PRASHAST Portal
Why in News?
PRASHAST is in the news because the Ministry of Education's Department of School Education & Literacy (DoSEL) recently conducted a nationwide school screening of a 30-minute sensitisation module on inclusive education for Children with Special Needs (CwSN), with over 60,000 schools and more than 72 lakh teachers participating across country.
Fundamental Overview & Origin
- Acronym Meaning: PRASHAST stands for Pre-Assessment Holistic Screening Tool.
- What It Is: It is a school-based digital disability screening checklist and portal that functions as an initial screening and referral mechanism for school students.
- Development Agency: It was developed by the Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET) under the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
- Evolution: Originally launched in September 2022, the system was updated to PRASHAST 2.0, which offers advanced digital features and integration with the government's UDISE+ portal for smoother data tracking and monitoring.
- Access Link: The module and screening dashboard can be accessed directly at the official PRASHAST Portal.
Objective & Scope
- Target Categories: The tool helps identify children with 21 different disability conditions recognized under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016.
- Hidden Conditions: It is specifically engineered to target disabilities that lack visible structural symptoms, which schools traditionally fail to identify early due to a lack of systematic screening parameters.
- Policy Alignment: The initiative directly aligns with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 to foster equitable, accessible, and inclusive classroom environments across India.
Two-Part Screening Structure
The portal utilizes a standardized operational procedure divided into two distinct screening layers:
The portal utilizes a standardized operational procedure divided into two distinct screening layers:
- Part-1 (Initial Screening): Conducted by regular classroom teachers. They observe students for 1 to 2 months across diverse environments (classrooms, playgrounds, social circles) and fill out an objective-type, observable indicator checklist.
- Part-2 (Validation): Handled by special educators, school counsellors, or school heads. They review the preliminary observations from Part-1, tentatively categorize the disability condition, and facilitate formal medical assessment referrals.
The Step-by-Step Workflow
- Sensitisation: Training school staff on behavioural/screening indicators using multi-lingual modules (available in 12 Indian languages).
- Digital Screening: Regular teachers log observable ticks via the checklist on the web portal or the PRASHAST Mobile App.
- Evaluation: Special educators examine data to filter out cases requiring medical evaluation.
- Certification: Students are officially routed to authorized medical camps for formal disability certification.
- Welfare Delivery: Validated CwSN students are seamlessly connected to specialized educational aids, customized learning provisions, and government scholarships.
The "Whole-School" Inclusivity Model
- Beyond the Classroom: The initiative stresses that inclusive schooling is a collective liability.
- Staff Inclusivity: The training modules target not just educators, but also non-teaching support staff—including school bus drivers, conductors, clerical teams, wardens, receptionists, and midday meal workers—ensuring a child feels safe and supported in every square foot of the school campus.
