vocational education at the secondary level, seeks to integrate vocational education with general
      education and provide horizontal and vertical mobility to the students.
      Construction and Running of Girls’ Hostel
            The centrally sponsored scheme of Construction and Running of Girls’ Hostel for students
      of secondary and higher secondary schools was launched in 2008-09 and is being implemented
      from 2009-10 replacing the earlier NGO driven scheme. The Scheme was subsumed under
      Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA). The main objective of the hostel component of
      RMSA is to improve access and to retain the girl child in secondary and higher secondary classes
      (IX-XII) so that the girl students are not denied the opportunity to continue their study due to
      distance to school, parents’ financial affordability and other connected social factors. The girl
      students in the age group of 14-18 years studying in classes IX- to XII belonging to SC, ST,
      OBC, minority community and BPL families form the target group of the Scheme.
      Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary Stage
            The Scheme of Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary stage (IEDSS) was launched
      in 2009-10 replacing the earlier scheme of Integrated Education for Disabled Children (IEDC).
      Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS) component was subsumed under
      Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan. It provides assistance for the inclusive education of the
      disabled children in classes IX-XII. The aim of the scheme is to enable all students with
      disabilities, after completing eight years of elementary schooling, to pursue further four years of
      secondary schooling (classes IX to XII) in an inclusive and enabling environment. The scheme
      covers all children passing out of elementary school and studying at the secondary stage in
      government, local body and government-aided schools, with one or more disabilities as defined
      under the Persons with Disabilities Act, (1995), and the National Trust Act (1999), namely (i)
      blindness, (ii) low vision, (iii) leprosy cured, (iv) hearing impairment, (v) loco-motor disabilities,
      (vi) mental retardation, (vii) mental illness, (viii) autism, (ix) cerebral palsy and may eventually
      cover speech impairment, learning disabilities, etc.
            The components of the scheme include assistance for two major components i.e.-
      (a) student-oriented components: (i) assessment of medical / educational needs, (ii) provision of
      student specific facilities, like assistive devices, therapeutic service, books support services, etc.
      (iii) development of learning material, iv) purchase of screen reading software. Girls with
      disability receive special focus and efforts made under the scheme to help them gain access to
      secondary schools with a provision of monthly stipend of ₹ 200/- for the disabled girls. ₹ 3,000/-
      per child per annum is provided as Central assistance to be topped by the states by a scholarship
      of ₹ 600/- per disabled child per annum.
      (b) Other Components: (i) appointment of special educators, (ii) special pay for general teachers
      trained in special education -₹ 400/- per month, (iii) construction and equipping of resource
      rooms, (iv) training of general school teachers to build their capacity to fulfill the needs of
      children with special needs (v) make schools barrier free.
      Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Teacher Education
      (A) Strengthening Teacher Education
            The centrally sponsored scheme for Teacher Education was initiated in 1987 pursuant to the