India introduces home-based schooling for children with special needs

Schools will soon need to adopt special inclusivity measures to support

Children with Special Needs

(CwSN). According to recently released norms by the NCERT under the National Guidelines and Implementation Framework on Equitable and

Inclusive Education

(NGIFEIE), the Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL) plans to introduce

home-based schooling

for students with

severe disabilities

.

This provision will be introduced in the early schooling years to assist CwSN in acquiring the necessary learning levels. The new norm focuses on all three categories of students, including CwSN, physically challenged students, and those from socioeconomically disadvantaged groups.
As part of the home-schooling initiative, an itinerant resource teacher will visit students with severe disabilities at their homes to guide them with their schoolwork. An official from the government department, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said, "As part of this homeschooling, an itinerant resource teacher will visit the students' homes to teach them. While teaching, these resource teachers will provide essential guidance to the students to help them with their studies. Once the students achieve the desired learning level, they can gradually transition to regular schooling. The number of days that an itinerant resource teacher will visit the student's home to teach will depend on the parents' discretion. Homeschooling falls within the legal framework of education, and the Right to Education Act of 2009 does not prohibit homeschooling."
DSEL is also planning to appoint special educators to facilitate home-based schooling. As part of this initiative, school teachers will receive

cross-disability training

, enabling them to better support CwSN and physically challenged students. The

Rights of Persons with Disability Act

of 2016 recognizes 21 disabilities, including blindness, low vision, leprosy-cured persons, hearing impairment (deaf and hard of hearing), locomotor disability, dwarfism, intellectual disability, mental illness, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Cerebral Palsy, muscular dystrophy, chronic neurological conditions, specific learning disabilities, multiple sclerosis, speech and language disability, thalassemia, haemophilia, sickle cell anaemia, multiple disabilities, including deaf-blindness, acid attack victims, and Parkinson's disease patients.

All these diseases and disorders are considered severe disabilities among students. The guidelines have been formulated in line with the objectives of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and will contribute to building a strong early childhood educational ecosystem in the country.