promote research in specific learning disabilities455 the appropriate governments shall,—setting up of teacher training institutions(i) set up adequate number of teachers' training institutions and assist thenational institutes and other voluntary organizations to develop teachers' training programmes specializing in specific learning disabilities;(ii) improve the teacher education programmes to incorporate specific learningdisabilities, its theory and practices within the curriculum of teacher education(iii) ensure that newly inducted teachers attend at-least one-month mandatorytraining in inclusive education, with special focus on specific learning disabilities5(iv) provide adequate training to the regular teachers in service, in inclusiveeducation with special focus on specific learning disabilities; and(v) train the teachers and staff in anganwadis to facilitate early detection ofspecific learnin disabilities106 (1) every educatinal institution shall be equipped with a resource room and a specialeducator trained in specific learning disabilities and where special educator trained in such disabilities is not available, a person trained in special education shall be appointedspecial facilities in educational institutions(2) the faciliteis of the resource room and qualification of the special educator shall be such as may be prescribed15(3) every educational institution shall endeavor to detect specific learning disabilities in children at the earliest(4) where a child is suspected with specific learning disability, a detailed evaluation of the child including his socio-economic background and family background shall be conducted and the child may be referred to a clinical psychologist or a learning disability detection and remediation centre to detect if, he is suffering from a specific learning disability20(5) where a child is detected with a specifi learning disability, an individualised education plan shall be formulated for the child depending on the specific needs of the child by a team consisting of the principal of the school, the class teacher of the child another teacher, special educator, the parents of the child and the child himself25(6) the child may be referred to a learning disability detection and remediation centre for specialized support, if found necessary(7) the individualized education plan shall be periodicaly revised, and the progress of the child shall be closely monitored in terms of attainment levels and completion of education307 (1) the state government shall set up adequate number of learning disabilitydetection and remediation centres in every district to train and equip children with specificlearning disabilities who require specialized trainingsetting up of learning disability detection and remediation centre(2) there shall be at least one learning disability detection and remediation centre in evey district35(3) the district learning disability detection and remediation centres shall provide specialized training to children with specific learning disabilities, assist the schools in the concerned district to set up resource rooms, provide training and support to the regular teachers in dealing with children with specific learning disability(4) the district learning disability detection and remediation centres may also offer practical courses in dealing with children with specific learning disabilities for parents and teachers subject to regulations as may be prescribed by appropriate government40(5) the appropriate governments may distribute to every education institution thelearning materials including special text books and teaching aids for the children with specific learning disability through the district learning disability detection and remediation centres45(6) the manner in which learning disability detection and remediation centres shall be set up or recognized, constitution, structure and function shall be such as may be prescribed8 (1) the central government shall establish a national centre for specific learning disabiliteis to provide leadership, public awareness and grants to support research and innovative practices in specific learning disabilities5(2) the appropriate government may establish regional centres for specific learning disabilities at the state and district levelestabilishment of natural and regional centres for specific learning disabilities(3) the manner in which the national and regional centres for specific learning disability shall be set-up, constitution, structure and function shall be such as may be prescribed109 (1) the central government shall frame guidelines for certification of children with specific learning disabilitiesguidelines for certification of children with learingdisabilities(2) the central government shall lay down qualifications for certifying authorities ofchildren with specific learning disability15(3) the appropriate government shall designate persons, having requisite qualifications and experience, as certifying authorities, who shall be competent to issue the certificate of specific learning disability10 (1) the appropriate governments shall make suitable modifications in the curriculum and examination system to meet the needs of the children with specific learning disabilities20curriculum and examination system for children with specific learning disabilities(2) notwithstanding and without prejudice to any other concessions provided to the children with specific learning disabilities in examinations, the appropriate governments shall ensure that the children with specific learning disabilities are provided the following concessions—(a) twenty five percent  extra time for completion of the examination paper; (b) facility of scribe or amanuensis when necessary;25(c) oral test to be conducted along with written tests up to class ix and  promotionshall be based on the average of both;(d) standards of arithmetic to be relaxed as per the level of the child; (e) use of calculators to be allowed; (e) errors of interchanging of computation signs and number reversal to beignored;(f) exemption from second and third language;30(g) alternate subjects like home science, electronics etc to be made available; (e) spelling or grammar errors and incorrect sentence construction shall beignored;(f) direction errors in geography and other subjects shall be ignored; (g) exemption from diagrams, charts and graphs; and35(h) such other concessions as may be prescribedemployment of persons with specific learinign disabilities11 the appropriate governments and local authorities shall by notification in the official gazette formulate schemes for ensuring employment of persons with specific learning disabilities