Too
few teachers for disabled kids
New Delhi: For the disabled, it
is never easy. If there are schools, the classrooms
are inaccessible. If that is taken care of, there are
not enough teachers. To get disabled children into
regular primary schools, there is a need for about two
lakh special educators, but the government has only
been able to train 6,000.
The
result: Disabled children have to make do with regular
teachers who are not trained to take care of their special
needs. Most of them have a wishy-washy understanding
of the issue, having taken a two-day compulsory module
on how to teach the disabled.
There
are about 3.5 crore disabled children. Only 2% of them
have access to education.
Under
the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, at least one special educator
is required in each block to take care of students with
special needs. They are to be attached to regular schools
where study along with others.
While the primary schools are run by the state governments
and the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is managed by the HRD
ministry, training special educators is the responsibility
of the Rehabilitation Council of India that works under
the Union ministry of social justice and empowerment.
The
RCI offers a diploma and a B.Ed (special) course on
educating the disabled but the courses have takers,
as they are not recognized. Also, there is no compulsion
on teachers to opt for this course.
H
P S Ahluwalia, chairman of the council, says, “People
opting for this course have difficulty getting a job.
As teacher training is undertaken by us, while the teachers
work under the HRD ministry and the state governments,
we can’t order them to take up these courses,” he said.
The RCI has now asked the National Council for teacher Education
to recognize these courses.
Source: The Times of India
Date: 28th April 2004
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