Attachment A Draft Report Rapid Assessment of FLN for CwD 7262022.pdf

DRAFT REPORT RAPID ASSESSMENT OF

FOUNDATIONAL LITERACY AND NUMERACY

FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES

Collaborating, Learning & Adapting in India Mechanism (CLAIM), Task Order No. 1

IDIQ # 72038619D00001

Task Order # 72038620F00003

Contract Title: INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR AGREEMENT

Contract Number: 72038619D00001/72038620F00003

Submitted: July 25, 2022

Contractor: Panagora Group

Authors: Samir Ghosh, Lead Consultant, Sonali Madikunt, Evaluation Specialist, and Krupali Bidaye, Researcher i | RAPID ASSESSMENT AND ACTIVITY DESIGN OF FOUNDATIONAL LITERACY AND NUMERACY FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES USAID.GOV

CONTENTS

ACRONYMS VI

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1

BACKGROUND 1

METHODOLOGY 1

LIMITATIONS 2

KEY FINDINGS 2

STATUS OF EDUCATION OF PWD 2

FLN FOR CWD IN INDIA 2

UNDERSTANDING FLN OR ECCE STRUCTURE IN INDIA 3

NEP 2020 AND NIPUN BHARAT INITIATIVE 3

CHALLENGES 4

1. DELAY IN SCHOOL ENROLLMENT 4

2. EARLY IDENTIFICATION AND INTERVENTION 4

3. PEDAGOGY 4

4. HOME BASED EDUCATION – MULTIPLE DISABILITIES 5

5. HUMAN RESOURCES – INADEQUACY 5

6. HUMAN RESOURCES – CAPACITY BUILDING 5

7. HUMAN RESOURCES – STATUS OF SPECIAL EDUCATORS IN INCLUSIVE SCHOOLS 6

8. SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE 6

9. GOVERNANCE 6

ISSUE OF CERTIFICATION 6

ISSUE OF CONVERGENCE 6

10. MONITORING AND EVALUATION 7

ISSUES WITH DATA 7

11. GENDER AND INTERSECTIONALITY 7

INNOVATIONS AND BEST PRACTICES 8

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING THROUGH ‘TOTAL COMMUNICATION’ APPROACH 8

USE OF MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCE APPROACH FOR TRANSACTING WITH CHILDREN WITH

INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES 8

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DESIGN 8

SCHOOL ENROLLMENT 8

EARLY IDENTIFICATION AND INTERVENTION 9

PEDAGOGY 9

HOME-BASED EDUCATION – MULTIPLE DISABILITIES 9

HUMAN RESOURCE INADEQUACY 9

HUMAN RESOURCE CAPACITY BUILDING 9

HUMAN RESOURCE CAPACITY BUILDING - STATUS OF SPECIAL EDUCATORS IN THE INCLUSIVE

SCHOOLS 9

SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE 9

GOVERNANCE 10

ISSUE OF CERTIFICATION 10

ISSUE OF CONVERGENCE 10

DATA 10

USAID.GOV RAPID ASSESSMENT AND ACTIVITY DESIGN OF FOUNDATIONAL LITERACY AND NUMERACY FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES | ii

GENDER AND INTERSECTIONALITY 10

BACKGROUND & CONTEXT 12

METHODOLOGY 13

1. CHALLENGES TO INTEGRATION 13

2. PROGRESS AND INNOVATION 13

3. DESIGN ELEMENTS FOR PROGRAMMING 13

PRIMARY RESEARCH 13

STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION 13

1. PRIMARY STAKEHOLDERS: 13

2. SECONDARY STAKEHOLDERS: 13

SECONDARY RESEARCH 14

DESK REVIEW 14

QUANTITATIVE DATA COLLECTION 14

LIMITATIONS 15

BRIEF HISTORY OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN INDIA 16

KEY FINDINGS 18

STATUS OF EDUCATION OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN INDIA 18

FOUNDATIONAL LITERACY AND NUMERACY IN INDIA 19

FLN FOR CWD 20

UNDERSTANDING FLN OR ECCE STRUCTURE IN INDIA 21

NEP 2020 AND NIPUN BHARAT INITIATIVE 21

FIGURE 1: GOALS AND FOCUS AREAS OF NIPUN BHARAT 22

FIGURE 2: IMPLEMENTATION MECHANISM OF NIPUN BHARAT 24

INCLUSION OF CWD UNDER NIPUN BHARAT MISSION 24

CHALLENGES TO INTEGRATION OF FLN FOR CWD INTO PUBLIC EDUCATION 25

DELAY IN SCHOOL ENROLLMENT 25

EARLY IDENTIFICATION AND INTERVENTION 28

PEDAGOGY 29

FIGURE 3: LEARNING OUTCOME GOALS OF NIPUN BHARAT MISSION 30

TEACHING LEARNING MATERIAL 31

HOME-BASED EDUCATION – MULTIPLE DISABILITIES 32

INADEQUACY OF HUMAN RESOURCE 34

HUMAN RESOURCES: CAPACITY BUILDING 36

HUMAN RESOURCES: STATUS OF SPECIAL EDUCATORS IN THE INCLUSIVE SCHOOLS 37

SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE 38

GOVERNANCE 40

MONITORING AND EVALUATION 43

DATA 45

GENDER AND INTERSECTIONALITY 47

INTERSECTIONALITY 48

INNOVATIONS AND BEST PRACTICES 50

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING THROUGH ‘TOTAL COMMUNICATION’ APPROACH 50

USE OF MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCE APPROACH OF HOWARD GARDENER FOR TRANSACTING WITH

CHILDREN WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES 51

TEACHING TRIBAL CHILDREN IN TRIBAL LANGUAGES 52

USE OF SLOGANS FOR TEACHING CWD 53

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EARLY INTERVENTION BEST PRACTICE FOR CHILDREN WITH HEARING IMPAIRMENT 53

