Fight for survival

Special needs students and their teachers plan to relaunch their agitation as the government remains apathetic to their demand of granting aided status to 33 special schools which was sanctioned by the previous government.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Onam did not bring any cheer to the teachers of special schools in the state as the government has remained apathetic to their demands. The staff of such schools spent the day wallowing in their misery.    

Indira Ravikumar, 51, a special needs teacher of  the unaided St. Dominics Special School in Palakkad, received just a sari costing Rs 400 from the management as Onam gift, though she had hoped that the government would release festival allowance. With 12 years’ experience, she gets a monthly salary of  just Rs 6,000.  

Indira,  hailing from Manarkad, Palakkad,  does not blame the school management  for her plight.St Dominics is one of the 33 special schools in the state, which have not been granted aided status by the LDF government.  She had quit her government job as a pharmacist to take care of her  daughter,  Muthu,  22, who  is also studying there. Muthu  was born with microcephaly, a medical condition in which the brain does not develop properly resulting in a smaller head. But  Indira is happy that she is now a mother to scores of special needs children in the school.

Her husband Ravi Kumar is a retired bank official and gets pension. But  her colleagues and thousands of special needs teachers across the state are not so fortunate, she told  DC.

Sunanda Ram (name changed), a special needs teacher with 23 years’ experience in a special school in the capital city, was on the verge of tears when she recalled  her experience.  She got only her monthly salary of Rs 7,000 and no special allowance for Onam. Sunanda has been teaching  the unified curriculum implemented in 271 recognised special schools in the state  which was conceived by State Council of Education Research and Training (SCERT).

“Earlier, I was teaching the children the syllabus pattern of  three ‘C’ concepts – Competency, Comprehensive and Creativity. But the new curriculum is child-centric which is supposed to make them more creative-minded. But  we are not gaining anything out of this loaded syllabus,” said Sunanda.

While the government coordinator provided week-long training for teachers like her at Rotary Institute for Children in need of special care at Vazhuthacaud in the city, they were told  that the state government will grant aided status  to 33 special schools depending on the success of the syllabus.

However, Samaira, 20, an autistic girl student in  the same school where Sunanda is teaching, is happy with the new syllabus. Her mother Gitanjali said  that for the first time, Samaira was confident to perform on the stage for the  Onam celebrations  in  the school. The  majority of the special needs children get scholarships from the local self-government, but it is the special needs teachers who are at the receiving end.

“These days,  even a housemaid earns a monthly salary of  Rs 10,000.  But the special needs teachers with 20-30 years’  experience earn Rs 6,000 -Rs 9,000.  The  government should address this burning issue without  delay,”  said Gitanjali.

Four organisations, Association for Intellectually Disabled (AID), Special Olympics Bharat (SOB), Special School Employees Union (SSEU) Parivar and Association for the Welfare of Special School Staff (ASWAS), had held a seven-hour fast in front of the secretariat on August 14. Their demands included  aided status to 33 special schools.

The memorandums that they had submitted to the  government (nine since last May) are kept in the  files of education and social justice departments. Father Roy Vadakkel, director of Asha Nilayam Special School for Mentally Challenged Children at Ponkunnam in Kottayam district,  said that since the special needs students are  ‘voiceless,’  their teachers’ demands too have fallen  on deaf ears.

“We will organise a day-and-night fast in front of the secretariat on October  31 and November 1. Earlier, I had only 20 staffers. When the  government announced that the special needs schools having more than 100 students will be granted aided status, I appointed 23 more staff members. How can I throw out the special needs students and the new staffers?” he asked.

The parents and teachers are bracing for the day- and-night protest yet again. If the government does not act, the secretariat will witness another agitation by them soon.