Special schools unhappy with Govt. directive

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, De 09, 2015: Karnataka State Association for Special Educators and Supportive Staff has expressed displeasure over the direction from the Department for the Empowerment of Differently Abled and Senior Citizens asking special schools to submit, among other things, the amount spent on those belonging to the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and minorities.

Association secretary Vasant Kumar Shetty said that the State government had been giving child-centred special education grant to those studying in special schools since December 2010. More special schools were covered under this scheme and the grant was increased to include Rs. 5,000 for the special child and Rs. 12,500 for special teacher per month since 2014.

Secretary  Shetty said this year officials from the department asked the schools to submit a report mentioning the usage of the grant among differently-abled children belonging to SCs, STs and the minorities. Terming such a directive as insensitive,  special schools consider all differently-abled children as the same and they did not make any distinction on the basis of caste or religion.

Secretary Shetty said while officials from Dakshina Kannada were not insisting on such a format, special schools in Udupi and other districts had been told to submit accounts by classifying children into SCs, STs and minorities. President of the association, Agnes Rodrigues, said the State government should direct officials to withdraw the directive that would force special schools to distinguish between differently-abled children.

The association submitted a memorandum Minister for Environment and Forests B. Ramanath Rai on Tuesday.