JOIN USCrippled due to polio since birth, she managed to go to an Anganwadi in Bijapur, which did not even have good classrooms and toilet facilities. “Teachers at the Anganwadi used to scold me for being disabled. My teachers used to ask me why I came to school in this condition, instead of staying at home,” she said.
Vishwanath (15) from Nagoli in Raichur, though did not have any health complications, also had to quit studies as he had to travel 20 km from his village to another place to continue studying. “Even the Anganwadi in our village was in bad condition as it was built inside a field where classes were held in the morning and cattle housed at night. About 180 students from class one seven sat in same room,” he said.
Like Lakshmi and Vishwanath, there are thousands in Karnataka who quit their studies due to a number of reasons. Child Rights and You (CRY) conducted a public hearing on ‘Equal education to all’ on Friday, where seven children from different parts of the State poured out their woes on why they had to quit studying.
Two blind sisters, Roopini and Sindhu recalled that they sat outside the anganwadi as they were not allowed inside by the teacher.
The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan launched in 2001 talks about inclusive education, but discrimination in the name of caste, colour, disability, and socio-economic background still exists said Babu from CRY.
Regina Thomas, director of CRY, said: “We want to bring out the cases where children have been discriminated in different ways.”
CRY has launched a nation-wide campaign demanding three amendments to the Act: inclusion of children below 6 and above 14 under the Act; to make sure qualified teacher are recruited and basic facilities are provided; and to allot 10 per cent of India’s GDP to education.