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

“Her teachers look after her kindly. She is not able to hear and talk, right, so they will not hurt her, they will teach her and take care of her kindly.” (Mother of a girl, hearing limitation–“cannot do”) However, a third of children going to school at the time of the study and half of children who had ever attended school reported verbal abuse or discriminatory behaviour. For example, some teachers were reported to have made derogatory statements about a child’s disability that made the children and the family upset. “I do not know whether he did something [wrong] or not. Sir [teacher] told him- I will make this eye also blind if you are not obeying. . . He [son] said that and he cried in the house. . . Sir [teacher] is telling- I will make another eye blind.” (Mother of a boy, visual limitation–“a lot of difficulty”) Further, some teachers discouraged families from sending their child to school, particularly if their child had an intellectual impairment or behavioural challenges. For example, caregivers indicated teachers found it difficult to cope if their child was hyperactive, needed assistance to move around, created disturbances in the classroom, fought with other children, or soiled their clothes. In four instances, teachers reportedly asked caregivers to stop sending their child to school. “Her teacher makes her sit away from the other children. If they make her sit along with the other children, she can study, but they make her sit in a corner. . . The teacher told me not to send her there [school] except when the officials come [for school monitoring visit], for

accounting purpose. All such problems are there.” (Aunt of a girl, cognitive limitation–“a lot of difficulty”) Learning outside of school In this setting, it is common for children to receive tutoring outside of school at tuition centres. However, very few children with disabilities (only 4 out of 40) had ever been to tuition centres. Common reasons for not sending children to tuition centres included distance to the centre and tuition being expensive. For example, the mother of a boy with mobility impairment explained that someone would need to take her son to another town, which involved an addi- tional pick up and drop off on top of his school pick up and drop off. Tuition centres were also often not accessible, putting additional stress on children: “Yes, she was going for tuition in 5th standard; after knee pain, we did not send her for tuition. Due to frequent knee pain; we cannot send her regularly for tuition. She has to climb up [to reach the tuition centre]; she cannot carry her things and climb up.” (Mother of a girl, mobility limitation–“cannot do”) Some caregivers and other family members provided support at home, such as checking their child’s homework or helping them understand their studies. For most children, family involvement in their studies was minimal. Still, in a few cases, family members dedicated sig- nificant time to helping children learn: PLOS ONE Access to education for children with disabilities PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0290016 August 16, 2023 12 / 19