“If he has education, there will not be any problem”: Factors affecting access to education for children with disabilities in Tamil Nadu, India

RESEARCH ARTICLE “If he has education, there will not be any problem”: Factors affecting access to education for children with disabilities in Tamil Nadu, India Kumudha AruldasID1‡*, Lena Morgon Banks2‡, Guru Nagarajan3, Reeba Roshan4, Jabaselvi Johnson1, David Musendo2, Isaac ArpudharangamID1, Judd L. WalsonID5,6, Tom Shakespeare2, Sitara S. R. Ajjampur1 1 The Wellcome Trust Research Laboratory, Division of Gastrointestinal Sciences, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India, 2 International Centre for Evidence in Disability, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom, 3 Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India, 4 Department of Developmental Paediatrics, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India, 5 Departments of Global Health, Medicine, Pediatrics, and Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America, 6 The DeWorm3 Project, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America ‡ KA and LMB are co-lead authors on this work. * kumudha.aruldas@gmail.com Abstract This study explores factors affecting children with disabilities’ enrolment and experience in school in Tamil Nadu, India. In-depth interviews were conducted with 40 caregivers and 20 children with disabilities. Children were purposively selected to maximise heterogeneity by gender, impairment type and enrolment status, using data from a previous survey. Overall,

caregivers recognised the importance of school for their children’s future livelihoods or at least as a means of socialisation. However, some questioned the value of school, particu- larly for children with intellectual or sensory impairments. Other barriers to school enrolment and regular attendance included poor availability and affordability of transport, safety con- cerns or school staffs’ concerns about children’s behaviour being disruptive. While in school, many children’s learning was limited by the lack of teacher training and resources for inclu- sive education. Poor physical accessibility of schools, as well as negative or overly protec- tive attitudes from teachers and peers, often limited children’s social inclusion while in school. These findings carry implications for the implementation of inclusive education in India and elsewhere, as they indicate that despite legislative progress, significant gaps in attendance, learning and social inclusion remain for children with disabilities, which may not be captured in traditional metrics on education access. Introduction Childhood education is linked to many benefits to individuals, their households, communities, and countries, including increased future earnings, improved health outcomes, and overall PLOS ONE PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0290016 August 16, 2023 1 / 19 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 OPEN ACCESS Citation: Aruldas K, Banks LM, Nagarajan G, Roshan R, Johnson J, Musendo D, et al. (2023) “If he has education, there will not be any problem”:

Factors affecting access to education for children with disabilities in Tamil Nadu, India. PLoS ONE 18(8): e0290016. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0290016 Editor: Ranjit Kumar Dehury, University of Hyderabad, INDIA Received: May 19, 2023 Accepted: August 1, 2023 Published: August 16, 2023 Copyright: © 2023 Aruldas et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Data Availability Statement: The transcripts will be shared on special request made to The Wellcome Trust Research Laboratory, Division of Gastrointestinal Sciences, Christian Medical College, Vellore, through E-mail - deworm3@cmcvellore.ac.in OR wellcome@cmcvellore.ac.in Phone: +91-416-228- 2052, as they contain potentially identifying and sensitive information about the schools, teachers, family members, and relatives.