Despite well-meaning legislation, the enrollment of differently-abled girls in colleges in Odisha remains woefully low. Diana Sahu digs through numbers to get just how dire the problem is http://www.newindianexpress.com/education/edex/2016/nov/28/indias-different-daughters-why-odishas-disabled-girls-arent-going-to-college-1542622--1.html Sushree Sarangi (26) is the first doctor in Odisha in a wheelchair. She was in her second-year of medical studies at the Institute of Medical Sciences and Sum Hospital in Bhubaneswar when she met with an accident that left her quadriplegic. She, however, did not give up her MBBS education and received the degree this year. The journey to get that degree, though, was tough as she had to face the problem of accessibility.
“It was the biggest hurdle in fact. Being wheelchair-bound made many things inaccessible for me. My college was inaccessible but soon slopes were made throughout entrances and working lifts which made it easy on my part to pursue the course. But when it came to field visits, I had to depend on reports brought by my classmates for analysis,” she says. Sushree is among the few lucky handicapped girls in Odisha, who enter the domain of higher education and manage to complete their courses to become independent. Even as the People with Disabilities (PWD) Act, 1995 mandates three per cent quota for the physically challenged students in higher education institutions of the country, Odisha paints a sorry picture as far as enrollment of handicapped girls is concerned. After two decades of implementation of the PWD Act, only about two per cent of seats in general and stand-alone institutions go to handicapped girls in the State. Worse, many among the girls who enrol for higher studies drop out due to lack of facilities and the absence of a congenial learning environment. Their representation in STEM (Science Technology, Engineering and Management) subjects is also negligible. Capped Admission Numbers According to the last All India Survey of Higher Education Institutions in 2014-15, the enrollment of physically-handicapped girls in Odisha is just 389 of the total 29,541 (across the country) in this category. A majority of them belong to the Arts stream. At least 1050 physically-handicapped students are enrolled in higher education institutions in the State of which, 661 were boys and the rest 389 (2.6 per cent) girls. Whereas, 1,92,773 general girls took admission in Junior (Plus Two) colleges and 99,417 in degree (Plus Three) colleges in the same academic year. The several elite Central Government-run institutions in Odisha like Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), National Institute of Technology (NIT), Central University of Odisha, National Institute of Science Education and Research have less than one per cent enrollment of physically-handicapped girls, according to sources in the Higher Education Department, Government of Odisha. Besides, there are just 29 physically-handicapped women faculty members in the State as against the total 141 in general colleges. The Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in Odisha give admission to only girls with physical disabilities as a result of which, a majority of girl students with other disabilities are left out. -- Avinash Shahi Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
