From IITs to IIMs, leading educational institutions in India dial up efforts to attract students with disabilities
IIT Madras, he is happy. The institute has given him a special electric scooty to get around and assigned a teacher's assistant to help him with his studies and projects.
«As a student from a simple UP school, this is beyond my wildest dreams. Everyone is supportive; this is truly inclusive education,» Kumar told ET.
Leading educational institutions in the country, including the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), are dialling up efforts to attract and support students like Kumar — persons with disabilities (PwDs), such as those with visual or hearing impairments and locomotor and intellectual disabilities — to promote a more inclusive culture in classrooms.
Though most institutions struggle to meet the government-mandated 5% reservation for PwDs, primarily due to the small pool of candidates, there is no let-up in efforts, said officials at IITs (Madras, Bombay, Delhi and Mandi) and IIMs (Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta ,Indore).
Measures taken by these institutes include putting in place the right infrastructure for PwDs, both physical and digital or assistive technologies; fellowships, fee concessions, tuition fee waivers; relaxation in qualifying marks; travel allowances; regular audits and special placement drives, sometimes conducted in association with external agencies to help them land jobs.
At IIT Bombay, benefits extended to PwD students include full exemption of tuition fee, 5% relaxation in qualifying marks at the time of application, compensatory
