Challenges faced by the differently-abled students in this global pandemic

Students this year faced quite a drastic transition in their education. A virus outbreak which originated in Wuhan, China grappled the whole world and toppled the economy of many countries, is spreading like a wildfire especially in India. This led to various phases of lockdown and ultimately students studying online and taking their exams online too.

While the schools and the parents were involved in a debate regarding the fees, there’s another section of students who were completely sidelined and those are the differently-abled students.

The recent abruption to online learning creates a physical distance between the teachers and their students. Differently-abled students have special needs which a teacher physically present there could help out with. Along with that, the teachers are unable to engage students through technology which was possible in a classroom setting.

Swabhiman, a community-based organisation, and Disability Legislation Unit of Eastern India and partner of Centre for Advocacy and Research (CFAR) working for the rights of the disabled people especially children conducted two surveys which show the extreme vulnerability of children with disability. A total of the survey conducted in 10 states of India and Odisha, it was found that 43% of the children out of 1 crore will be dropping out of schools.

Lions Blind Girls School in Vadodara is a school for visually impaired students. The school has ensured that their students do not suffer and lag, so they have sent braille textbooks to the students and have provided smartphones too for the students. Even during these tough times, not a single case of dropping out has been registered. In case of any difficulties faced, the students get immediate help by just calling up their teachers.