Policy for Special Educators in Himachal Pradesh Drafted by Vijay Heer

7/28/2019 Policy for Special Educators in Himachal Pradesh Drafted by Vijay Heer

1/25

DRAT OF THE POLICY DEMANDED BY

SPECIAL EDUCATORS IN

HIMACHAL PRADESDH

DRAFTED ON 28-06-2013

SPECIAL EDUCATORS

POLICY DRAFT AS PER

DEMANDED BY SPECIAL

EDUCATORS IN H.P.PAGE No. 1 to 21

H.S.K.M. ABDUL HAMID AND OTHERS


2/25

The Right to Education Act (amendment ) Bill passed recently in the Rajya Sabha towiden the beneficiary net for children with disabilities is a retrogressive step since itdefeats the very purpose of the Act, which is to promote social inclusion in elementaryschools. The amendment is in contradiction of the United Nations Convention on theRights of Persons with Disabilities and the recent Supreme Court judgment (April

2012) on RTE, since it seems to suggest that home-based education may be the bestoption for children with 'severe disability.' The very notion of what constitutes 'severedisability' is a contested term and the assumption that 'certain children' may be besteducated at home rather than schools, defeats the very premise of inclusive educationthat espouses the belief that every child, including those with differing abilities have anentitlement to study with their peers and not be excluded from mainstream education.

As per the state policy declared by Govt. of Himachal Pradesh for Person withDisability , we may observe as below:

6.2.2 Access to Education

1). Inclusive Education for Person with Mild/Moderate Disabilities

i) There will be a concerted effort on the part of the Government to improveidentification of children with disabilities through regular surveys, their enrollment inappropriate schools and their retention till they successfully complete their education.As per the survey conducted by SSA in the year 2010-11 , 19,242 CWSNs are receivinginclusive education in formal schools in the state. For children with mild and moderatedisabilities, emphasis will be on mainstreaming them in schools for normal children.

ii) Appropriate strategies will be adopted from time to time to retain CWSNs inschools, in the form of facilities such as free text books, free transport facilities, aidsand appliances, learning tools, mobility assistance, conducive learning environment,support services and appropriate training and orientation of the teachers so that theCWSN can complete their schooling.

iii) Simultaneously other efforts regarding access of CWSNs to various therapies fortheir physical rehabilitation, counseling, modified educative 17 material according totheir needs / disabilities such as Braille library, Dictaphone for visually impairedchildren, speech therapy for Hearing impaired children, special desks for childrenwith muscular dystrophy etc. for their inclusion in society shall be made.

iv) To handle the CWSNs and manage their needs in an inclusive education set up,teachers will be trained to identify these children and to fulfill their special needs byunderstanding them. Selected teachers will be provided in-service training in specialeducation through short duration courses recognized by Rehabilitation Council of India followed by refresher courses so that they can provide assistance to elementaryteachers to take care of CWSNs in formal schools. Their services shall also be utilizedfor CWSNs covered under Home Based Education.

v) Bridge courses will be introduced for the benefit for Visually and Hearing Impairedchildren enrolled in normal schools to fill up the gaps arising during mainstreamededucation.


3/25

vi) The Education Department will devise a system for tracking and monitoring theprogress if all the CWSNs enrolled in inclusive education and also to take steps tocheck the dropout rate of such children.

vii) The state government will ensure three percent reservation to the students withdisabilities in all the government run or aided education institutions. At higher level of education where only a few seats are available, students with disabilities will be givendue weightage in admission keeping in view the objective of providing such reservationto the persons with disabilities.

2). Special Schools for Children with Severe Disabilities

i) The state will opt for the strategy of mainstreaming of Children with Special Needsthrough Special Schools, Inclusive Schools and Home based Education. The Stateviewpoint is to aid and assist in the functioning of such schools for the CWSNs.

ii) It will be the endeavor the State Govt. to set up Special Schools in the vicinity of the

other schools or community as far as possible and not in isolation for ensuringintegration of the CWSNs in the society. The ultimate aim no doubt is to move towards100% inclusion. As on date emphasis shall be on improving the existing facilities andthe infrastructure.

iii) Nine Special Schools / Homes are being run in the state for the children with severedisabilities by the state Government/ NGOs catering to the needs of children withsevere disabilities. Special schools would be set up in more Districts on need basis withappropriate teacher-student ratio. The state government will encourage setting up of Special Schools in the NGO sector. Clear normative basis and minimum standards forsetting up Special Schools like strength of CWSNs, infrastructure norms, paymentnorms, RCI registration etc will be prescribed by the State Government. Transparentpolicy and programmes will be devised for encouraging the NGOs for running SpecialSchools.

iv) Steps would be taken to strengthen and improve the facilities and provide qualityeducation in these special schools. Appropriate environment would be created in allthe educational institutions for disabled students. Apart from this the children withsevere disabilities will be made part of the Education system through Home BasedEducation.

v) The NGOs running schools/homes for the children with intellectual disabilities willbe encouraged through uniform transparent policy based on norms.

v) The State will also encourage NGOs to set up Half-Way Homes for therehabilitation of mentally disabled persons.

INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN SSA

The key objective of SSA is Universalization of Elementary Education (UEE). Three importantaspects of UEE are access, enrolment and retention of all children in 6-14 years of age. Thisgoal of UEE, has further been facilitated by the Constitutional (86 th Amendment) Act, makingfree and compulsory elementary education a Fundamental Right, for all the children in the


4/25

age group of 6-14 years. This Amendment has given a new thrust to the education of Children With Special Needs (CWSN), as without their inclusion, the objective of UEEcannot be achieved. In-fact inclusion of one of the groups, which is extremely crucial forUEE, is perhaps that of the CWSN. Hence, education of CWSN is an important component of SSA.

Provisions for CWSN under SSA

SSA provides upto Rs.1200/- per child for the inclusion of disabled children, as per specificproposal, per year. District plan for children with special needs is formulated withinthe Rs.1200/- per child norm. The interventions under SSA for inclusive educationare identification, functional and formal assessment, appropriate educationalplacement, preparation of Individualized Educational Plan, provision of aids andappliances, teacher training, resource support, removal of architectural barriers,research, monitoring and evaluation and a special focus on girls with special needs. The

guidelines on inclusive education in SSA are given.

SSAs Policy on Inclusion

SSA ensures that every child with special needs, irrespective of the kind, category and degreeof disability, is provided meaningful and quality education. Hence, SSA has adopted a zerorejection policy. This means that no child having special needs should be deprived of theright to education and taught in an environment, which is best, suited to his/her learningneeds. These include special schools, EGS, AIE or even home-based education.

The major thrust of SSA is on inclusion or mainstreaming CWSN into the fabric of formalelementary schooling. Experiences of programmes like DPEP and various researchfindings have shown that inclusion is best determined by the individual needs of thechild. Most children with special needs can be enrolled and retained in regular schools if adequate resource support is provided to them, whereas there are others who mighthave to be provided some kind of pre-integration programmes, before they can bemainstreamed in a classroom. There might also be still some CWSN with severeprofound disabilities, who would require an educational programme and intensivespecialized support completely beyond the purview and scope of a formal school in thecurrent situation.

Thus, SSA has adopted a more expansive and a broad-based understanding of the concept of inclusion, wherein a multi-option model of educating CWSN is being implemented. Thedual objective of embracing this model is to bring more CWSN under the umbrella of SSAand to provide to CWSN appropriate need based skills, be it vocational, functionalliteracy or simply activities of daily living. Further, an attempt is being made toprovide these skills in the most appropriate learning environment.

Efforts so far


5/25

The implementation of this multi-option model of inclusion in SSA has been made possibledue to the flexibility offered to each State by the programme. Although most SSA Stateshave identified and enrolled CWSN in schools, they differ in the approaches andstrategies adopted to achieve the ultimate objective of inclusion. States like A.P., Bihar,Madhya- Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and U.P. have conducted residential bridge courses for

CWSN with the main objective of preparing CWSN for schools, thereby endeavouring betterquality inclusion for them. Whereas Rajasthan is conducting these bridge courses entirelythrough NGOs, U.P is conducting them through the resource teachers especiallyrecruited by the District SSA Societies for this purpose. Andhra- Pradesh has adopted amixed model, with some districts conducting these courses through NGOs and othersthrough the District SSA Societies. Besides this AIE model, 11 States are also coveringCWSN through the EGS. So far in SSA, 112033 CWSN are being covered through AIE/EGS in17 States.

Another practice adopted by SSA States (21 States so far) is that of the home-based

education for children with severe-profound disabilities with the objective of eitherpreparing CWSN for schools or for life by imparting to them basic living skills. AgainStates have adopted different ways to provide home-based support to CWSN. States likeHimachal-Pradesh and Uttarakhand are using NGOs or Special Educators for thispurpose, whereas States like Haryana and Kerala have appointed resource teachers whovisit the homes of CWSN to provide them basic functional skills. Still other States likeTamil- Nadu are using special schools as resource centers to provide short-time or part-time help to individual children with special needs and their parents. Parental counselingand vocational training are two important aspects of the entire home-based instructionprogramme. Through home-based education, SSA has been able to cover 77140 CWSN. Anotable feature of this programme has been an increased and a sustainable school-community linkage by actively involving parents in the educational process of theirCWSN.

