Majority of CBSE schools sans special educators

Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, July 11

Fresh guidelines by CBSE have put a number of city schools in a fix since majority of them do not have any special educators to deal with special children being admitted to these.

While most schools make the plea that parents are choosing not to send their wards to these, others pass off staff with flimsy degrees as special educators.

Meanwhile, due to a complete lack of inspections government or district administration, for years a majority of these schools have had a smooth sailing. While RCI certified special educators in the city can be counted on the fingertips, many of the schools also say they are soon hiring special educators to provide special education to their students.

While activists say schools like Cambridge, Ekalvya, Mayor World, among others, have been paying heed to guidelines regarding admitting and taking care of special children, many others, however still need to be sensitised on the issue.

Notably, neither the mandatory three per cent seats for autistic students as per CBSE rules in the district, nor the inclusion of special/handicapped/disabled students as per the RTE Act in private schools is being ensured in the district. As per recent reports, only 33 of the 845 private schools in the district have met guidelines. Majority of these schools are not making disabled-friendly ramps, toilets or even classrooms on their premises to enable disabled students to reach them easily. The same is applicable for majority of government schools in the district as well.

Activist Anjali Dada, who herself holds an RCI certificate in special education says, “The good thing about the scenario is that many of the school are showing a lot of keen interest in the issue. They are taking in special children and making sure that they are meted out sensitive treatment. Many are also hiring special educators and the awareness levels in both city schools and some of those in the periphery are very high. However, the flip side is that the rest of majority of schools still don’t have any post of a special educator, due to which any special child going in to these institutions is at a risk of getting an environment which lacks expert care on such a sensitive issue.”

Meanwhile, the 25 per cent seats for special/ handicapped/ disabled children are also not being kept at majority of the schools. Majority of the schools are defaulters on the issue and are not admitting any special children on their premises.

Activist Amarjit Anand, said, “It is very important that parents themselves come forward and question schools which are not providing them the proper facilities. It is the right of every parent to send their wards to schools where all students are equally treated and cared for. While schools pay little heed, it has also been seen none of the city parents have ever taken up the issue with authorities.”

Principal of one of the private schools in Jalandhar, said, “We have an educator who teaches a subject and also specialises in special education, besides that, another one will be hired within a few days. We already have students with physical disabilities studying at the school and utmost attention is paid to their needs and requirements. One of the major problems in the scenario is that most of the parents don’t prefer to send their wards to regular schools. Specially-abled children, especially hearing or vision impaired students or those suffering from mental impairment are usually sent by parents to special schools, which is one aspect where awareness needs to be generated.”