Challenges in implementation of right to education act for persons with disabilities

Right to education can indeed provide a ripe platform to reach the unreached persons with disabilities, if specific provisions are given to them. Despite the rising enrolments, disabled persons still miss out disproportionately on receiving any kind of education and have to face many challenges. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA) talks of Education for all but the fact remains that many disabled children are not enrolled under this scheme due to their severity of disability. For the first time, the right to education of disabled children was given special focus with the passing of the Persons With Disabilities (PWD) Act. But this Act does not speak of reservations in Higher Educational Institutions. Many disabled people are denied entry into professional courses due to their disability. The RTE Act has not mentioned about children with disabilities. By acknowledging and promoting the equal rights of disabled persons to education we can bring a change. Taking disabled persons’ rights seriously requires strong and immediate action. The paper highlights some of the challenges that are faced by persons with disabilities in achieving their right to education. The paper also disseminates knowledge by giving suggestions for effective implementation of RTE for the persons with disabilities.