There is good news for thousands of children with severe multiple disabilities and for those who rely entirely on homeschooling for their academic development.

In a first, the government has decided to provide these children with learning materials and stationery to encourage and help them in their school pursuits, senior officials from the basic education department of the State.

At present, home education has been arranged for 10,181 such children spread across different districts of Uttar Pradesh who cannot come to school due to severe and multiple disabilities.

Also last year, the budget was released for this initiative, but due to the non-selection of the agency, the study materials could not be distributed to most districts, including Prayagraj. Children could only benefit from it in certain districts.

“Now all of these children will receive learning materials and stationery at a cost of ₹3,500 per student. A total budget of ₹3.56 crores has been released by the state government for this,” said Shraddha Gobrele, District Coordinator, Inclusive Education, Prayagraj.

A missive in this regard was recently sent to all districts by Vijay Kiran Anand, Director General (School Education) and State Project Director of Samagra Shiksha Initiative.

Pursuant to the order, a copy of which is with HT, a four-member committee headed by Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) and having an Assistant Finance and Accounts Officer, an Inclusive Education District Coordinator and a district (MIS) as members would oversee the purchase of learning materials and stationery that will be distributed to these children.

Suggested items for distribution include different wooden and plastic models, different types of pegboards, kitchen set, doctor set, different picture boards, counting frames, building blocks, sensory flash cards, a sensory stimulation kit and light-producing toys, among others.

It is worth mentioning that the identification of Children with Special Needs (CWSN) in the age group of 0-14 years is done annually through a household survey in all 75 districts of the state. According to the education department list of 10,181 children covered by the home schooling program provided, all districts in the state have such children, including 170 in Agra, 125 in Aligarh, 225 in Prayagraj, 335 in Azamgarh, 230 in Badaun, 285 in Deoria, 260 in Ghazipur, 250 in Gonda, 300 in Gorakhpur, 315 in Jaunpur, 265 in Lakhimpur Kheri, 150 in Varanasi, 120 in Mathura, 105 in Meerut, 120 in Kanpur Nagar, 96 in Kanpur Dehat and 150 in Chance now.