Parliament Question: Technology Enabled Education for Children with Special Needs

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3582 ANSWERED ON 10.08.2026 Technology Enabled Education for Children with Special Needs 3582. Shri G Lakshminarayana: Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state: (a) the steps taken by the Government to promote the use of assistive technologies and digital tools for the education of Children with Special Needs (CWSN) in the country; (b) the details of schemes and initiatives supporting the development and deployment of assistive technologies, accessible digital content, adaptive learning platforms and inclusive educational infrastructure for CWSN; (c) the details of funds sanctioned, released and utilised for technology-enabled inclusive education since 2019, State-wise and year-wise; (d) the details of the number of Children with Special Needs benefitted through technology enabled educational interventions alongwith the number of schools equipped with assistive technologies in the country, State-wise, including district-wise details to Andhra Pradesh; and (e) the measures taken by the Government to improve teacher capacity, accessibility standards and availability of digital learning resources for Children with Special Needs, including collaboration with State Governments and specialised institutions to ensure equitable access to quality education? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY) (a) to (e) The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 is in consonance with the provisions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016, that envisages providing an equitable and inclusive quality education for all children, including Children with Special Needs (CwSN). Education is a subject under the Concurrent List of the Constitution and the majority of schools are under the administrative control of the State Governments and Union Territory Administrations. To achieve universal access to education from pre-primary to Class XII, the Department of School Education & Literacy is implementing the centrally sponsored Samagra Shiksha scheme. Under the scheme funding support is provided to States/ UTs, based on theAnnual Work Plan & Budget Proposals prepared by the States/UTs, which is appraised by the Project Appraisal Board in consultation with State/UT, funds are approved by the Department and released in lumpsum instalments to the States & UTs. The distribution of funds among districts, sanction of works and interventions, and implementation thereof are carried out by the respective State/UT Education Departments in accordance with their district level requirements, priorities and approved AWP&B. Among the components of Samagra Shiksha there is a dedicated component on Inclusive Education for CwSN wherein financial assistance @ ₹3,500 per CwSN per annum is provided under the student-oriented component to cover aids and appliances, assistive devices, transportation, escort and scribe allowance, learning support such as Braille and large-print books, ISL based videos, learning materials, therapeutic services, and other support services. Distribution of aids, appliances and assistive devices under Samagra Shiksha is undertaken through the Assistance to Persons with Disabilities for Purchase/Fitting of Aids/Appliances (ADIP Scheme) which is implemented in convergence with the State/UT Education Departments and the Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO) under Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD). Individualized Education Plan (IEP), catering to the needs of each CwSN is prepared by the Special Educator at the Block/Cluster Resource Centres under Samagra Shiksha. NCERT, the Autonomous Body under the Department provides accessible learning content in audio, visual and multi-media format for children with visual and hearing impairment through the portals of DIKSHA, ePathshala and PM eVidya channels. Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA) is the national digital platform for school education, providing curriculum-aligned e-content, including QR-coded Energised Textbooks (ETBs), teacher resources and other learning materials. The platform supports both online and offline access, enabling learners to download content and continue learning without internet connectivity, thereby ensuring wider and equitable access to quality educational resources. PM eVidya, launched on 17th May, 2020 as part of the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan, integrates digital, online and on-air education initiatives to enable multimode access to education across the country. States/UTs collaborate with NCERT to contextualize, monitor and evaluate these initiatives, while NCERT provides continuous academic support and guidance. A dedicated channel for the hearing impaired was launched under the PM e-Vidya initiative on 6th December, 2024. The PM e-Vidya 24*7 DTH Channel No.31 telecasts learning content in Indian Sign Language (ISL) for the benefit of the hearing impaired. Further, ePathshala, developed by NCERT, provides free access to NCERT textbooks (Classes I to XII), audio-visual resources and teacher training modules through its website and mobile application, enabling learners and teachers to access educational content anytime and anywhere. NCERT conducts a live interaction series, titled, “Teaching Learning Interventions for Inclusive Classrooms”. Each episode is of half hour duration, focusing on promoting inclusive pedagogy practices, by considering one class, one subject and one-chapter from textbooks, with mandatory ISL interpreter on PM e VIDYA DTH Channels. NCERT textbooks have been converted into ISL related to curricular content for classes I to VII, glossary words inpsychology, history, geography, urdu, economics have been produced and are being continually disseminated through DIKSHA portal and PM eVidya DTH TV Channels, on regular basis to ensure coherent access of these e-Contents. Continuous professional development programs are conducted for teachers and educators as a part of in-service training and awareness and sensitization programs for head teachers, parents on inclusive education. NCERT has developed online teacher training modules under NISHTHA for Elementary, Secondary and Foundational Literacy & Numeracy (FLN) levels equipping general teachers to address the diverse learning needs of CwSN. NCERT and CBSE has brought out handbooks for teachers on Inclusive Education to provide exemplary guidelines for meeting the special needs of children in an inclusive classroom. To promote accessibility in schools, financial assistance is provided under Samagra Shiksha for barrier-free infrastructure such as ramps, ramps with handrails, accessible toilets for CwSN, and provision of transport or escort facilities to support mobility and school access. The Department had prepared and notified the Accessibility Code for Educational Institutions in January 2024 which was subsequently notified in the RPwD Rules,2017 in June 2024. The Code addresses the physical, information and communication barriers in school facilities. It offers cost-effective solutions for retrofitting existing buildings and ensuring new structures to meet national accessibility standards. States/UTs have been oriented to adhere to the Accessibility Code for Educational Institutions in implementation of their interventions. ****