DEPwD, NIOS & NCERT Ink Landmark Tripartite MoU to Strengthen Inclusive Education for Children with Disabilities in India.

On 19 June 2025, the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), and National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance inclusive education for learners with disabilities across India.

      - DEPwD, under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, NIOS (an autonomous open schooling body under the Ministry of Education), and NCERT (India's leading curriculum developer) have come together to mainstream children with disabilities. Their combined efforts aim to integrate open schooling with evidence-based inclusive pedagogy frameworks for differentiated learning .

      - NIOS will use its Open and Distance Learning (ODL) system to offer flexible, customized education to students with disabilities. NCERT will support with inclusive strategies like teacher training, accessible textbooks, Braille, and Indian Sign Language (ISL) materials to promote equitable learning.

      - The MoU aligns with India’s Right of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016, and the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, aiming to ensure compliance and coherence in the implementation of inclusive education. Collaborative guidelines, national campaigns, and resource pooling will enforce systemic reform in both open schooling and general education systems.

Main Point :-   (i) The initiative includes capacity-building modules for both general and special educators via NIOS’ learning centers and NCERT-run platforms. These modules will use Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles, ensuring teaching methods accommodate diverse abilities—whether through digital accessibility (e.g., e-pathshala app, e-books), physical aids, or teacher support tools.

      (ii) DEPwD will establish mechanisms to identify learners with disabilities, support school infrastructure adaptations, provide assistive devices, and monitor their education using tools like PRASHAST. This will enable data-driven tracking of enrolment and retention in secondary education for learners with special needs.

(iii) This MoU marks a milestone in India’s educational equity journey. By combining DEPwD’s mandate with NIOS’s flexible delivery and NCERT’s academic rigor, it promises to boost enrolment, inclusion, and learning outcomes for millions of learners with disabilities, strengthening India’s foundation for inclusive nation-building.
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