Governor SC Jamir releases UNICEF’s annual ‘The State of the
World’s children report in Odisha. Speaking on the occasion he said, “A
nation cannot progress if its children are not cared for. It is the duty
of the elders to help them, to think about them and to care for them.”
Notably,
a total of 6,51,09,654 children with disability were enrolled in
schools in the State in 2011-12 as per the District Information System
for Education (DISE) and a communiqué by UNICEF.
Of
the total 6, 51, 09, 654 children, as many as 49,588 disabled boys and
36,873 disabled girls were enrolled in 2011-12. According to Census
2001, there are 1.02 million persons with disabilities in the State,
constituting 2.77 percent of the total population of the state.
This
includes persons who suffer from visual, hearing, speech, movement and
mental disabilities. Of the total population of the disabled, children
aged between 0 and 18 years constitute about 32.9 percent and children
less than 14 years constitute about 24 per cent.
There is a wide variation in the prevalence of disabilities among children in the state. According to Census 2001, about 52 percent of children are visually impaired, 10 percent suffer from speech impairment, 6 percent are hearing impaired, 23 percent are incapable of movement and 9 percent of disabled children are either mentally challenged or mentally ill.
As
a large percentage of the population in the State lives in rural areas,
it is understandable that the incidence of disabilities is more in
those areas. Among the total disabled children, children with
disabilities in rural areas are about 2.86 lakhs, which means that 85
percent of disabled children live in the rural areas.
However, the actual prevalence is more in urban areas. Speaking on the occasion, Yumi Bae, Chief, UNICEF said that disabled children have to face discriminationfrom family and society, which alienates them from others.
Source : Indian Education Diary , 21st June 2013
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