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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | India: The fight for disabled children's right to education by Andrew Chambers

India: The fight for disabled children's right to education by Andrew Chambers

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published Published on Nov 22, 2010   modified Modified on Nov 22, 2010

Frustrated by the government's attitude to disability, an advocacy movement has sprung up in Madhya Pradesh, central India, fighting for the universal right of all children to attend school

'What are friends for? You listen for us and we'll see for you." The black-and-white photograph beneath the words shows a smiling boy with his arm around his partially sighted classmate. It encapsulates the inclusive education ideal – all children of all abilities learning together as one.

Anand, standing beneath the poster, is animated. "The Indian government is deaf to disability," he says. "If we want to be heard, we need to shout." The university student, who is visually impaired, is a regional leader of MPVM – the fast-growing organisation for disabled people. His state, Madhya Pradesh, already has 5,000 members. "For the last 60 years we've relied on others to fight our battles, and look how far that's got us," he says. "We need to empower disabled people themselves to fight for their own rights."

The sprawling rural state of Madhya Pradesh, with its lush greenery of roadside soya punctuated by the remnants of colonial white-brick architecture, contrasts starkly with the bustling, urban sprawl of Mumbai a few hundred miles to the south-west. The state capital, Bhopal, is synonymous with the chemical explosion there in 1984, which killed thousands and left tens of thousands more disabled. With disability touching so many lives, a vibrant advocacy movement has sprung up in the state, achieving influence in both regional and national policies.

Filling the gap

Anand is sitting in Bhopal's modern disability resource centre, built by local charity Arushi. It provides physiotherapy, book recordings for blind students and teacher training courses on disability. "Most schemes announced by the government don't consider disabled people," says Anand, "so it is left to the voluntary sector to fill the gap left by the state."

Arushi director Anil Mudgal explains how allowing children with disabilities to access mainstream schools is integral to their campaign. "Inclusive education has the potential to both break the cycle of poverty and disability and to change social awareness," he says.

The World Bank estimates that about 20% of the world's poorest people are disabled. Poverty causes disability through inadequate access to medical treatment and vaccinations, and exposure to unsanitary and unsafe living and working conditions. Children with disabilities in India rarely progress beyond primary education, with school enrolment less than 10% in many areas. This then reinforces social alienation and leads to very limited employment opportunities, causing more poverty.

Gudbela secondary school in Madhya Pradesh demonstrates how inclusive education can work, even in a rural setting. The school is situated in a remote village of 2,500 people in Sehore district, but has nevertheless received national attention from both the media and Delhi politicians for its efforts to accommodate children with disabilities. One such student is Raisa Bi who has been affected by polio – a condition that could have been easily prevented by childhood vaccinations. With mobility a problem, she was unable to attend school at all. "I only used to appear for exams but now things are different," she says. With Arushi's support, ramps, hand railings and accessible toilets have allowed students such as Raisa to access an education that would have otherwise been denied to them.

This focus on inclusive education is part of a shift in India towards adopting the social model of disability. Previously, people with disabilities were cared for outside the community in special homes or special schools with a focus on medical and palliative support. But as one Arushi volunteer explains: "It's not my wheelchair but the stairs in my school that disable me."

The social model defines disability in terms of the barriers people face in society. This fits into the wider human rights perspective of the Millennium Development Goals, which have the right to universal primary education as one of their overarching targets. Inclusive education, therefore, is not simply about disability but about ensuring that all children, regardless of poverty, disability, caste or gender, are able to attend school.

There is a growing political momentum behind the need to take disability provision seriously. The Indian government has just passed the Right to Education Act, which guarantees all children access to good-quality education. Krishna Jadhav, the Mumbai state educational officer, is optimistic that teachers can be trained in the more modern teaching methods necessary for inclusive education to succeed. "Nothing is impossible," he says confidently.

However, the real difficulty will be implementing these commitments. "The policies just remain on paper," observes Mr Rajendra, a regional representative for Leonard Cheshire Disability, a charity that supports disabled people in 52 countries, including India. "There is no shortage of money, but it is not accessible."

He gives the example of a government commitment to provide free medical care to all children with specific disabilities. "This could make a massive difference to school attendance," he says. But applying for the necessary disability card is incredibly bureaucratic, and many parents are not even aware that they can access such government help. The charity, therefore, is publicising the support that is available, and engaging with state officials to ensure they fulfil their obligations.

In Bhopal, MPVM has taken disability advocacy one stage further. Anand explains how the group has successfully adopted the tactics of direct action. One hundred and fifty members recently went to a local government official with a 10-point plan for improved disability provision, including better access to education and easier access to disability cards. When the official refused to even meet them, they declared a sit-down protest outside his offices, and announced a hunger strike until he came to take the plan. The story made national news, putting the inadequacies of government provision in the spotlight. It also helped to reshape social perceptions of people with disabilities as active participants in society rather than passive recipients of charity.

Anand proclaims the group's motto with a smile: "Avevan, Nivedan, Danadan. First we ask, then we write, then we fight."

"There are so many things that need to be done," sighs Pramodh Kumar Shukla, headteacher of RC Maruti school in north Mumbai. He starts listing some of them on his fingers: "The teachers are not trained about disability, the families are not educated about disability, there is not enough money from the government, the children have poor access to medical treatment and our classrooms are overcrowded, with no resources."

Outside the school gates a crowd of children is milling around. The school is so oversubscribed that the school day is split into two – with 2,000 students attending in the morning and another 2,000 in the afternoon. One of the new arrivals is Pratik Shashi Kumar. He holds his mother's hand as he climbs the steep steps to his classroom. Pratik is 10 years old, and has difficulty walking due to cerebral palsy. Prior to being identified by a Leonard Cheshire Disability outreach project, he had never attended school.

The charity helped to pay for an operation, assisted his mother to apply for a disability card and organised a place at school. The operation has enabled him to walk with the help of metal leg splints, and he has been going to school for the last three years.

Many disabled children across India face resistance from school principals when they apply for admission to schools. "But if we don't take them, who will teach them?" asks Shukla. "It's our responsibility to let society see people with disabilities, otherwise they will be apart from us forever."

"Wherever you find a ramp in Bhopal, it's because of Arushi's efforts," Rohit Sharma says proudly. He is one of the driving forces behind the charity, which has recently persuaded the state education department to include a page educating pupils about disability in every school textbook. "That's 65 million textbooks," he exclaims. "Four million children, their parents, their teachers – all being given information."

Sharma was born blind, and now, in his 40s, he works as a college lecturer. He is a rare success story – very few disabled people are able to find employment, let alone a job with the status and pay of a lecturer. "No school was willing to take me," he says. "They were worried I would fall down, that I wouldn't be able to cope."

With a great deal of effort, he was finally able to enter a school and then attend college. "Things have changed," he says. "Laws have been framed, legal provisions are in place, but attitudes take longer to alter. People are still reluctant when it comes to including people with disabilities."


The Guardian, 22 November, 2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/journalismcompetition/disabled-children-education-india


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