Notice to DOE on vacant seats for disabled
NEW DELHI: The state commissioner for persons with disabilities on Thursday issued a showcause notice to the Directorate of Education (DOE), seeking suggestions to fill vacant reserved seats for disabled children in private schools across the city.
TD Dhariyal, state commissioner for persons with disabilities, took cognizance of Hindustan Times’ (HT) report on Wednesday. HT had reported that the DOE has received only 44 applications to fill 5,647 vacant seats reserved for children with HT had on Wednesday reported that the DOE received only 44 applications to fill 5,647 vacant seats for children with disabilities in private schools.
disabilities in private schools in the city. The report also mentioned that 86.9% of the total seats reserved under the category are vacant in this academic session.
The directorate attributed the vacancies to fewer applications but experts said there was a lack
of effort to sensitise and motivate parents to send their children to non-specialised schools.
In the notice, Dhariyal said that it had come to his notice that the seats reserved for the children with disabilities had gone vacant last year as well. “The provision for reservation of seats may need to be coupled with different strategies to create awareness among parents and their counselling and to address the issues/factors that act as barriers to provide admission to children with disabilities,” the notice stated. In Delhi, 3% of the total seats in entry-level classes in private schools are reserved for persons with disabilities.
The last date of submission of the application for fifth round of admission is October 3. DOE director Binay Bhushan said the department was yet to receive the notice. “We will comment after going through it,” he said.