Govt to appoint 245 special educators

The government will shortly appoint 245 special educators to facilitate the education of Children with Special Needs in its schools across the state. The special educators will be appointed by Rajya Chayan Aayog on regular basis. The Supreme Court has directed all states and UTs to notify the number of sanctioned posts for special educators to impart education to children with special needs.

“We have informed the Supreme Court that we will appoint special educators in a cluster of eight to 10 schools. The special educator can go to the school wherever his services are required,” said Sunil Verma, Joint Secretary, Education.

Verma said around 50 special educators, appointed through Samagra Shiksha, were currently catering to the needs of special children in the state. Also, a couple of schools are being run by the department of social justice exclusively for children with special needs in the state. “A few NGOs are also working towards providing education to special children. In some cases, these teachers even visit the home of special children t o teach them,” said Verma.

The appointment of 245 special educators will help change the situation for the better for special children and their parents. Currently, the situation is far from satisfactory. A parent having two special children has written to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, highlighting the absence of special educators in most government schools and almost every privately-run school in and around Shimla.

“Private schools in Shimla do not have special educators, denying children their fundamental right to education under Right to Education Act and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016,” he said. “As per the CBSE norm, it’s mandatory for CBSE schools to have a special educator but the norm is largely flouted,” he claimed.

He further said the environment in government schools was also not accommodative for special children. “In the absence of special educators, children do not get the required support and guidance. Teachers start giving you hints to pull your child out from the school. Absence of special educators is leading to exclusion and drop-outs, and is causing emotional stress to both the child and the parents,” he said.

When contacted, the principal of a reputed private school in Shimla said the unavailability of special educators was the reason why it didn’t have a special educator currently. “We had a special educator a while back, but we have not been able to found one despite advertising the post. We, however, have a counsellor in the school to help children with special needs,” said the school principal.