CONVERGENCE AND PARTNERSHIPS 54

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DESIGN 56

RESULTS FRAMEWORK 56

1. ICDS DEPARTMENT 56

2. IMPROVED SCHOOL SYSTEM 56

3. CONVERGENCE 57

4. AWARENESS 57

WORKS CITED 58

ANNEXES 60

ANNEXURE I: KII SUMMARY 60

EXPECTATIONS FROM NEP 2020 AND NIPUN BHARAT 60

CONVERGENCE 62

GAPS AND CHALLENGES 64

GENDER INCLUSIVE FLN FOR CWD 68

AWARENESS GENERATION AND PARENTS & COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT 68

CAPACITY BUILDING OF AWW AND RESOURCE TEACHERS 70

CURRICULUM FOR FLN FOR CWD 73

RECOMMENDATIONS 77

INNOVATIONS AND BEST PRACTICES 81

PILOT DESIGN COMPONENTS 85

OTHER POINTS 88

KII SCHEDULE 90

KII PARTICIPANTS 91

ANNEXURE II: KII TOOLS 94

LEAD QUESTIONS FOR CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS 95

LEAD QUESTIONS FOR GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES (CENTRAL AND STATE GOVERNMENT)95

LEAD QUESTIONS FOR EXPERTS AND RESEARCHERS 97

LEAD QUESTIONS FOR GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES – DISABILITY SECTOR 98

KEY QUESTIONS FOR PARENTS GROUP 99

GUIDING QUESTIONS FOR RESOURCE TEACHERS OF INCLUSIVE SCHOOL 99

ANNEXURE III: SCOPE OF WORK 100

PURPOSE 100

GUIDING QUESTIONS 101

APPROACH 101

RESPONSIBILITIES 102

ACTIVITIES 102

INCEPTION REPORT. 102

DESK REVIEW. 102

KEY INFORMANT INTERVIEWS. 102

DATA ANALYSIS. 103

REPORTING. 103

SUPPORT FOR USAID PROGRAM DESIGN (ACTIVITY SUMMARY). 103

SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES 104

DELIVERABLES 104

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE AND TOTAL LOE 104

USAID.GOV RAPID ASSESSMENT AND ACTIVITY DESIGN OF FOUNDATIONAL LITERACY AND NUMERACY FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES | iv

