Tuesday, September 21, 2010

No one here to teach disabled students – Delhi HC issues contempt notices to Delhi chief secretary, MCD chief

The Delhi High Court on 20.09.2010 issued notices to Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) Commissioner K S Mehra on a contempt petition filed by Social Jurist, A Civil Rights Group through Advocate Ashok Agarwal complaining that Delhi Govt and MCD were required to recruit 6000 special teachers for their 3000 schools for education of disabled students which they have failed to do.

The petition states that the government and the corporation had failed to comply with a court order directing them to appoint at least two teachers for disabled students in each of their schools and to provide necessary teaching aids and reading material to the disabled students within six months. Justice G.S. Sistani asked Mehta and Mehra to file a compliance report within four weeks, failing which; they would have to appear in court.

The PIL was filed in 2009 seeking directions to provide trained teachers, including those qualified in sign language and Braille, for students with disabilities like blindness, hearing impairment and mental retardation. It also sought a barrier free environment in schools for students with disabilities, special toilets, books, including reading and writing material in Braille, and other equipments needed for the education for the blind students.

According to the PIL, thousand of students with disabilities and particularly those suffering from blindness, hearing impairment and mental retardation were studying in the 1,000 Delhi government and 1,800 MCD schools, without specially trained teachers. ‘In the absence of special educators, the children with disabilities who are already in the schools are dropping out and other children with disabilities do not dare to go to school,’ said Ashok Agarwal, counsel in the case.

The next date of hearing is Nov 10, 2010.

Ashok Agarwal, Advocate
M-09811101923
21.09.2010

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