No matter what the educational setting, it is widely accepted that there can be noinclusion of CWSN without adequate resource support. This aspect has been taken careof in SSA mainly through NGOs, inclusive education resource teachers (IERTs), volunteers orby imparting long- term training to regular teachers on inclusion. States like Haryana haveopened model inclusive schools in every block and equipped them with all possible facilities(like transport, equipment for physio- therapy, occupational therapy, resource teachersetc.) mainly to provide all kinds of support services, including remedial teaching toCWSN.

22 States have appointed 6678 resource teachers and 687 NGOs are involved in the IEprogramme in 28 States. An important and unique facet of this involvement is the range of activities that the NGOs have undertaken in the States for IE. These activities vary fromplanning for inclusion as in West- Bengal, to implementation and monitoring of IE,like in Tamil- Nadu. Other States have engaged NGOs for designing and initiatinginnovative programmes. These include theme-based camps in Orissa and development of


6/25

low-cost/ no- cost simulation park for social inclusion of CWSN in every BRC of Tamil- Naduto training of Key Resource Persons .

Families of CWSN in West- Bengal and preparation of adapted TLM for CWSN in Karnataka.

Two additional forms of resource support, complimentary to each other, being provided to CWSN are through assistive devices and barrier free access. Both of theseaim enhancement of the functional capacity/ mobility of CWSN to promote their easyaccess to the schools. 7.11 lakh CWSN (76.44% of the CWSN requiring aids andappliances) under SSA have been provided assistive devices through various modes. SomeStates like Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and U.P. have converged with District DisabilityRehabilitation Centers, local Red Cross, Composite Regional Centers, NGOs etc. and someStates like Kerala and A.P. have made arrangements to provide the necessary equipment toCWSN through the State Government supported organizations like A.P. ViklaangulaCorporative Corporation (APVCC) and Kerala State Electronic Development Corporation

(KELTRON). However, the largest provider of aids and appliances to CWSN under SSA isALIMCO (Artificial Limb Manufacturing Corporation of India), a public sector undertakingfunctioning under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJ&E) withwhich an agreement has been signed at the national level, as per which 60% of the cost of the assistive devices would be borne by MoSJ&E and 40% by the State SSA Societies.

Schools are being made more disabled friendly by incorporating barrier free features intheir designs 5.02 lakh schools have been made barrier-free and very focused effortsare being made by all the States to cover more schools in a phased manner.

The Outcome

These practices and innovations in SSA are no doubt leading to a gradual increasedidentification of CWSN. From 14.59 lakh CWSN identified in 2003-04, 30.38 lakh havebeen identified in 2006-07. Similarly, the enrollment of CWSN in 2006-07 has gone up to19.97 lakh CWSN as compared to 11.71 lakh CWSN in 2003-04. More CWSN are likely tobe covered this year through various interventions and strategies. The current coverage of CWSN is 21.86 lakh (71.99%).

Besides increasing the physical coverage, the expenditure on inclusive education in SSAhas also shown an upward trend. From a mere 26% expenditure in 2003-04, the Stateshave shown an overall expenditure of 65.50% on CWSN inclusion related activities in2005-06.

The Challenges

It can be seen from the foregoing that several novel initiatives have been taken up toaddress the divergent needs of special children. An endeavour has also been made todevelop in teachers, the necessary attitude, skills and competencies required to dealeffectively with children with various special educational needs. The focus of SSA is nowon reaching out to those out of school CWSN, not covered so far and developing a


7/25

strategy that will ensure that every child with special needs receives continuing on sitesupport. This perhaps is the biggest challenge of all and a crucial determinant of thesuccess of the inclusive education programme under SSA.

In other words, whether the special teachers involved in these applications have beendeprived of their right conferred under Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India andwhether they should be given the same benefit as given to the regular teachers doing similar type of job in the teaching of the normal students. We find that by virtue of the newlyinserted Article 21-A of the Constitution of India, a duty has been cast upon the State to

provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years insuch manner as the State may, by law, determine. It further appears that Section 26 of thePersons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation)Act, 1995 also imposes an obligation on the Government to provide free education to everychild with disability till he attains the age of 18 years, and such duty includes :

(a). to ensure that every child with a disability has access to free education in an appropriateenvironment till he attains the age of eighteen years;

(b). to endeavour to promote the integration of students with disabilities in the normalschool;

(c). to promote setting up of special schools in Government and private sector for those inneed of special education, in such a manner that children with disabilities living in any partof the country have access to such schools;

(d). to endeavour to equip the special schools for children with disabilities with vocationaltraining facilities

The petitioners were appointed by SSA and the annual contract was given withSMCs of the concerned schools where they were appointed. As the SMC is not their appointing authority, this contract must be taken up with State ElementaryEducation Department. Campaigns like SSA,RMSA may end ,but the Department isa permanent body. It is not the responsibility of the SMCs to arrange the teachersfor education of CWSN/disabled students.