ANNEXURE IV 105

LIST OF KEY INFORMANTS 105

ANNEXURE V: LIST OF POTENTIAL NGO AND CORPORATE PARTNERS 106

TABLE 1: CWD IN THE AGE GROUP 0 TO 9 YEARS 110

OBSERVATIONS 110

TABLE 2: DECADAL GROWTH RATE FOR DISABLED POPULATION 111

OBSERVATIONS 112

TABLE 3: DISABILITY CATEGORY-WISE CWD IN THE AGE GROUP 0 TO 9 YEARS112

OBSERVATIONS 114

TABLE 4: INCLUSIVE SCHOOLS AND SPECIAL SCHOOLS 115

INDICATORS 115

OBSERVATIONS 115

TABLE 5: ENROLLMENT OF CWD 116

OBSERVATIONS 117

TABLE 6: CLASS-WISE ENROLMENT OF CWD 118

ENROLLMENT OF CWD 118

OBSERVATIONS 118

TABLE 7: GENDER PARITY INDEX (GPI) 119

GPI 2020-21 119

OBSERVATIONS 120

TABLE 8: DISABILITY CATEGORY-WISE ENROLLMENT OF CWD 121

ENROLLMENT OF CWSN IN THE YEAR 2020-21 121

% ENROLMENT OF CWSN IN THE YEAR 2020-21 AS AGAINST THE TOTAL FIGURE 122

OBSERVATIONS 123

TABLE 9: TEACHERS TRAINED FOR TEACHING CWD 124

% ENROLLMENT OF CWSN IN THE YEAR 2020-21 AS AGAINST THE TOTAL FIGURE 124

OBSERVATIONS 124

TABLE 10: ACCESSIBILITY IN SCHOOLS 125

MAJOR SCHOOL FACILITY RELATED TO ACCESSIBILITY 125

OBSERVATIONS 126

TABLE 10.1: FUNCTIONAL CWD-FRIENDLY TOILETS 127

FUNCTIONAL CWD-FRIENDLY TOILET 127

OBSERVATIONS 127

TABLE 11: FLN STATUS 128

FLN SCORE, RANK BY STATE 128

OBSERVATIONS 128

TABLE 12: PERFORMANCE GRADING INDEX (PGI) 129

OBSERVATIONS 130

TABLE 12.1: DOMAIN-WISE PGI FOR THE YEAR 2019-20 131

OBSERVATIONS 131

TABLE 12: ANGANWADIS 132

MAJOR SCHOOL FACILITY RELATED TO ACCESSIBILITY 132

OBSERVATIONS 132

TABLE 12.1: BENEFICIARIES (3 TO 6 YEARS) OF PRESCHOOL EDUCATION 133

OBSERVATIONS 133

TABLE 13: DISTRICT DISABILITY REHABILITATION CENTRES (DDRCS) 134

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DDRCS BY STATE 134

OBSERVATIONS 135

TABLE 14: DISABILITY CERTIFICATION 135

DDRCS BY STATE 135

OBSERVATIONS 136

FIGURE 1: EDUCATION ECOSYSTEM FOR CWD 137

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ACRONYMS

ASHA Accredited Social Health Activist

BRC Block Resource Centre

CDCS Country Development Cooperation Strategy

CSR Corporate Social Responsibility

CwD Children with Disabilities

CwSN Children with Special Needs

ECCE Early Childhood Care and Education

FGD Focus Group Discussions

FLN Foundational Learning and Numeracy

FYL Foundational Year of Learning

GOI Government of India

GPDP Gram Panchayat Development Plan

GPI Gender Parity Index

HBE Home Based Education

ICDS Integrated Child Development Scheme

IEDC Integrated Education for Disabled Children

IEP Individual Education Plan

KII Key Informant Interview

MHRD Ministry of Human Resources and Development

MoE Ministry of Education

NCERT National Council for Educational Research and Training

NCPCR National Commission for Protection of Child Rights

NCPEDP National Centre for Promotion of Employment of Persons with Disabilities

NDEAR National Digital Education Architecture

NEP National Education Policy

NGO Non-Governmental Organisation

NIPUN National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy

NSSO National Sample Survey Organisation

PwD Persons with Disabilities

PWD Public Works Department vii | RAPID ASSESSMENT AND ACTIVITY DESIGN OF FOUNDATIONAL LITERACY AND NUMERACY FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES USAID.GOV

RCI Rehabilitation Council of India

RPD Rights of Persons with Disabilities

RTE The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act

SADAREM Software for Assessment of Disabled for Access, Rehabilitation and Empowerment

SARTHAQ Students' and Teachers' Holistic Advancement through Quality Education

SC Scheduled Castes

SDG Sustainable Development Goals

SSA Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan

SS Samagra Shiksha

ST Scheduled Tribes

TLM Teaching Learning Material

UDID Unique Disability Identification

UDISE United District Information System for Education

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

BACKGROUND

At the 2022 Global Disability Summit, in line with recent Congressional discussions and directives, USAID announced new commitments to disability inclusive education, cementing its role as a leader in this field and joining global partners to advocate for education for every learner. Disability inclusive education at USAID encompasses disability inclusion across the entire education continuum, from pre-primary through higher education, including youth workforce development. Announced by USAID Administrator Samantha Power, the Agency’s commitments to disability inclusive education include advancing the knowledge base of what works in disability inclusive education to strengthen Universal Design for Learning for all learners in all new USAID education programs, especially in the foundational learning space.

In India, an estimated 7.8 million children and youth under 19 live with disabilities.1 Three-fourths of the children with disability (CwD) population under 5 years of age, and one-fourth of the CwD population between 5 and 19, do not go to any educational institution. The proportion of children and youth with disabilities who are out of school is much higher than the overall proportion of out-of-school children at the national level. Thus, although the schemes and programs have brought many children and youth with disabilities into schools, gaps remain.

USAID/India has requested the Panagora Group to conduct an assessment of disability inclusive education with a focus on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) for CwD in India to better understand the present status; assess the core gaps, challenges, and opportunities; and design appropriate interventions. The findings will inform the design of a new activity under USAID/India’s Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) Development Objective 1: Improved educational access and outcomes for marginalised populations, with special reference to CwD.

METHODOLOGY

The two distinct components of the assignment are the rapid assessment and the program design. The rapid assessment has been undertaken through a desk review and a stakeholder consultation using a mixed method approach combining primary and secondary research. The primary research includes interviews and focus group discussions with key informants who were grouped into the following categories: government respondents from national and selected state governments; civil society organisations and NGOs working directly on CwD issues; academicians and subject experts; teachers and special educators; parent groups; and advocacy groups. Interviews and discussions were conducted virtually. The discussions lasted 90-120 minutes each on average. A total of 20 key informant interviews (KIIs) were undertaken covering four states under study (Bihar, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh). The secondary data research was conducted through a desk review of government reports, data available on government websites, reports by international agencies working in the development

1 UNESCO. (2019). The State of Education in India 2019 (p.13). https://en.unesco.org/news/n-nose-state-education-report-india-2019-children-disabilities (Accessed 10th May 2022)

USAID.GOV RAPID ASSESSMENT AND ACTIVITY DESIGN OF FOUNDATIONAL LITERACY AND NUMERACY FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES | 2 sector, and independent studies and research. Quantitative data was drawn from two sources: Census of India 2011, and the United District Information System for Education (UDISE+) portal.

LIMITATIONS

Though there is extensive literature available on the subject of disability and special education, data related to FLN in the context of CwD were not available. Therefore, the assessment largely relies on the information shared through the KIIs of the civil society organisations, special education schoolteachers focusing on single disability, and parents of persons with disabilities (PwD). The response from the Government of India (GOI) has been extremely restricted and delayed, and no official data was received from the relevant government departments. This assessment therefore relies on the data available in GOI portals, which may be out of date.

KEY FINDINGS

STATUS OF EDUCATION OF PWD

According to a USAID factsheet on Disability and Education (2019),2 “Approximately 50 percent of the 150 million children with disabilities worldwide are out of school; 90 percent of those have never been in school.” The illiteracy rates for all PwD and for school-age disabled children remain much higher than the general population. Educational outcomes for children with disabilities and adults with disabilities remain very poor.3 Further, “illiteracy levels are high across all categories of disability and extremely so for children with visual, multiple and mental disabilities (and for children with disabilities across all categories).”4 Approximately, 2.4 million CwD in India are in the 0-9 age group, which is the early childhood period.5

FLN FOR CWD IN INDIA

The desk review used data from the Annual Status of Education Reports by Pratham which covers the overall status of education in India, including FLN levels for each state and rural district (which is the only annual source of information available on children’s learning outcomes), and a recent report by the Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister prepared by the Institute of Competitiveness titled Report – State of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy in India (2021). However, neither of these studies captures the status of FLN for CwD in India.

