PANAJI
After the parents of primary and secondary school children complained about the denial of admission for their children with disabilities the Disability Rights Association of Goa (DRAG) intervened and brought this issue to the notice of public and the government.
DRAG president Avelino De Sa highlighted that higher secondary school children are denied admissions, and parents have complained regarding the same, after which Guruprasad Pawaskar, State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities intervened to give admission to two such students.
De Sa said that this year some of the educational institutions had told the parents about giving admission on conditional basis, which required the parents to inform the school that their child does not need special educator and that they accept the responsibility of the progress of their child as their own.
Now, the Directorate of Education and Child Rights Commission have taken action in time, but the government has taken this step so that the parents do not have to face such situation in future. Two of the parents have registered their complaint with the State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities and when notice was sent to one of the institutions, the child was given admission immediately. Another student with autism was denied admission, and when complaint came to the Commissioner, notice was issued to the institute, and after hearing both sides, the Commissioner gave order to admit the child in the school, and asked to submit the report to the Commission by June 20.
According to the Constitution of India, every child has the right to education and according to the Right to Education Act 2009 children with disabilities have the right to education till they are 18. In spite of this, many children with disabilities are denied admission due to their disability.
The disabled community is now aware of their rights due to the work of NGO and social activists, and that's the reason that such complaints of denial of admission to disabled students by the schools are coming to fore. Such complaints have reached the Child Rights Commission as well as the Education department in the past but the desired changes were not seen happening speedily, said De Sa.
