THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Former chief minister Oommen Chandy who became 74 years on Tuesday sat in front of Secretariat for close to two hours with 70 special needs students, their parents and teachers in solidarity with their 12-hour fast. He demanded to include 33 special schools in the government-aided category at the earliest. On Wednesday, which is also the Kerala Formation Day, 20,000 special needs students, their parents and teachers will be on their second day of protest here when the Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithi (KVVES) will be on a statewide shutdown strike. The organisers of the fast were caught unawares when Mr Chandy announced that as a mark of solidarity, he is also joining them. The senior Congress leader lamented that they were not only facing negligence but the cruel approach of the government. He recalled how his government addressed the plight of these “voiceless” people.
He had appointed a single man commission of Dr M.K. Jayaraj, former principal of the State Institute of Mentally Challenged. But his successors cancelled the order giving aided status to 33 special needs schools across the state. “We should see the plight of these students as society’s issue. The LDF government should ensure that the special needs teachers are given their salary with dues with effect from the date of the government order cancellation. At the same time, schools with 50 students should also be provided aided status,” he said. He also demanded grants to participate in the Special Olympics as currently, it is the poorly paid teachers and students themselves who pool in money.
In all, 70 students, five each from a district, marking the 70th year of independence, observed the fast from 10 am, under the State Association for Co-ordinating Rehabilitation and Empowerment of Developmentally Disabled (SACRED). Though the initial plan was a 24-hour fast, they changed it considering the plight of the children. On Wednesday, they along with more such students, are staging a fast here. When Mohammed Ismail, 13, Shahjahan, 15, from Balaramapuram and students of Central Institute of Mental Retardation here shouted slogans, “Please show mercy to us, we are also human beings,” they just did it without understanding the actual meaning of it.
But despair was writ large on the faces of their mothers, Suhara Beevi and A. Saboora, who looks after their teenage sons needing 24x7 care. Sister Rincy, the headmistress of 16-year-old Amarjyothi Special School, Thamarassery, in Kozhikode, said during the last academic year the school had received a state grant of Rs 5.24 lakh which was exhausted within few months. “There are 86 special needs students who are in the age group of five to 40 where we have two school buses as well. There is 17-member staff to take care of them which includes five nuns. They get Rs 6, 000 – Rs 8, 000 as monthly salaries despite being postgraduates with B.Ed and more than a decade’s experience,” said the 41-year-old who maintains it is challenging to run the school with the small grant alone. Anuja Sreejith, 40, the assistant headmistress of Marion Play Home, Mannanthala, here holds two PG degrees which include public administration as well as a B.Ed., specialised in mental retardation. She too urged the government to expedite the process of awarding aided category to 33 special schools where her current monthly salary of Rs 10, 000 will increase more than three times.
Tale of woes & unkept promise
The education minister C. Raveendranath's office feigned ignorance over the long-standing demand of the special needs students, their parents and teachers who are in dire straits. The government had not earmarked a single penny for over 5,000 teachers, neither Plan funds nor non-Plan funds. He had announced a festival allowance of Rs 1000 during Onam, which remained just a claim. Teachers cry foul over the callous attitude. While they were promised Rs 1000 each, their fraternity at the 62 BUDS school functioning under Kudumbashree got Rs 1200.
Father Roy Vadakkel, chairman of Association for Intellectually Disabled (AID) and director of Asha Nilayam Special School for Mentally Challenged Children at Ponkunnam in Kottayam said there were teachers with PG and B.Ed degrees who were forced to go for painting and manual labours to make ends meet, before and after school hours. “We are not against Government’s BUDS schools. But they should tell us what we should be doing with the existing unaided schools taking care of the special needs children for several decades now,” he told DC.
P. S. Pradeep and N. Jayanarayanan, both teachers attached to Rotary Institute for Children in Need Of Special Care, Vazhuthacaud, here and VKM Special School at Valanchery, Malappuram, respectively said a stage has come where new B.Ed students are not pursuing a career as special needs teachers which is a serious issue. “Unfortunately the government is not bothered, and in another decade, existing special schools have to be closed down. Special school teachers are flocking to BUDS schools which do not have proper infrastructure,” Mr Pradeep told DC.
A top official at Directorate of Public Instruction said there was clarity on the slew of demands raised by the State Association for Co-ordinating Rehabilitation and Empowerment of Developmentally Disabled (SACRED). “We have to form certain guidelines, and then the government will consider their demands. At the same time, we will try to increase the state and Union grants,” he said. But the education minister's office was clueless about their protests before the Secretariat for the last many months.