Understanding that CwD have significant differences with respect to the type and severity of disability, the data collected from KIIs found that the pedagogy of FLN needs to be designed keeping in mind the

2 https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1865/FactSheet_Disability_7.31.19_FINAL.pdf (Accessed on May 5, 2022) 3 World Bank. (2009). People with Disabilities in India: From Commitments to Outcomes. Retrieved May 10, 2022, https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/577801468259486686/pdf/502090WP0Peopl1Box0342042B01PUBLI C1.pdf 4 Dawn, R. (2014, May 31). Education of Children with Disabilities in India. Economic and Political Weekly, 49(22),

pp. 23-26. Retrieved April 30, 2022, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/24479631 5 Author derived projected population figure of CwD by extrapolation of data from Census 2001 to Census 2011 considering decadal growth factor

3 | RAPID ASSESSMENT AND ACTIVITY DESIGN OF FOUNDATIONAL LITERACY AND NUMERACY FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES USAID.GOV specific requirement of each CwD to align with their physical, cognitive, and emotional status. While such pedagogies have been put into practice in special schools run by civil society organisations, they were largely absent in primary schools under the Ministry of Education, despite the GOI’s policy commitment to inclusive education. Also, the absence of pedagogies for CwD in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programmes leads to late enrollment of CwD, resulting in delays in their growth and development. ‘According to the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) 2018 data, only 10.1% of persons with disabilities had ever attended a pre-school program.6

The appropriate ages for imparting FLN for CwD and non-disabled peers differ due to delays in early identification, leading to a loss of several crucial early years of pre-school education in a child’s life.

Education in the early years of childhood is important for all children, especially for children with special needs. This age is a critical period when the brain and intellectual, physical, emotional, and behavioural processes develop rapidly. Further, there is research evidence on the benefits of ECCE for CwD.

UNDERSTANDING FLN OR ECCE STRUCTURE IN INDIA

In India, ECCE services have been managed under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), under the aegis of the Ministry of Women and Child Development. This includes non-formal pre-school education, nutrition care, and early identification and referrals through the Anganwadi Centres. For every population of 1,000, an Anganwadi Centre is designated. There is presently a network of 1.38 million Anganwadi Centres across India through which the ECCE program is run.

Under the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the Anganwadi Centres have been designated as pre-school centres, hence they are the starting point of FLN for all children, including CwD. Early identification starts at 0-3 years and is an essential prerequisite for CwD for their entry in FLN. Thus, Anganwadi Centres are an ideal place for early identification and intervention for CwD and therefore play a crucial role in the inclusion of CwD. In urban areas, in addition to Anganwadi Centres, primary schools also have attached pre-primary sections which are the centres for imparting FLN.

NEP 2020 AND NIPUN BHARAT INITIATIVE

The 2020 National Education Policy lays a strong emphasis on foundational literacy and numeracy. To provide special focus and concerted effort, the GOI’s Ministry of Education has launched the National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN) Bharat Mission, which is also known as National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy. NIPUN Bharat outlines learning outcomes which have been designed in a sequential and progressive manner from pre-school to grade three, aiming at holistic development and learning in the foundational age. The administrative set-up of the NIPUN Bharat initiative is based on a five-tier implementation structure at the national, state, district, block, and school levels. NIPUN Bharat has also recognised the importance of FLN for CwD and encourages some interventions for them. However, there is no clear policy directive spelling out the need for any study or research for FLN interventions for CwD. In addition, the

6 NCPEDP. (2021). NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY: Opportunities & Challenges. New Delhi: National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCEPDP). Retrieved May 1, 2022, from https://ncpedp.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/WHITE-PAPER_FINAL-1.pdf

USAID.GOV RAPID ASSESSMENT AND ACTIVITY DESIGN OF FOUNDATIONAL LITERACY AND NUMERACY FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES | 4 language of the text appears to be tentative rather than emphatic with respect to interventions mentioned for CwD.

CHALLENGES

1. DELAY IN SCHOOL ENROLLMENT

The education of CwD in India has always faced a major obstacle in the form of age-appropriate pre-school and primary school admission. Parental ignorance and non-acceptance of their disabled child are primary reasons for the delay in early interventions and in school enrollment. Parents in rural areas are not aware of disability issues; rural poverty leads to neglect of CwD by parents who may be daily wage earners, also leading to delays in school enrollment. For children with multiple disabilities, lack of awareness can prevent parents from realising the unseen potential of their child resulting in little or no attempts to enroll their child in school. In 2018-19, only 29.47% of the schools across the country had children with disabilities enrolled in them, and there is wide inter-state variation.7 One of the basic challenges is to identify children with disabilities at an appropriate age and bring them to pre-school. A large number of children with disabilities require early intervention which needs to begin even before the stipulated three years of age specified for FLN by NIPUN Bharat.

2. EARLY IDENTIFICATION AND INTERVENTION

Early intervention is a prerequisite for the developmental milestone of a CwD that can lead to their entry into the stage of FLN. Early identification and intervention can be fruitfully realised at the Anganwadi Centre by appropriately capacitating the Anganwadi Centres with physical, financial, and human resources.

