NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY AND DISABILITY: A CASE STUDY ON WEST BENGAL

Abstract

Education for all is the main motto of the new National Education Policy (NEP), 2020. So, the disabled persons are not excluded from this new law. Although, a number of provisions had been mentioned in NPE 1986, SSA 2002, RTE 2009 and other education laws for widening education among the disabled persons. The 1st disability law of independent India (PWD Act 1996) also said about the equal opportunity and full participation of the disabled persons in educational institutions. The RPD Act of 2016 vibrantly talks about the barrier free environment in educational establishments. The outlooks of the NEP 2020 for spreading elementary, secondary and higher education among the disabled persons are actually the reflections of those previous education laws and disability regulations. I go through the earlier education laws and disability acts to understand the background of the disability education in India. I also critically examine the NEP guidelines, especially in which the provisions for disability education are mentioned. I consulted some articles and newsletters at the same time as secondary sources. Besides that, in my field-survey, I interviewed some educated disabled persons with some close-ended questioners to know their views regarding NEP. The prospects of NEP for widening the education among the disabled persons are significant. But, its implementation as well as the budgetary allocation are some important issues which are not properly mentioned. There are some constrains and limitations, which are not properly addressed in the NEP 2020. In this article, I want to find the gaps between the theory and the ground reality for the implementation of the NEP 2020, concerning spread of elementary, secondary and higher education among the disabled persons in India.