The integration that RTE demands would entail that the AWP&B of eachdistrict reflects all the investments made from different sources for elementaryeducation. Thus the SSA Planning and Monitoring Manual should be amendedand capacities of the State, local authority and SMCs built for holistic andconvergent planning. At the National level there is a need to move towards asingle Project Approval Board for RTE, which incorporates components of SSA, TE, MDM etc., as well as components of other Central and Stateschemes.But the focus in AWP&B was not paid on the Inclusive Education inHP due to which the grant was not sanctioned.

In the case of CWSN, the state may appoint a person withdegree/diploma in special education as a resource teacher, who willimpart special training to children with special needs. The resourceteacher may be posted at the block or cluster level and can operate in anitinerant mode, covering a group of schools where children with specialneeds are enrolled. The reason for appointing the resource teacher for a


8/25

group of schools rather than in every school is because the number of children with special needs in any single school would be quite small,as children with special needs comprise only about 2% of the 6-14 years

population, and because there may be several schools in which nochildren with special needs are enrolled. Moreover, in the near future

qualified special needs teachers would not be available. The training can be residential (including home based, depending on the nature and degreeof disability and kind of support required) or non residential. Theduration of the training can be from three months to two years. After completion of special training, children with special needs will continueregular classes in the age appropriate grade in which they have beenenrolled. They will continue to receive special attention even after completion of special training for their succes sful academic andemotional integration in the class. Special schools will have to

beco me in cl us ive sc ho ol s (neighbourhood schools). They willcontinue to function as resource centres for special inputs to regular andresource teachers, for teaching of children with special needs. The natureof this resource support can cover aspects like teacher training,development of appropriate syllabi and textbooks for children withspecial needs, development of individualized education plans andassessment methods, appropriate TLMs etc. Special schoolswould simultaneously need to work towards becoming inclusiveneighbourhood schools.

As per the most recently published (DISE) data, the proportion of childrenwith

disabilities enrolled to total enrolment is only 0.84%. The total number of identified children with disabilities to total population of all children inthe age group 6-14 at 1.48% is also very low (as per 2001 Census). SSAhas provision for collection of data regarding children with disabilitiesthrough household surveys, assessment camps etc. There is an urgentneed to streamline the process of identification through the above aswell as DISE. This must be accompanied by training of the surveyors,enumerators and other government functionaries at different levels. Astudy by MHRD has revealed that 40% of all out-of-school children arechildren with special needs. Therefore early identification must be givendue importance.

INCLUSION PHILOSOPHY IN H.P AND ROLE OF SPECIAL EDUCATORS.: Individualization and child-centred programming; Sharing of educational responsibility with the students family; Learning with age -appropriate peers who do not have disabilities; Educational goals that are functional for the life and life direction of the

particular student involved The use of teaching methods that are natural and least intrusive; Provision of instruction in multiple environments classroom, other school


9/25

environments, the home, the community; Integration of needed supports/services and types of instruction Every student has the right to participate in all aspects of school life; Every student will participate in a regular homeroom with supports to

individual

needs provided through that classroom modification of regular curriculumwill take place outside the regular classroom only if specific skills cannot beaccommodated within a regular setting;

All students will be placed in an age- appropriate setting, within the students attendance area.

Inclusion involves the basic practices of good teaching and good teaching,ultimately, is an accepting relationship between two people

possible strategies, including: Contingency contracting (verbal or written agreement between student and

teacher that lays out expectations and rewards with regard to a particular activity,assignment, etc.)

Providing choices (providing several avenues for a student to accomplish thesame goal)

Student input into curriculum decisions Shortened or stepped assignments Individualized instruction Alternative methods for response Modification of presentation of abstract concepts Peer tutoring Using proximity, touch, time-outs and non-verbal cues to manage disruptive

behaviours Clear and concise expectations Co-education and educating with children without such disability/disabilities. Social interaction is supported and encouraged through the use circles of

friends, peer buddies, peer tutors, cross age tutoring, and cooperativelearning

Curricula is functional that is, it responds to a students individual needs (cultural background, family and community resources and values,aspirations and future goals and opportunities)

Systematic instruction using a diverse range of teaching strategies (including prompting strategies and reinforcement), recognizing the presence of multiple intelligences and the utility of heterogeneous grouping, which actsto facilitate peer- mediated and cooperative learning structures

Systematic instruction also conveys looking inside the current practices tocritically examine instructional strengths and weaknesses and to discover any

potential barriers to effective teaching. Generalization of learned skills to settings outside of the classroom

environmentPOLICY FOR SPECIAL EDUCATORS IN

HIMACHAL PRADESHThe recruitment policies are different in every state for appointing Special

Educators. The Special Educators are serving on different policies in everystate and no uniformity exists in their honorarium, T.A. and other financial

benefits, leave rule and other contract related conditions.


