Published Paper Details:

Education is the fundamental right of every person and all the children belonging to the age group of 6-14 years are entitled to free and compulsory education under the Right to Education Act, 2009. However, education for females with disabilities is still a far away dream due to the physical, social and attitudinal barriers when compared to their disabled male or non-disabled female counterparts. While different policies and programmes are run by the central government and the state governments for the education and empowerment of women in general, no specific consideration is given on the education of these women and girls. Though the National policy for persons with disabilities, 2006, gives special focus on women and recognises their special needs, hardly any specific programmes are being implemented at the grassroots level to empower these women who are multimarginalised and have to fight battle at many fronts for their own empowerment like, physical, social, economical, cultural and attitudinal level. The present article is concerned with the prospects and challenges related to the educational opportunities for the girls with disabilities and their role in empowering women at large. The study attempts to explore if the various Government Acts, Policies and Programmes framed for women and disabled people offer specific provisions for girls and women with disabilities considering their unique needs and requirements. Further, it also explores the kind of barriers the girls with disabilities have to face to access the educational opportunities available. Finally, the study attempts to offer some suggestions for the empowerment of girls with disabilities.