Special educators in schools: Kerala among States told to file additional affidavit by SC

Kerala is among the States asked by the Supreme Court to file accurate information on appointment of special educators within four weeks. The court’s direction came recently on a petition filed by special educators from various States seeking permanent appointment.

The apex court asked the States to file additional affidavit with details such as number of RCI (Rehabilitation Council of India)trained special educators eligible for appointment but who are working on contract, their payscale/ consolidated wage given to them, and the number of years they have been working on contract.

As many as 153 special educators from the State have impleaded in the case in the Supreme Court. The case has been listed for hearing on April 16. The court asked for information on steps taken to regularise the service of the special teachers.

It has also sought details such as the number of sanctioned posts and the steps taken to sanction further posts to ensure appointment of such teachers on a regular basis. In October last too the States were asked to file affidavits on the number of sanctioned posts.

The State had earlier informed the Supreme Court that general teachers in public schools had been trained in special education.

However, as the explanation was not satisfactory, the State was asked to give a fresh explanation.

There are nearly 2,900 special educators working on contract in the State, including teachers working on contract for last 24 years. The requirement for special educators in the State is around 9,000, say the special educators.

A petition was filed by special educators from various States seeking permanent appointment

Directive to fix pay

In 2016, the High Court had directed that the pay and service conditions of special educators who had completed 10 years of service be fixed. The State government had appealed against this. As many as 449 special educators who had completed 10 years of service approached the court. The special educators say the monthly pay of ₹28,815 of secondary special educators (those who cater to classes 9 to 12) had been slashed to ₹25,000 in 2018. This has not been increased since.