10/25

First of all , let us discuss the pay/honorarium and other related financial aspects of Special Educators.

COMPARISON OF HONORARIUMSpecial Educators appointed in Himachal Pradesh and Assam get only Rs.

7500 per month as monthly honorarium but in Assam, they are getting fix

TA worth Rs. 500.00 extra per month.In nearby state Punjab, SpecialEducators are being appointed on the monthly honorarium worth Rs.10000.00(Ten Thousand) per month with 1000.00(one thousand ) FixTravelling Allowance making the consolidated monthly honorarium worthRs. 11000.00(Eleven Thousand) only since 30-05-2010. Further, it may benoted that Delhi Govt. has appointed 52 Special Educators with fixhonorarium worth Rs. 15000.00(Fifteen Thousand) per month in year 2013.It may also be noted that Uttar Pradesh Govt. has appointed 238 BRPs inSpecial Education on a honorarium of Rs. 23500.00(Twenty-three ThousandFive Hundred) only, but Himachal Pradesh has not appointed any such BRPon such an honorarium. Jharakhand has also sanctioned the honorarium of

these Special Educators worth Rs. 10000.00 to 13000.00 per month. InTamilnadu, Special Educators are getting regular scale of Rs. 5200-20200(teaching at level Class V to X) per month with Grade Pay worth Rs. 2800.00In Chandigarh, Special Educators are getting renumeration worthRs.16600.00(Sixteen Thousand and Six Hundred) only which is the best

possible scale for Special Educators. Even in Haryana , latest recruitment of Special Educators has stated that teachers having diploma in SpecialEducation with graduation will get Rs. 15000.00(Fifteen Thousand) fixed per month. Awesome is the regular pay scale of Primary teachers and regular cadre of Special Educators under selection by Delhi Subordinate ServicesSelection Board which has been mentioned and fixed on 24-10-2011 as

9300-34800+ G.P. 4600 per month.Further we may add the following judgements too:-

The Delhi High Court while dealing with a PIL has directed the concerned StateGovernment to appoint special teachers in each School to cater to their needs. The Benchstated that every school must have Special Educator and as many regular teachers as neededmust be appointed and that such teachers should be appointed on a permanent basis andtheir salaries must be at par with the regular teachers. This High Court may also kindly be

pleased to direct the respondents to place the special teachers of disabled students at par with all other regular teachers under the State Government and in the Grant-in-Aid Schoolin the interest of justice.

The Special Educators are eligible for the post of JBT as per the notification of NCTE dated 23-08-2010. It shows that they are working equivalent to JBTs whiletheir task is more challenging in nature.But the state has paid them emoluments of Rs.7500/month, however, they deserve the Equal/equivalent salary of newappointed JBTs in Himachal Pradesh. The neighbor state Punjab is Paying almostRs.10000 to the IED Resource Teachers. Many cases are available for referencewhere the scale of Regular working Primary teachers has been given to Educators of Disabled Students. Some judgements quotable are as below:-

Harpreet Kaur And Others vs State Of Punjab And Others on 2March, 2013

Punjab-Haryana High Court


11/25

Punjab-Haryana High CourtHarpreet Kaur And Others vs State Of Punjab And Others on 2 March, 2013IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA

AT CHANDIGARH

CWP No. 4606 of 2013

Date of Decision : 2.3.2013

Harpreet Kaur and others ..... Petitioner(s) Versus

State of Punjab and others ..... Respondent(s) CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICEAUGUSTINE GEORGEMASIH Present:- Mr. L.S. Virk, Advocate, for the petitioners. AUGUSTINE GEORGEMASIH, J. (ORAL)

Petitioners have approached this Court with a grievance that they are similarly placed asthe other Teachers, who have been appointed in the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan except thatthey have been appointed in Inclusive Education for Disabled Children (IEDC)Component. All other teachers appointed under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, as per the

policy decision of the government of Punjab, have under instructions dated 13.9.2012(Annexure-P- 6) been granted the minimum pay scale. The said benefit has been deniedto the petitioners. Claiming the same benefit, as the other teachers, some of the

petitioners have submitted a representation dated 21.9.2012 (Annexure-P-13) to therespondents but till date, no decision thereon has been taken by the respondents, nor any

benefit has been granted to them. Counsel contends that the petitioners, at this stage,would be satisfied if a direction is issued to the Director General School Education,Punjab-respondent No. 2 to consider and decide the representation of the petitionerswithin some specified time.CWP No. 4606 of 2013 -2- In the light of the statementmade by the counsel for the petitioners, present writ petition is disposed of withdirections to the Director General School Education, Punjab-respondent No. 2 toconsider and decide the representation of the petitioners dated 21.9.2012 (Annexure-P-13) within a period of four months from the date of receipt of certified copy of theorder. The decision, so taken, be conveyed to the petitioners forthwith.(AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH)

