Published Paper Details:

Education is Fundamental for the development of individuals, nations and societies. It helps in achieving full human potential, promoting national development and developing an equitable and just society. In india education is a fundamental right for all children. From time to time India enacted many acts, framed many policies and launched several programmes to educate all children. But still a large chunk of children especially children with special needs (CWSN) could not find it an easy walk and were left behind. To mainstream them on par with the normal population the government of India started a centrally sponsored scheme integrated Education for Disabled Children(IEDC) and sarva shiksha abhyan to provide educational opportunities for children with special needs(CWSN) up to the age of 14. Then further extended to four more years by launching Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS) through Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) . Sarva Shiksha Abhiyanand RMSA, now Samagra Shiksha is one of the programmes implemented to create barrier free environment in the school and to promote inclusive education for the children with special needs (CWSN) as one of the components. Most of the schools in Jammu and Kashmir are inaccessible, with no disabled friendly toilets, defective ramps and railings. Manpower to meet the diverse needs of CWSN is also least. Most of the parents are least concerned about the education of their disabled children.The present study was focused on the educational opportunities of children with special needs in the union territory jammu and Kashmir of the Indian union. The study covered a sample( random sampling) of CWSNs (500), teachers (100), parents (130), heads of the schools (30) to collect the facts regarding the accessibility, barrier free environment, retention of CWSN, challenges faced by teachers , parents and children with social needs (CWSN).