and such schemes shall include training and welfare of persons with specific learning disability, relaxation of upper age limit, and schemes promoting self employment4012 the central government shall, after due appropriation made by parliament, by law, in this behalf, provide adequate funds to the state governments for carrying out the purposes of this actcentral government to provide funds13 (1) whoever fraudulently avails or attempts to avail any benefit meant for personswith specific learning disabilities, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend us to  two years or with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees or with both5punishment for aviling benefits meant for persons with learning diabilities(2) whoever assists or facilitates the commission of the offence under sub-section (i)shall be punishable with imprisonment of two years or with a fine which may extend to one lakh rupees or with both10(3) the appropriate government shall report the names of the registered medicalpractitioners who have  been convicted of the offence under sub-section (2) to the respective state medical council for taking necessary action including removal of his name from the register of the council for a period of two years for the first offence and permanently for the subsequent offence(4) any principal or teacher of a school convicted under sub-section (2) shall also be liable to face the appropriate disciplinary action including suspension or removal from service15(5) no person shall be punished under sub-section (1) or (2) for an act done by them ingood faith or intended to be done in pursuance of this act and any rules or orders made thereundercomplaint machinism14 without prejudice to the provisions of section 13, the appropriate government on the application of any aggrieved person or otherwise shall look into complaints with respect to matters relating to,—(a) deprivation of rights of persons with specific learning disabilities; and20(b) non-implementation of laws, rules, bye-laws, regulations, executive orders,guidelines or instructions made or issued for the welfare and protection of rights of persons with specific learning disabilities25power to remove difficulty15 if any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this act, the centralgovernment may, by order published in the official gazette, make such provisions, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, as appear to it to be necessary or expedient for removing  the difficulty:provided that no such order shall be made after the expiry of the period of three years from the date of commencement of this act3016 the provisions of this act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of theprovisions in any other law, for the time being in forceact not in derogation of only other law power to make rules17 the appropriate governments may, by notification in the official gazette, makerules for carrying out the purposes of this act statement of objcts and reasonschildren with learning disability are a disadvantaged section of the society there is no law or policy in this context at present there has not been a systematic study to gauge the prevalence of learning disabilities in india, though, isolated studies by independent researchers and organizations estimate that fourteen percent of all the school children suffer from learning disabilities it is a matter of concern that adequate research and funds have not been channelized to address this particular issue further, there is gross lack of awareness of learning disability among the parents, teachers and the community which results in branding of children as lazy or uninteresteda specific learning disability affects the ability to learn and use certain skills, eg, reading, writing, listening, speaking, reasoning, direcrting attention, doing mathematical calculations and coordinating movements the common forms of specific learning disabilities are: dyslexia (difficulty in reading), dysgraphia (difficulty in writing) and dyscalculia (difficulty in mathematics) it may affect a single skill or combination of skills learning disability is distinct from mental retardation, and many a times, those suffering from such disabilities may have near normal, normal or superior intellectual ability, but the congnition, memory, motor activity and brain function of such children might be different from other individuals many great personalities like thomas alwa edison and albert einstein were once discarded by the school system as failuresthe major challenge in identification of children with specific learning disabilities is the invisibility of their condition the teachers, parents and peers often regard them as a slow learners or a failutre, or attribute to them laziness or attitude the diverse socio-cultural and economic conditions of the country make it a further complicated exercise if the children with specific learning disabilities are identified at an early age, they can be accommodated into the mainstream by providing appropriate and specialized training further, new centres should be opened to train and equip such children and the teachers and parents should also be trained to deal with them the curriculum and assessment methods have to be restructured to accommodate the children with specific learning disabilities or appropriate concessions should be given to themhence this billvandana chavan financial memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides for conducting annual survey to detect the number of persons affected with specific learning disability, clause 4 provides for conducting mass awareness campaigns, clause 5 provides for setting up of teacher training institutions, clause 7 provides for setting up of learning disability detection and remediation centres and clause 8 provides for setting up a national centre for specfic learning disabilities clause 12 provides for the central government to provide funds to the state governments the bill, if enacted, will involve recurring expenditure from the consolidated fund of india to the tune of rupees five hundred crore per annum a non-recurring expenditure of one hundred crore is also likely to be involved memorandum  regarding  delegated  legislationclause 17 of the bill empowers the appropriate government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill as the matter will relate to details only, the delegation of powers is of normal character rajya  sabha———— a billto identify and support the children with learning disabilities in education and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto————(shrimati vandana chavan, mp)gmgipmrnd—5497rs(s3)—24032017