JUDGE2.3.2013

Further, it may be noted that Rule 20 of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory

Education Rules, 2010 reads as under:-2. Salary and allowances and conditions of service of

teachers .-


12/25

(1). The Central Government or the appropriate Government or the local authority, as thecase may be, shall notify terms and conditions of service and salary and allowances of teachers of schools owned and managed by them in order to create a professional and

permanent cadre of teachers.(2). In particular and without prejudice to sub-rule (1), the terms and conditions of serviceshall take into account the following, namely:-

(a). accountability of teachers to the School Management Committee;

(b). Provisions enabling long-term stake of teachers in the teaching profession.

(3). The scales of pay and allowances, medical facilities, pension, gratuity, provident fund,and other prescribed benefits of teachers shall be at par for similar qualification, work andexperience.

Chapter V, Section 26 of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunity, Protection of

Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1955 casts an obligation on the appropriate Governmentand the local authorities to ensure that every child with a disability gets access to freeeducation in an appropriate environment till he attains the age of 18 years. Section 26 of thesaid Act, inter alia further provides that the Appropriate Government and Local Authoritiesshall endevaour to promote the integration of students with Disabilities in the normalschools, promote setting up of special schools in Government and Private Sector for those inneed of special education in such a manner that the children with disabilities living in any

part of the country have access to such schools and that they shall endeavour to equipspecial schools for children with disabilities with vocational training facilities. Section 29 of the Act mandates that the appropriate Government shall set up adequate number of TeachersTraining Institutions to develop trained manpower for schools for children with disabilities.

Thus, the obligation of the State to provide free and compulsory education for the normalchildren is from age 6 to 14 years, whereas the obligation of the State with regard todisabled children is for the age up to 18 years which would include not only elementaryeducation but also secondary and higher secondary education as well. Therefore, the Statecannot escape from its obligation to engage sufficient number of teachers to provide specialeducation to disabled children and to pay the salaries and allowances and all other benefitsto them at par with other general teachers teaching the normal children in primary schools,secondary schools and higher secondary schools in the State.

It is pertinent that even when the aforesaidconstitutional and statutory provisions were not enacted, the IEDC Scheme (as revised in

1987), inter alia, provided that the scheme shall be financed 100% by the CentralGovernment on condition of creating technically qualified staff as per the scheme, thescheme shall be implemented through the State Government, the Education Departmentwould be the implementing agency, the appointment of special teachers shall be made in theTeacher-Pupil ratio of 1:8, and the teachers shall be possessing qualification in specialeducation as stated therein and with regard to the scale of pay. It was clearly stated thatsame scale of pay as available to the teachers of the corresponding category in thatState/U.T will be given to special teachers.It is all the more shocking and surprising that prior to IEDSS Scheme came to be introducedon 1 st April 2009, the said special teachers of disabled students in Gujarat were being paid

pay scale of primary teachers of Rs.4000-6000 as per the 5 th Pay Commission and someother allowances w.e.f. 1st January 1996, but after the IEDSS Scheme came into force w.e.f.


13/25

1st April 2009, the said special teachers are engaged on contractual basis and on fixed salaryas under:For the year 2009-10 Rs.17,000 + 400For the year 2010-11 Rs.19,000 + 400For the year 2011-12 Rs.22,000 + 400

For the year 2012-13 Rs.22,000 + 400

This is also a matter of high attention that the state has not created permanent postsof the Teachers for teaching the Children with Special Needs/Disabled Students atits own level. At present, almost 26370 CWSN are there in the state and they havegot no Special Education. The Pupil Teacher Ratio under RTE is 1:30 means oneteacher for 30 normal students. But for CWSN/disabled students, it is considered as1:15 or below. Concluding to this, state needs al least 1000 -1500 posts of teacherscapable of teaching these students. The educational campaigns like Sarv ShikshaAbhiyan are not the key to escape from the responsibility of establishing any

permanent system and cadre of Special Educators for the education of CWSN/disabled students. The permanent appointments for elementary education of CWSN/disabled students is the responsibility of the state govt. under RTE and if state is not capable of funding, it may ask for it from Centre Govt. for assistanceunder RTE provisions.

The RTE Act is categorical that the Central Government and the State

Governments have concurrent responsibility for providing funds for carrying out the provisions of this Act. The sharing of financialresponsibilities enunciated in Section 7 of the RTE Act are:

(i ) The Central Government and the State Government shall have concurrent responsibility for providing funds for carrying out the provisions of this Act.