3. PEDAGOGY

The method of transaction8 as well as curriculum development for CwD needs to be specifically designed to cater to different nuances of different categories of disability and their severity. One of the reasons for the low participation of students with disabilities in education has been the lack of understanding of their requirements and learning levels, and a lack of discussion about how to build robust systems that cater to the diversity of their needs subsequent to enacting strong supportive legislation.

The usual method of teaching CwD includes preparing their Individual Education Plan (IEP) which factors in the specific challenges of the individual child. Currently, with CwD entering education system at varied ages, the IEP focuses on each child as per their entry into the school and their basic assessment of being ready for school. Therefore, progress, improvement, and learning outcomes for the CwD become subjective matters in the absence of any uniform guidelines or framework.

7 NCPEDP. (2021). NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY: Opportunities & Challenges. New Delhi: National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCEPDP). Retrieved May 1, 2022, from https://ncpedp.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/WHITE-PAPER_FINAL-1.pdf 8 Transaction means the communication between teacher and student related to any subject that they are teaching in the classroom.

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The goals set by NIPUN Bharat Mission for FLN to be achieved by 2026-27 do not consider CwD, and hence may remain unrealised. Hence, flexibility for curriculum adaptation, designing appropriate teaching learning material (TLM) for transacting with CwD, and developing a guiding framework for the IEP need to be considered.

4. HOME BASED EDUCATION – MULTIPLE DISABILITIES

Home-based education is an option for educating CwD with severe disabilities under the 1995 Persons with Disabilities Act and has been upheld under the 2016 Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act.

Although the idea is to teach the child at home and later prepare them to attend school, currently there is no such data available regarding their transition from home to school. Further, discussions with the key informants suggest that the frequency of ‘itinerant teachers’ visiting home range from once a week to once a month, inadequate and inappropriate interventions for CwD. CwD also tend to miss opportunities for socialisation, including participation in games, sports, and culture.

5. HUMAN RESOURCES – INADEQUACY

‘Inclusive schools’9 are supported by a cadre of ‘Special Educators’. These Special Educators function as resource teachers at the Block Resource Centre (BRC), and as itinerant teachers who travel around local mainstream schools and communities to support CwD, their parents, and inclusive schoolteachers in inclusive schools. The itinerant teachers are allocated a certain number of schools. They visit the schools and give lessons to CwD and also support the regular classroom teachers with teaching CwD.

This support is possible when the inclusive schoolteachers have adequate knowledge and training to teach CwD (who, in a typical classroom situation, would be from several different disability categories).

The norm is that each itinerant teacher is allotted 10 schools irrespective of the number of CwD in each school. However, the teachers’ group stated that on average, they have to support up to 30 schools per itinerant teacher, in addition to substantial administrative work. Often, each of these schools are located at a distance, which makes for additional travel time. Thus, CwD at an inclusive school receive an extremely low share of the teachers’ time for learning, which directly affects their learning outcomes. Every state has reported severe shortage of Special Educators.

6. HUMAN RESOURCES – CAPACITY BUILDING

The overall facility for human resource development in the disability sector is primarily based with the eight national institutes and few universities in the country. Additionally, the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) has recognised and entrusted several NGOs for conducting training courses for development of human resources. Despite this, the overall supply of special educators and other rehabilitation professionals continues to remain much lower than the demand. Further, barring few exceptions, there is a huge difference in the quality of knowledge and skills of special educators who have been trained by the National Institutes and Universities, and those who have been trained by civil society organisations.

9 ‘Inclusive school’ is the terminology used by the Ministry of Education, though all regular schools are inclusive by definition.

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Additionally, it is extremely important that the inclusive schoolteachers have adequate knowledge about disability and teaching CwD so that itinerant teachers can work in a supporting role. Currently, inclusive schools are almost completely dependent on itinerant teachers for provision of education to CwD. The average percent of teachers trained to teaching CwD in India is as low as 8.85%, with Bihar (3.41%) and Uttar Pradesh (3.80%) performing worse than Maharashtra (6.08%) and Telangana (8.62%). There is a huge gap in trained human resources for teaching CwD in India and for this reason alone, achieving FLN goals by 2026-27 in the inclusive schools will be a serious challenge.

7. HUMAN RESOURCES – STATUS OF SPECIAL EDUCATORS IN INCLUSIVE SCHOOLS

The Special Educators have undergone training to teach CwD, specialising in a single disability and are therefore best equipped to teach CwD. However, their status in inclusive schools as itinerant teachers or resource teachers is low. They remain unaffiliated to any one school and are seen as visiting teachers.

They are not part of the full-time education cadre of any of the states and function as contract teachers, often with very low salary and no job security. With extremely low remuneration packages and low social status, the profession of Special Educator in inclusive government schools remains unattractive.

8. SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE

There is a serious lack of basic school infrastructure conducive to CwD in all levels of education in India.

The accessibility parameters are not appropriately understood and followed. The UDISE+ data captures only ramps, railings, and accessible toilets at schools. While ramps and railings are found in many schools, the percentage of accessible toilets is extremely low. All other features of accessibility as per norms defined by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment need to be followed. This will facilitate the attendance and retention of CwD in each school and prevent dropouts. The same should follow where FLN begins at the level of pre-schools and Anganwadi Centres.

9. GOVERNANCE

In India, education is a subject that falls in Concurrent List in the Constitution. This means that the central government is the primary policymaker and provides financial support to state governments on a sharing basis and based on norms that may differ across different national policy initiatives (schemes).

