THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION AND THE INCLUSION OF STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES IN INDIAN HIGHER EDUCATION: A DOCTRINAL STUDY

India has a legal framework for the education of persons with disabilities. It includes the constitutional right to education under Article 21A, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPWD Act), a five per cent reservation in higher education, and the National Education Policy 2020. Even so, very few disabled students reach higher education. The 2011 Census shows that only about five per cent of literate persons with disabilities had completed graduation or above. This paper explains the constitutional and international basis of the right, traces the development of inclusive education policy, and studies Sections 16, 17, 18 and 32 of the RPWD Act. It then discusses two High Court decisions on reservation, Sanchita Biswas and Binita Senapati, and reviews the main scholarly literature. It finds that the gap lies chiefly in implementation, monitoring and awareness, and not in an absence of law. Keywords: Inclusive Education, Disability Rights, Higher Education, RPWD Act 2016, Reservation, CRPD.