(ii) The Central Government shall prepare the estimates of capital and recurring expenditure for the implementation of the

provisions of the Act.

(iii) The Central Government shall provide to the State Government,as grants-in-aid of revenues, such percentage of expenditurereferred to in sub-section (2) as it may determine, from time to

time, in consultation with the State Governments.

(iv) The Central Government may make a request to the President to makea reference to the Finance Commission under sub-clause (d) of clause (3) of article 280 to examine the need for additional resources to be provided to any State Government so that the

said State Government may provided its share of funds for carrying out the provisions of the Act.

(v ) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub -section (4) , theState Government shall, taking into consideration the sums

provided by the Central Government to a State Government under


14/25

sub-section (3) and its other resources, be responsible to provide funds for it.

(vi) Implementation of the provisions of the Act .

The implementation of the said RTE provisions is the sole responsibility of the stategovt. It can used Red Cross Fund, various funds from other sources for education of the CWSN/disabled students. So the education of the CWSN/disabled students inHP must be reinstated soon by re-engaging the Special Educators on permanent

basis as per the above discussion. Their scale and policy must be same as that of JBTs. So far as the special teachers of disabled children imparting education to disabledchildren in primary school are concerned, according to the respondents, they are coveredunder Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan [SSA]. The said special teachers for disabled children of

primary schools are also entitled to be treated at par with the primary school teachers of thenormal children in the State in the matter of pay and pay scale and allowances and all other

benefits. However, the respondent-State authorities are giving highly arbitrary anddiscriminatory treatment to the said special teachers by engaging them on contract basis and

by paying them a fixed salary of Rs.7500 per month in HP. By covering or considering thespecial teachers for disabled children in primary schools in Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, therespondents State authorities cannot escape their constitutional and statutory obligationstowards the disabled children and towards their special teachers. Thus, the employmentunder IEDC scheme was treated as an employment under the State Government and notunder private NGOs. Therefore, the State Government cannot give discriminatory treatmentin the matter of regular pay and pay scales and allowances and all other benefits to thespecial teachers of disabled children . The respondent-State authorities are contending thatthe special teachers for disabled children are engaged in the project or scheme and therefore,they cannot be treated at par with the teachers of normal children. But such escape of Statefrom its responsibility may not be considered please. they are notgiven the following benefits which are given to the teachers of Primary, Secondary andHigher SecondarySchools:

(i). Pay and Pay scale of JBT as per 5 th Pay Commission in HP

(ii). Direct

payment of salary

(DPS) in Bank

accounts per

month with sms

alert system.

(iii) Higher Grade

Pay scale and JBT

equivalent pay


15/25

Scale as per

verdict by Punjab

and Haryana High

Court.

(iv). Pension

Scheme to be

decided and all

Special Educators

to be given its

benefits

(v) C.P.F. Scheme to be maintained for Special Educators

(vi)Maternity Leave for Female employee as per amended Rules,2012.

(vii) Privilege Leave if possible

(viii)Sick leave/ Medical Leave of Ten Days as per the latest notification by Personnel

Department.

(ix)Seniority and continuity of service in the event of change of institution

(x) Compensation to family members in case of death of Special Educators through

insurance/GIS.`

(xi) Protection of service condition and redressal forum for the disputes arising therefore,

viz. Tribunal.

(xii) Group Insurance, etc.

Regarding the mode of appointment also, according to the scheme framed by the Central

Government, the special teachers should be appointed by regular mode of appointment that

will be fixed by the State Government. Regarding the mode of appointment, there is no

dispute about the fact that appointment of the teachers concerned were made with full

approval of the State Government. We have also pointed out that there is also no dispute


16/25

that all these teachers have the requisite qualifications fixed under the scheme. Merely

because in the guidelines issued by the Central Government, the State Government was

given liberty to take assistance of the experienced NGOs in the field for the purpose of

selecting the teachers, such fact does not mean that the teachers can be appointed by the

NGOs without adhering to the qualification according to their own choice. The process of

selection must be under direct supervision of the State Government. Moreover, taking

assistance of the experienced NGOs in the field is not even mandatory for the State

Government. Therefore, the plea of the State Government that there is no relationship of

employer and employee between the State and the special teachers and that the teachers are

the contractual employees of the NGOs is not tenable. These are not the cases of

appointment based on no process of selection as envisaged by the Rules as pointed out in

the case of the State of Karnataka vs. Umadevi and others (supra).