Moreoverever, the education of CwD is handled by multiple agencies both in central and state government. While inclusive education is handled by the Ministry of Education, the special schools are managed by the Ministry of Social Justice/Welfare.

ISSUE OF CERTIFICATION The Disability Certificate is an extremely important entitlement for PwD, making them eligible to access all government benefits. However, obtaining the certificate is challenging.

Only government hospitals are authorised to issue these certificates. The main obstacles faced by PwD stem from lack of certifying specialists and the time period allotted for evaluation of the PwD/CwD. The time period is often very long, and many times the need for repetitive visits is a burden for the parents or the PwD themselves. This also adds to their financial burden, as they may need to travel long distances to the district hospital, often losing their daily wage earning, and can lead parents to abandon their efforts to obtain the certificate.

ISSUE OF CONVERGENCE The education of CwD requires the convergence of multiple agencies to provide them a complete portfolio of services: the Ministry of Education (MoE) for schooling; the

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Ministry of Health (MoH) for issuing certificates and providing adequate health facilities for therapy and handling special health conditions for certain categories of CwD; the Ministry of Social Justice for provision of assistive devices, as well as social security; the Department of Public Works for accessible infrastructure; and the Department of ICDS for providing ECCE. Currently, there is little convergence among these departments. The convergence between the MoE and Department of ICDS is the most crucial for FLN. Additionally, due to lack of convergence between health and education, currently no inclusive schools have any facilities for therapeutic services. It is therefore essential to strategize convergence among these five ministries/departments to fulfil the goal of inclusive education.

10. MONITORING AND EVALUATION

In India, the National Human Rights Commission, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, and Chief Commissioner for Disability, as well as their state counterparts, are the three primary monitoring agencies with respect to CwD and PwD—they are the custodians of protecting the rights of CwD and PwD. However, there are currently no clearly defined domains of the different agencies mentioned above and they have overlapping portfolios. It is recommended that the government defines the distinct functional role of each of these bodies related to disability so that there is no overlapping, and one complements the other. Further indicators and a monitoring framework for each of these agencies must be developed so that the domains are appropriately integrated into each of the systems.

ISSUES WITH DATA The desk review was unable to find data for FLN with respect to CwD. There is also no single national comprehensive portal related to CwD or PwD. The data is captured by multiple agencies for their specific domains: the Department of Health captures the PwD certification data, UDISE+ captures data related to school education, and so on, without any efforts at coordination. A few states, such as Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh, have developed data portals for capturing data related to PwD. However, these data portals only capture the PwD/CwD who have received disability certificates. A vast majority of PwD and CwD who are otherwise eligible for government benefits but have not received disability certificates do not appear in these databases and therefore remain left out from any entitlements. There is also multiplicity and overlapping of data, and therefore overlapping use of resources. An appropriate convergence mechanism for the creation of a comprehensive database of PwD and CwD will be crucial to any systematic planning of inclusion interventions.

11. GENDER AND INTERSECTIONALITY

Compared to disabled boys, girls with disability face even greater neglect in their family settings.

Statistics show that enrollment of girls with disability is persistently lower than boys with disabilities.

‘The persistently low participation of girls with disabilities in the general school system indicates that not enough attention and thought has gone to enabling their enrollment in education. The GPI (gender parity index) of children with disabilities from 2014-15 to 2018-19 indicates constant but low ratio of girls with disabilities to boys with disabilities. This ratio between the girls and boys with disabilities remains between 0.74-0.7 in school education.10 The ASER 2018 report states that the percentage of

10 NCPEDP. (2021). NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY: Opportunities & Challenges. New Delhi: National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCEPDP). Retrieved May 1, 2022, from https://ncpedp.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/WHITE-PAPER_FINAL-1.pdf

USAID.GOV RAPID ASSESSMENT AND ACTIVITY DESIGN OF FOUNDATIONAL LITERACY AND NUMERACY FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES | 8 girls out of school has decreased from 2008 to 2018.11 However, ASER does not capture data for children with disabilities, and the status of girls with disabilities who are out of school could not be found. Though the learning outcome for girl children in India shows a positive trend, there is no data available for girls with disabilities, hence the same conclusion cannot be derived for them.

A disabled girl child belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes suffer from multiple, additional disadvantages. Firstly, they are disabled, secondly, they are girls, and thirdly that they belong to a lower caste or a tribal society. It may be noted there is no caste-wise enrollment data for CwD available.

INNOVATIONS AND BEST PRACTICES

The best practices included in the study were shared by the key informants, and these are under practice in India. It was decided to limit the best practices documentation to the Indian context and the foundational learning space. Some of the best practices are summarised below:

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING THROUGH ‘TOTAL COMMUNICATION’ APPROACH

This approach is used to teach children with deaf-blindness. It focuses on experiential learning, which is activity based and centred around a single focus activity. In this ‘total communication’ approach, the intervener uses a combination of communication methods and modes for the individual with deaf-blindness. The communicative methods and modes are specific to the individual to provide the best opportunity for understanding. This approach is being used by the Helen Keller Institute for the deaf and deafblind, Mumbai.

USE OF MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCE APPROACH FOR TRANSACTING WITH CHILDREN

WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES

Howard Gardener’s ‘Multiple Intelligence Theory’ believes in the premise that learning occurs through many types of intelligences, and individuals have various levels of each. In this approach, the teacher identifies the multiple intelligence of each student and accordingly designs appropriate activities for their learning. The Multiple Intelligence approach has been studied and researched in depth through exploratory method by Kamayani Prashikshan and Sanshodhan Society, Pune, and it is being used to teach the children with intellectual disabilities.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DESIGN

SCHOOL ENROLLMENT

1. Large-scale awareness generation is needed at the community level related to disability.

Awareness campaigns can be introduced at two levels: one targeting the general community, and the other targeting parents and caregivers.

