Kashmir's Other Students

For children with disabilities in Kashmir, education is still a distant hope. The system has laws, but little readiness. Between stigma and silence, they wait.

- Mohammad Hanief

In the region of rigorous academic adventures, children still leave home each morning with books in hand.

They walk miles, through frost and fog, toward something better. But not every child makes this journey. Thousands, born with or scarred by disability, remain behind.

Jammu and Kashmir houses over 361,000 persons with disabilities, per the 2011 Census. Many experts believe this number is outdated and under-reported. And while strife has left behind broken limbs, impaired hearing, and trauma, the schools remain unchanged. The Right to Education Act and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act call for inclusion. But in Kashmir, those rights often do not reach the classroom.

Most government schools in rural areas lack ramps, accessible toilets, or modified furniture. Classrooms are designed for the able-bodied. A child who cannot climb steps is left out. A child who cannot hear is left behind. There are no tactile paths for the blind, no Braille books, no screen readers. Children who use wheelchairs cannot even enter the school gate.