The Delhi High Court today directed the city government to provide the total number of special educators in all schools in the national capital and asked it to make an intensive study on why institutes have stopped admitting children with special needs in nursery class this academic year.
A bench headed by Justice S Ravindra Bhat sought details of the number of schools which have the infrastructure to cater to CWSN and are willing to admit them, the number of special educators in various schools irrespective of their management and where these institutes are lacking.
"You have to make an intensive study. If schools have stopped admitting CWSN, that is a matter of concern," the bench said.
The court also questioned the government's Directorate of Education (DoE) on what follow-up it has done to see that special educators have been recruited in all schools pursuant to its 2012 order directing such an exercise.
"You should conduct the exercise to get a list of special educators in all schools in Delhi," it said.
The bench also said that the last moment filing of status report by DoE regarding steps taken pursuant to the court's May 29, 2014 order shows the department's "insensitivity".
It was also irked over the fact that DoE has issued a circular for second round of admissions in nursery class in the economically weaker section (EWS) category after telling the court back in April 2014 that seats in that category are filled up.
In its status report, DoE has listed its steps taken, including asking private unaided schools to provide the data regarding disabled children admitted in their schools in entry level classes for academic year 2014-15.
DoE has also claimed to have issued a circular as well as a public notice calling for application/information from parents of CWSN, who could not be admitted to any school, to ensure the education needs of their wards for the academic year 2014-15 are taken care of.
