What is Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS) scheme?

About Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS) scheme:

• IEDSS has been launched from the year 2009-10. This Scheme replaces the earlier scheme of Integrated Education for Disabled Children (IEDC). 
• The aim of this scheme is to enable all students with disabilities to pursue four years of secondary education in an inclusive and enabling environment, after completing eight years of elementary schooling.
• It provides assistancefor the inclusive education of disabled children in classes IX-XII.
• The scheme covers all children studying at the secondary stage in Government, local body and Government-aided schools,with one or more disabilities as defined under the Persons with Disabilities Act (1995) and the National Trust Act (1999) in the class IX to XII, namely blindness, low vision, leprosy cured, hearing impairment, locomotory disabilities, mental retardation, mental illness, autism, and cerebral palsy, and may eventually cover speech impairment, learning disabilities, etc.
• Girls with the disabilitiesreceive special focus to help them gain access to secondary schools, as also to information and guidance for developing their potential. 
• Setting up of Model inclusive schools in every State is envisaged under the scheme.
• Components:

o Student-oriented components, such as medical and educational assessment, books and stationery, uniforms, transport allowance, reader allowance, stipend for girls, support services, assistive devices, boarding the lodging facility, therapeutic services, teaching learning materials, etc.

o Other components include appointment of special education teachers, allowances for general teachers for teaching such children, teacher training, orientation of school administrators, establishment of resource room, providing barrier free environment, etc.

Implementing Agency:

o The School Education Department of the State Governments/Union Territory (UT) Administrations are the implementing agencies.

o They may involve NGOs having experience in the field of education of the disabled in the implementation of the scheme.

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• Financial Assistance:

o Central assistance for all items covered in the scheme is on 100 percent basis.

o The State governments are only required to make provisions for scholarship of Rs. 600/- per disabledchild per annum.

· This scheme now subsumed under Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) from 2013. 

Q1: What is the National Trust?

The National Trust is a statutory body of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, set up under the “National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities” Act (Act 44 of 1999).The National Trust works towards providing opportunities for capacity development of Persons with Disability and their families, fulfilling their rights, facilitating and promoting the creation of an enabling environment and an inclusive society.

Source:Five Education Dept. officers suspended for misappropriation of IEDSS scheme grants