11 ASER. (2018). Annual Status of Education Report 2018. New Delhi: ASER Centre. Retrieved May 15, 2022, from http://img.asercentre.org/docs/ASER%202018/Release%20Material/aserreport2018.pdf

9 | RAPID ASSESSMENT AND ACTIVITY DESIGN OF FOUNDATIONAL LITERACY AND NUMERACY FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES USAID.GOV

EARLY IDENTIFICATION AND INTERVENTION

1. The Anganwadi, to become an effective FLN Centre, needs to be equipped with appropriate infrastructure such as proper accessibility features that include accessible toilets, accessible teaching–learning material, and Early Identification and Intervention material.

PEDAGOGY

1. Flexibility needs to be provided for curriculum adaptation.

2. ‘Adaptive Communication’ needs to be brought in for transacting with different categories of PwD. Adaptive communication will facilitate smooth entry of a CwD towards FLN.

3. Appropriate budgetary provisions in the annual budget need to be made for acquiring/replenishing/replacing TLM as per individual CwD need.

HOME-BASED EDUCATION – MULTIPLE DISABILITIES

1. Due to the limited number of itinerant teachers, each child receives instruction by an itinerant teacher at best only once or twice a month. It is recommended that teachers be recruited based on actual statistics on the number of CwD and their categories and degrees of disability. To start with, the department must fill up all the sanctioned posts and further work on recruiting more as may be required.

2. There should be support to increase the awareness of the parents, and they should be given access to GOI income and livelihoods programs such as the National Rural Livelihoods Mission and National Urban Livelihoods Mission.

HUMAN RESOURCE INADEQUACY

1. It is recommended that teacher training in the inclusive schools be undertaken in mission mode with strict quality checks by the appropriate monitoring committee. The committee should consist of representatives from government, NGOs, parents, and PwD. This training should be part of NIPUN Bharat.

HUMAN RESOURCE CAPACITY BUILDING

1. D.Ed. and B.Ed. degree requirements should include compulsory teaching on CwD pedagogy since right to education of every child and inclusivity is part of fundamental human rights.

HUMAN RESOURCE CAPACITY BUILDING - STATUS OF SPECIAL EDUCATORS IN THE

INCLUSIVE SCHOOLS

1. All resource and itinerant teachers must enjoy the status as regular teachers and should be part of permanent cadre of State Education Departments.

SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE

1. It is highly recommended that accessibility audits be conducted in every public school by a qualified accredited access auditor.

USAID.GOV RAPID ASSESSMENT AND ACTIVITY DESIGN OF FOUNDATIONAL LITERACY AND NUMERACY FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES | 10

2. Provision of appropriate therapeutic services for CwD at the school complex should be ensured.

GOVERNANCE

ISSUE OF CERTIFICATION

1. A convenient centre could be opened in a cluster of Panchayats with appropriate online facility for data entry into the Unique Disability Identification (UDID) portal.

ISSUE OF CONVERGENCE

1. Strategising convergence of the five key ministries/departments must be worked out at the district level. After preparation of the individual school plan, it should be consolidated at the district level and the same should be available at the district level.

2. The district should have a district disability convergence plan developed through a workshop mode which should be prepared in results-based management (RBM) and accountability format. The plan preparation should be anchored by an appropriately qualified RBM expert.

3. Schools run by the Social Welfare Department should function as model resource school which should be assigned with a certain number of inclusive schools for providing specialised inputs, and their best practices should be documented and emulated. This will improve the functioning of inclusive schools and the motivate parents to send their children to them.

This will bring appropriate functional convergence with the Social Welfare Department, the nodal agency for disability.

4. Appropriate awareness raising campaigns should be carried out for government functionaries in the five key ministries/departments. It should form part of regular training and upgrading programs so that officials are regularly updated on disability issues.

DATA

1. Ensure regular update of government websites and portals.

2. The data should be made available (except sensitive data related to individuals) in the public domain for research and planning purposes at various levels.

3. A single portal should be developed by respective state governments, taking into consideration the requirement of all relevant departments related to disability. Each department should be given the password for accessing and updating their own domain only;

i.e., updating of the departmental data will be the right of that department only.

GENDER AND INTERSECTIONALITY

1. While there is an incentive provided under Samagra Shiksha for girls with disabilities, efforts should be made to educate parents for treating girls with disabilities and boys with disabilities on equal terms. For this, Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) Worker and Anganwadi Worker should be the vehicle for carrying out the awareness campaign and also constantly counselling the parents. Additionally, a conducive atmosphere needs to be

11 | RAPID ASSESSMENT AND ACTIVITY DESIGN OF FOUNDATIONAL LITERACY AND NUMERACY FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES USAID.GOV brought in the overall community (both rural and urban) so that adequate attention and importance is given to a girl child.

2. For girls with disabilities to continue education in school, it is important that they can access appropriate facilities for their personal and menstrual hygiene, their safety, and their dignity.

3. The Multi-Poverty Index Report, jointly published by Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, University of Oxford, and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative & UNDP, 2021) amply brings to the fore the multidimensionality of poverty and deprivation. Intersectionality is a status where multidimensional poverty is apparent. It is recommended that planning should give special attention to the intersectionality status of the community and the CwD belonging to such intersectional milieu. For example, a special drive could be undertaken for bringing girls with disabilities from Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe communities to schools.

