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Learn from Taare Zameen... panel tells govt

The parliamentary standing committee on human resource development (HRD) has asked the HRD ministry to specifically include dyslexia as a disability in a proposed amendment to the RTE Act.

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Aamir Khan’s Taare Zameen Par may have made people aware about the problems of dyslexic children, but the issue still has not found favour with the government.

The parliamentary standing committee on human resource development (HRD) has asked the HRD ministry to specifically include dyslexia as a disability in a proposed amendment to the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act.

The amendment has been moved to include children with disabilities in the act. Such children would be eligible for admission in specified category schools and private, unaided schools within a 25% seat limit in class I.

But while examining the amendment, the committee, which has Rahul Gandhi, Oscar Fernandes, Prakash Javadekar, Deepender Singh Hooda and Suresh Kalmadi as members, found that dyslexia did not find place in either of the main acts — Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995, and the National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999 — which are the basis for the RTE amendment.

The committee wants dyslexia and any disability not covered anywhere at present to be brought under the definition of ‘child with disability’ under the RTE Act and has suggested modifications in the amendment, which was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in April.    

Census 2001 estimated that 2.1% children in the 6-14 age group have disabilities. Under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, 30.42 lakh children, representing 1.5% of the population, have been identified as disabled. Of them, elementary education was being imparted to 27.80 lakh children through regular schools, school readiness programmes and home-based education. But these measures have not been enough for the integration of disabled children into the mainstream.

The specific inclusion of such children in the RTE Act will make their participation in the elementary education system of the country easier.

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