Enrolment rate of differently abled, low: Expert

Despite avenues being created for differently abled persons to enrol for higher education, the percentage of their enrolment is very low, said Chairperson, Rehabilitation Council of India, Sudesh Mukhopadhyay, here on Friday.

He was speaking at the inaugural of a two-day international conference on 'Inclusive Education - Perspectives and Challenges', at Karnataka State Open University.

Survey

As per a nationwide survey on higher education in the country, conducted in 2010-11, a total of 53,975 differently abled persons are pursuing higher education in the country.
Among them, 27,468 are women and 26,507 are men, he said.
Institutions of higher education should stress on providing quality education to the differently abled, as it was important to improve their educational capabilities.

Funds allotted

 University Grants Commission has allotted funds for the same purpose. Universities across the country should make use of these funds to ensure facilities that encourage the differently abled to pursue studies of their choice, he said.
Vice Chancellor, University of Mysore, K S Rangappa said that about 50 lakh differently abled children were not receiving education, as per the 2011 report of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan.

However, there was no accurate data about the educational conditions of such children.
The government should provide more importance for their education, he said.
In order to ensure inclusive education, teachers who teach these students should also be properly trained.

The subtle difference in teaching normal and differently abled children should be appreciated, he added.

250 papers

More than 250 papers from various parts of the world were received by the organisers of the international conference.

The two-day international conference will delve on topics such as ‘Inclusive Education-Recent Trends’, ‘Indigenous Adaptations and Inclusive Education’, ‘Challenges in Teacher preparation for Inclusive Education’ and others.
Various technical sessions will also be held.