More learning hours for special kids?

Member of Legislative Council Kapil Patil has written to the government demanding that the number of teaching hours dedicated to children with special needs in the state should be increased from the current two-three hours a week and be made a daily feature. He has also asked the state to increase the number of teachers attending to these kids failing which it will be flouting the norms laid down by the Right To Education (RTE) Act.

Speaking about the issue of increasing the number of teachers for students with learning and physical disabilities, Mr Patil said that the state was providing educational facilities to such children on a weekly basis, but the time period is insufficient. “The state is providing education to nearly two lakh children with special needs but due to the shortage of qualified teachers, only a few hours are being allocated to the children per week. This is in conflict with the RTE Act that stipulates at least two-three hours of education a day for children with special needs,” said Mr Patil. He added that due to the difficult nature of the job and the reluctance of teachers to take up the challenge, the onus of teaching the students fell on the limited number of teachers available. He said that his demand also included setting up of training centres to encourage and train teachers for the specific task of training such teachers.

“Nearly one lakh children with special needs are yet to start school or have dropped out. By increasing the number of teachers this problem will also be addressed making the state one of the top in the country that conforms to the norms of the RTE Act in totality,” said Mr Patil.

Source | Asian Age | 4 February 2015