It is very important that the schools must have basic facilities like toilets etc for the students.
In the state of TN, about 70percent of the total 58801 govt, govt aided, private-unaided and several other schools lack the basic toilet facility for the students with special needs. Information is that 26percent of the schools in TN do not have ramps and 59percent schools lack handrails for these school kids with special needs to walk without issues.
For education and to record date on indicators of school education provided by all states and UT etc, the junior ministry of education has developed Unified District Information System
It was mentioned by Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan, Union minister of education that the education was in the concurrent list of the constitution and majority of the schools were in the functional domain of the state or UT govt. It must be taken into account that Samagra Skihsha, state-central govt programme, has provisions for ramps, handrails and differently able persons friendly toilets for barrier free access. The minister threw light on the amount that was allotted for Samagra Shiksha was Rs 118 crore in the last fiscal and Rs 64 cr in 2022.
Point to be noted is that 15lakhs children with special needs have enrolled for the academic year in the state of TN and this included 1.1 lakh students in the elementary classes. Differently able persons rights activist Mr. S. Namburajan mentioned that the issue was serious and accessibility was much more than the ramps. He wanted the government to have proper planning and discussion.