4. The NEP 2020 mandates every state government to prepare and implement its own educational plan under the broad guidelines given by the policy. The State Education Plan must ensure that a ‘Gender Inclusion Fund’ is in place, and this should be in the District Education Plan as well. The ‘gender inclusion fund’ should be created with consideration to the GPI, and allocation of funds should be higher where GPI is low. The GPI index should be made available to every district. While making this index, careful consideration to ensure inclusion of data related to CwD.

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BACKGROUND & CONTEXT

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and grounded in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights treaties. The commitment to ‘Leave No One Behind’ is strong commitment to inclusion for all persons, including persons with disabilities and other disadvantaged groups. Disability is a cross-cutting issue to be factored in for planning and implementation of Agenda 2030. Education (Goal 4 - 'to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and to promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’) is essential to achieving all of the SDGs. With an estimated 1.21 billion people, India is the world's second most populated country after China. It has 17 percent of the global population and 20 percent of the world's out-of-school children. It is therefore a mammoth task at hand to ensure inclusion and full participation of all children with diverse backgrounds and abilities.

The UN’s 2018 Disability and Development Report12 states that ‘…despite the progress made in recent years, persons with disabilities continue to face numerous barriers to their full inclusion and participation in the life of their communities.’ Using a life-cycle approach for understanding full inclusion and participation for persons with disabilities, access to education can be said to be a critical link where inclusion should take root. Education is the organic link between the individual and their inclusion in the society and is critical for expanding life prospects for every child, including children with disabilities (CwD). For a multi-lingual, multi-cultural, multi-religious, and geographically diverse country like India, where the dynamics of poverty, underdevelopment and unemployment overlap, the inclusion and full participation of persons with disabilities often gets low priority and is limited by systemic challenges and resistance. India is a signatory to the 2007 United Nations Convention of Rights of Persons with Disabilities and has reiterated its commitment by enacting The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016. This new rights-based approach, and the recent National Education Policy 2020 which aims at a stronger, robust, and inclusive education system, will be a step in the right direction.

At the 2022 Global Disability Summit, in line with recent Congressional discussions and directives, USAID announced new commitments to disability inclusive education, cementing its role as a leader in this field and joining global partners to advocate for education for every learner. Disability inclusive education at USAID encompasses disability inclusion across the entire education continuum, from pre-primary through higher education, including youth workforce development. Announced by USAID Administrator Samantha Power, the Agency’s commitments to disability inclusive education include advancing the knowledge base of what works in disability inclusive education to strengthen Universal Design for Learning for all learners in all new USAID Education programs, especially in the foundational learning space.

Available data indicate that in India, an estimated 7.8 million children and youth aged under 19 live with disabilities.13 Three-fourths of the CwD population younger than 5 and one-fourth of the CwD

12 United Nations – Dept. of Economic Affairs (2018). Disability and Development Report: Realizing Sustainable Development Goals by, for and with persons with disabilities (p. 26). https://social.un.org/publications/UN-Flagship- Report-Disability-Final.pdf (Accessed on May 15, 2022) 13 UNESCO. (2019). The State of Education in India 2019 (p.13). https://en.unesco.org/news/n-nose-state-education-report-india-2019-children-disabilities (Accessed 10th May 2022)

13 | RAPID ASSESSMENT AND ACTIVITY DESIGN OF FOUNDATIONAL LITERACY AND NUMERACY FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES USAID.GOV population between 5 and 19 do not go to any educational institution. The proportion of children and youth with disabilities who are out of school is much higher than the overall proportion of out-of-school children at the national level. Thus, although the schemes and programs have brought children and youth with disabilities into schools, gaps remain. It thus becomes imperative to bring children and youth with disabilities into education, especially for foundational learning and skills so that they can grow up to maximize their potential as individuals and as citizens.

METHODOLOGY

The purpose of this rapid assessment is to understand the challenges and opportunities for ensuring foundational learning outcomes for CwD. It will be used to inform the design of a new activity under USAID/India’s Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) Development Objective 1:

Improved educational access and outcomes for marginalised populations with special reference to CwD.

The findings and recommendations from the assessment will provide the key inputs for a design of new activity to support the integration of FLN education in public schools. The assessment is based on an extensive document review and a focused stakeholder consultation in the four states chosen for the study, namely, Bihar, Maharashtra, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.

The rapid assessment seeks to find answers to the following questions:

1. CHALLENGES TO INTEGRATION What are the principal challenges and obstacles to effective implementation of policies for integrating FLN for CwD into public education? How are these challenges and obstacles being addressed at different levels?

2. PROGRESS AND INNOVATION Are there examples of progress at the state level in integration of FLN for CwD? Are there promising innovations in FLN for CwD at the school level in India, whether within the public education system or in non-governmental schools?

3. DESIGN ELEMENTS FOR PROGRAMMING What would be the basic design elements of a pilot program in FLN for CwD in public schools? How would it be structured? At what scale? With what partner organisations in the GOI and outside? What resources would be needed? What would be the main components and sequencing?

PRIMARY RESEARCH

STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION

The stakeholder consultation was conducted through key informant interviews (KIIs), and focus group discussions (FGDs) based on a semi-structured interview guide for each stakeholder category. A stakeholder mapping was undertaken by the team and stakeholders were broken into two categories:

1. PRIMARY STAKEHOLDERS: Parents and caregivers of CwD, special educators, teachers, and Dept.

of Elementary Education and Dept. of Social Justice and Empowerment at the Central and State Governments.

2. SECONDARY STAKEHOLDERS: Public and private schools, special schools, NGOs, civil society…