We have just witnessed, or read about, young school students carrying out a campaign called the ‘Include Vidya Campaign’ in the state capital Kohima on Nov. 4, calling for inclusion of children with disability in the Nagaland’s education system.
Nagas as a society do not have a history of mistreating or abandoning a family member because he or she has a disability, but rather, they are over protective that they think they have the right to make constant decisions for the latter. Persons with disability (PwD) live in a hostile environment because most people are ignorant about the needs of PwD and many still believe in myths associated with disabilities and in seclusion of persons with any disability or disabilities. Whether we want to admit it or not, we are a society that still views those with disabilities as people who should be pitied but not included. It is due to this prejudiced mindset that blinds us and makes us the judge- of what a PwD cannot do, rather than what he or she is capable of. We do not consider that they (PwDs) want the same things that people with all their faculties intact want: to get educated, to find rewarding work and be valued members of the society, to explore their potential and live a full life.
The recently held ‘Include Vidya Campaign’ was a part of Christofell Blinden Mission (CBM) promoting inclusion of children with disabilities in education in India, complementing the government’s flagship programme – Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and to achieve its goal of ‘Education for All’. The event was organized under the aegis of Regional Action on IncluSive Education (RAISE) North East, a five-year pilot project to promote inclusive education towards improving the quality of education as well as increase the access and participation of children with special needs in mainstream schools in five project states in the north-east India including Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura.
Some of the findings under the project, in 300 schools in just three districts- Kohima, Dimapur and Mokokchung- are very disturbing, with the perpetual accessibility issues. Most of the schools were said to be faced with infrastructural constraints, availability of assistive devices and adapted furniture, while 250 schools were running without trained teachers for students with disabilities, 274 reported to have never had resource teachers, only 3 schools have library equipped with tactile guidelines, pictorial signage, magnifying devices, Braille books, large print books, CD/DVD/Video player/tapes for every subject as required for different needs of the child at school. It also noted that the level of involvement of stakeholders was quite negligible.
All in all, people with disabilities (PWDs) remain the most neglected section of the society. We have a mindset which is not helping our society to progress- a social stigma associated with disability. There are many rights and policies that have been put in place for empowerment of PwDs but the state has not been able to pick up momentum mainly due to lack of awareness. When we say lack of awareness, we mean all sections and components of the society including lawmakers. It was not very long ago that a highly reputed legislator had explicitly exhibited blatant ignorance by asserting persons with disability as ‘the weaker section of people in the society’, which in turn drew flak from PwDs.
Inclusive education here should not be the end of a means, but inclusiveness of all people with special needs in every aspect of the society should be the ultimate objective.
In April 2016, there was a whiff of the state government making at least 30 government buildings in the state capital fully accessible to PwDs by 2018. However, not much had been said or heard about the venture since then. It all started with Kohima being listed among 24 selected cities/towns across the country under the Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan) launched by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPWD) for accessibility of persons with disabilities (PWDs). The state government had constituted a Task Force for conducting Accessibility Audit of government buildings in Kohima under the campaign which seeks to make at least 50 percent of all government buildings in the national capital and all the state capitals fully accessible for the disabled by July 2018. Towards this, the state government identified 30 government buildings in Kohima for accessibility audit for conversion into fully accessible buildings; these include the Nagaland Civil Secretariat, Kohima Civil Hospital, DC office, PHQ, under construction Disability Commission building, NPSC, AG, Administrative Training Institute, Kohima Municipal Council, New Super Market under Urban Development, IG Stadium, Kohima Local Ground, Commissioner’s office, Head Post Office, Kohima Science College, Kohima Arts College, and the directorates of Employment Exchange, Social Welfare, Irrigation & Flood Control, Health & Family Welfare, School Education, Industries & Commerce, IT & C, Works & Housing, PHE, Power, Higher and Technical Education, Rural Development, Youth Resources & Sports, Employment & Craftsmen.
The main components of Accessible India Campaign are- Built Environment Accessibility, Transportation Accessibility and Information & Communication System Accessibility. The main objective of the campaign is to enable persons with disabilities to gain universal access, equal opportunity for development, independent living and participation in all aspects of life in an inclusive society.
There is much that needs to be done, not just in our schools, but in government as well as private offices, churches and other public places. It is time for us to learn and find out ways to extend support to PwD.
