How effective are existing disability laws (such as the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities Act, 2016 in India or the IDEA in the U.S.) in ensuring equitable
educational opportunities for individuals with learning disabilities?

Shivali Khaitan

doi:10.46609/IJSSER.2026.v11i08.025

Title: How effective are existing disability laws (such as the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 in India or the IDEA in the U.S.) in ensuring equitable educational opportunities for individuals with learning disabilities?
Authors: Shivali Khaitan
Journal: International Journal of Social Science and Economic Research (IJSSER) ISSN: 2455-8834 Volume: 11 Issue: 8 Publication Date: August 2026 DOI: 10.46609/IJSSER.2026.v11i08.025
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Shivali Khaitan Step By Step School
MLA 8 Khaitan, Shivali. "How effective are existing disability laws (such as the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 in India or the IDEA in the U.S.) in ensuring equitable educational opportunities for individuals with learning disabilities?" Int. j. of Social Science and Economic Research, vol. 11, no. 8, Aug. 2026, pp. 3981-4011, doi.org/10.46609/IJSSER.2026.v11i08.025. Accessed Aug. 2026. APA 6 Khaitan, S. (2026, August). How effective are existing disability laws (such as the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 in India or the IDEA in the U.S.) in ensuring equitable educational opportunities for individuals with learning disabilities? Int. j. of Social Science and Economic Research, 11(8), 3981-4011. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.46609/IJSSER.2026.v11i08.025 Chicago Khaitan, Shivali. "How effective are existing disability laws (such as the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 in India or the IDEA in the U.S.) in ensuring equitable educational opportunities for individuals with learning disabilities?" Int. j. of Social Science and Economic Research 11, no. 8 (August 2026), 3981-4011. Accessed August, 2026. https://doi.org/10.46609/IJSSER.2026.v11i08.025.
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ABSTRACT: The paper presents an in-depth evaluation of the effect of contemporary disability laws on the education of individuals with learning disabilities by contrasting India's Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPwD Act) with the US's Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Using a qualitative and literature-based approach, the research integrates various sources such as peer-reviewed articles, policy papers, court decisions, and reports from government and global organizations. The paper moves with the guidance of a rights-based and social model of the disabled framework and it looks at the legal requirements for educational access, quality of assistance, and meaningful inclusion through the lens of the actual practice. The summary of the literature indicates that both pieces of legislation have greatly improved the formal acknowledgment of learning disabilities and the accessibility of schools, however, there is still no parallel development in this area between the two regimes. The continual discrepancies between what the law aims to do and what actually happens in practice are influenced by limitations such as the lack of capacity in the institutions, various ways of identifying and certifying the persons, the unqualified teachers, and the disparities between the different socioeconomic groups. The comparative study emphasizes that the IDEA has stronger procedural safeguards and accountability mechanisms, on the one hand, and a greater inclusion requirement, but the RPwD Act has weaker enforcement, on the other hand. The paper comes to the conclusion that while disability laws have to be in place, they are not adequate alone to provide equal educational opportunities. Their power to become a force of change depends on effective implementation, continuous support for inclusive teaching, and reforms in the system that connect legal compliance with educational practice.

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