Tamil Nadu: Education institutions turn a blind eye to different-abled
Chennai: Lot has been chronicled and numerous reports filed - yet the issue of inaccessibility of toilets in the city to the differently abled does not seem to end. Especially in schools and colleges, both private and government have turned a blind eye to Persons With Disability (PWD).
After Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA) was introduced in 2001, PWD anticipated better facilities for them as SSA promised disabled-friendly buildings, irrespective of the number of differently abled children studying in schools.
According to several surveys, above 60 per cent of disabled kids discontinue their education and only 8 per cent of them sign up for graduation.
The reason for this is alleged to be poor infrastructure, non-availability of appropriate furniture for children with disabilities, non-availability of special aids and appliances, poor quality of aids, appliances for children with locomotor disabilities and most importantly toilets.
The plight is alike at all the colleges. “Generally, the width of washrooms at all the educational institutions is very narrow. Though they build a ramp, we are unable to use the facility and it is a nightmare during periods as my lower body is numb and when I do not use a washroom, I get infections without my knowledge,” said 21-year-old T. Priyanka.
Concurring to her thoughts, Meenakshi Balasubramanian of Equals - Centre for Promotion of Social Justice, a Chennai-based organisation that works for the rights of disabled, recalled an incident when she attended a conference at Madras University and said the only washrooms were accessible to the differently abled were in a very bad condition and PWD are forced to touch the dingy walls and crawl inside.
Even the provisions of the Rights of Persons With Disabilities Act did not reap any results. Apart from SSA, the government must allocate a special fund, especially to build washrooms in educational institutions, opined S. Namburajan, state general secretary, Tamil Nadu Association for the Rights of All Types of Differently Abled & Caregivers (Taratdac).
When contacted, an official of the education department said, “There are 10 centres (schools) for 10 zones according to SSA in Chennai, all of which are equipped with disabled friendly toilets. This year, the government has given funds for building disabled friendly toilets in 15 other corporation schools and the first stage of work is being undertaken.”
