Call to ensure edn for autistic children

The government would ensure education to the autistic and challenged children by bringing them under mainstream education, said Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid yesterday.
"We would involve these children in special technical and vocational education in order to make them skilled manpower," he said at an inter-ministerial meeting.
The first-ever meeting convened by education ministry with social welfare ministry and primary and mass education ministry decided to conduct a survey to extract precise data on the number and genre of the autistic and challenged children in the country, said meeting sources.
Around 10 percent of the total population are physically or mentally challenged with over 1.5 lakh people autistic in the country while only 64 specialised schools are run by the social welfare directorate for them, they added.
Nahid, who chaired the meeting held at his ministry in the secretariat, said the government is planning to build a model school for the autistic children in Dhaka.