Govt pulled up for failing to give details on special needs children : Delhi

Expressing its dissatisfaction over the information provided by the Delhi government on the facilities available for children with special needs (CWSNs), the Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the Directorate of Education (DoE) to revise its format for information sought from private unaided schools.

“The list does not specify number of seats available for admission,” noted the court.

The DoE had last week submitted a list of schools which were providing facilities catering to different kinds of disabilities. The court, however, noted that details of the facilities at the schools was not available in the affidavit. The court has now asked the government to get information on the number of seats available in each school, the facilities available for each kind of disability, the number of special educators and the fee to be charged from the CWSNs.

Observing that it was “practically impossible” for CWSNs to travel across the city to get education, the court of Justice S Ravindra Bhat and Justice Vipin Sanghi has also directed the DoE to “ensure even distribution of seats for children with different disabilities – as far as it is practical in schools zone wise/ district wise to ensure there is no hardship for children who have to travel long distances”.

“In our opinion, it does not give sufficient details with respect to extent of facilities in concerned schools and seats available,” the Bench said and directed the government to file an affidavit indicating all necessary information to enable the parents of CWSN to opt for schools appropriately.

“The information will be placed on the website of DoE with links to those schools, if necessary. An affidavit of compliance of the above directions shall be filed immediately after three weeks,” the court has said.


Source : India News Break Via The  Indian Express , 30th Sep 2014