AICTE directs institutions to provide free laptops, internet connection to PwD students

AICTE has directed all the technical institutions to provide free laptops and internet charges to PwDs through Institute/State government and special assistance for their training and their placement. They have also been told to establish a cell known as ‘Equal Opportunity Facilitation Cell (EOFC)’ comprising six members.

AICTE directs institutions to provide free laptops, internet connection to PwD students

All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has released guidelines in order to facilitate inclusive digital education for all including Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) in line with National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 which emphasizes equal opportunity for education for all. 

AICTE has directed all the technical institutions to provide free laptops and internet charges to PwDs through Institute/State government and special assistance for their training and their placement. They have also been told to establish a cell known as ‘Equal Opportunity Facilitation Cell (EOFC)’ comprising six members. The EOFC will be responsible for promoting admissions of PwDs in technical institutions, creating awareness among stakeholders in the area of equal opportunities on a regular basis, addressing the special needs of the students pertaining to the teaching-learning process and developing disabled friendly teaching-learning process making use of modern tools and assistive technologies.

The cell will also ensure that the institution's campus is PwD-friendly having ramps, signages, designated parking etc, as the guidelines stated.

"For an accessible teaching-learning process for PwDs, the cell should be adequately funded both in terms of required resources as well as trained manpower. The cell should also monitor progress by taking periodic feedback from students with disabilities. Training a large number of teachers who have full-time/part-time responsibility towards these activities itself is a challenge and special SWAYAM courses are being proposed for the same. These teachers should be familiar with ‘accommodation’ solutions for enrolled students even if the Institution is not fully accessible," the guidelines further stated.

AICTE also directed the institutions that special provisions should be given to Persons with Disabilities during the exam, with keeping 20 to 50 per cent of questions in objective type format. 

“Facility for Students with Specific Learning Disabilities, dedicated Centres of Learning Diversity (CLD) may be set up to help with the implementation of the initiatives and provide the requisite support within the institute,” the guidelines stated.

"The institutions are required to include the details related to the availability of a barrier-free environment for students with disabilities on their websites including details of the admission process, support services available and status of PwDs. Institutes should create a separate budgetary head covering the expenditure towards activities promoting inclusion of PwDs,” the AICTE stated.

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