The Delhi Subordinate Service Selection Board (DSSSB) has told the Delhi High Court that there was no delay on its part in recruiting special educators for schools run by the Delhi government and municipal bodies.
The Board also said that currently, no recruitment of special education teacher for Delhi Government's Directorate of Education (DoE) was pending and no fresh requisition has been received from the government.
The DSSSB made the submission in an affidavit filed pursuant to the high court's direction to explain the delay in recruiting special educators in schools run by the Delhi government and the municipal corporations.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar fixed the matter for hearing on November 30.
The court was earlier informed by the Delhi government that despite repeated requisitions to the DSSSB, recruitment process of 432 special educators has not been completed.
The bench had directed the DSSSB to file an affidavit giving details of the requests made by the Delhi government, the recruitment process and the reason for delay in recruiting special educators.
The DSSSB, in an affidavit filed through Delhi government additional standing counsel Naushad Ahmed Khan, has said that as and when further requisition would be received from the DoE, it would be dealt with expeditiously.
Giving details of events since 2010, the board said the DoE had sent a requisition to it on November 4, 2010 for filling up 858 vacancies of special educators for 2010 and they were advertised in 2011 but all the vacancies were later cancelled by an order of June 1, 2012.
"Therefore, there was no delay on the part of DSSSB," it has said.
In October 2012, the board received requisition for filling up 927 vacancies for 2013 and after advertising for it and following the selection process, 232 candidates were found suitable and recommended for appointment.
"Since no more suitable candidates were available for recommending to DoE, therefore, there was no delay on the part of DSSSB," the board has said.
It also said that this year, DoE again sent a requisition for filling up 494 vacancies and it was advertised on August 7 but the department sent a letter to the board on August 23, instructing to keep their requisitions for all the vacancies of DoE in abeyance.
The court had earlier observed that imparting education to children with special needs cannot be ignored as even a single day's delay would severely impact them.
The court was hearing a matter where a mother, through advocate Ashok Aggarwal, had moved a plea saying her two sons with special needs have studied at government and municipality -run schools for years, but have learnt nothing but were also made "a source of entertainment".
It had noted that even now there were large number of vacancies and the Delhi government was constrained to appoint 332 guest special educators who have qualified Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET).
The government had earlier stated in its affidavit that pursuant to the 2009 direction of the high court to appoint minimum two special educators in each government school, it has deployed at least one such teacher in every school where children with special needs are admitted.
The court was hearing a petition by Mamta Devi and her husband Shyam Nandan, who sell vegetables in Katwaria Sarai in south Delhi.
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