Such being the position, in our opinion, there is no justification of depriving these teachers, who are having slightly higher qualification than those appointedfor teaching the ordinary students, of the benefits of the direct payment of salary, pension,GPF, maternity leave for female teachers, privilege leave, sick leave, seniority andcontinuity of service in the event of change of institution, bonus, compassionateappointment or monetary benefit in lieu thereof in the event of untimely death, protection of service conditions and redressal forum for disputes arising there from, L.T.C. and GroupInsurance, which are available to the other teachers. We are unable to accept the contentionof the State Government and the Central Government that the duties performed by thesespecial teachers are lighter than those of other teachers who teach ordinary children. It is theCentral Government itself which has prescribed the qualifications of the teachers which ishigher than those who teach the ordinary students, inasmuch as, in addition to their educational qualifications, they are also required to have special qualification for teachingthe disabled students.

By depriving the special teachers of the regular benefits that aregiven to the other teachers, in our opinion, the State Government has violated Articles 14and 16 of the Constitution of India. From the nature of the duty performed by these teachers,we find that their duty is more onerous than that of the ordinary teachers and they are alsorequired to visit more than one school for the purpose of performing their duty. From thematerials placed before us, we find that number of disabled students which was in existenceearlier, has increased a lot and may go on increasing.

We, therefore, find that after framing a scheme fixing the educationalqualifications and other qualifications, the scales of pay, special teachers ratio, mode of recruitment and also the nature of duties to be performed by them, there is no justification of depriving the petitioners of their benefits other than the regular scale of pay which areenjoyed by the ordinary teachers by describing the job as a temporary one. It is not the case


17/25

of the State that the number of disabled students are on the decrease; on the other hand,figures for the last ten years suggest that the number has gradually increased and in view of enactment of the right of the disabled students in the Constitution and after enactment of specific laws on the field, there is no scope of withholding of the scheme in question infuture.

IN BRIEF: SPECIAL EDUCATORS NEED J.B.T. PAY SCALE WITH REGULARISATION BENEFITS

ACCORDING TO THE CONCLUSIONS LAID DOWN BY HP HIGHCOURT IN BALDEV SINGH VERSUS STATE OF H.P C.W.P. 415 of 2000 CASE DECIDED ON 05-08- 2008.

The benefits of the direct payment of salary, pension, GPF, maternity leave for female teachers, privilege leave, sick leave, seniority and continuity of service in theevent of change of institution, bonus, compassionate appointment or monetary

benefit in lieu thereof in the event of untimely death, protection of serviceconditions and redressal forum for disputes arising there from, L.T.C. and GroupInsurance, which are available to the other teachers.

Honorarium must be given on Chandigarh/Haryana/Punjab pattern and must berevised soon.

Contract must be done only with Education Department/SSA and SMC must begiven only supervision powers.

lack of budget is not any excuse in respect of making permanent system and cadreof education for CWSN/Disable students because its budget is less than one percentin compare to that of total budget. Many grants are lying unspent in Sarv ShikshaAbhiyan and State SSA has recovered many crores of Rupees which were lyingunspent in schools from 2002-2012. This amount is available in SSA and the excuseof non-availability of budget is a clear lie in this context.The SSA and State Govt. isnot obeying the rules and guidelines of RTE. Thus, this fund may be used for funding the salary of Special Educators unless the other financial arrangements aredone by t he state govt. After availability of the funds which have been collected incrores from every distt. In March,2013- SSA and state can change its head to buused in in clusive education with consent on MHRD.

Transfer Policy must be framed and distt. Cadre must be fixed for these SpecialEducators like that applicable to JBTs.

Service Books of Special Educators must be prepared and maintained properly atDDO level. The regularization shall be subject to orders regarding reservation in the servicefor Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes/Other Backward Classes/Other categories of personsissued by the Himachal Pradesh Govt. from time to time. The contractual appointee so

regularized shall, be liable to be posted anywhere within the State. The contractual appointeeswho are to be regularized shall be put in at the minimum of the time scale of the post. For thedetermination of date of birth of the candidate concerned criterion as laid down in Rule 7.1 of the H.P. Financial Rules Vol.-I Hand-Book No. 2 shall be observed. The regularization shall

be subject to verification of character and antecedents of the candidate being considered for regularization as provided in the H.P. Financial Rules. The candidate should be medically fitfor the post being considered for regularization. The Medical fitness certificate of the candidateshall be ensured in accordance with the provisions contained in FR 10 and SR 4 (1), 4 (2) and4 (3). The regularization will be strictly on the basis of seniority subject to fitness and thefulfilment of eligibility conditions prescribed in the concerned Recruitment and PromotionRules


18/25

REGULARISATION POLICY TO BE FRAMEDIn Chandigarh, SSA teachers regularization was approved by MHRD after renderingsix years of service. The decision was taken during the committees meeting chaired by UTFinance-cum- Education Secretary, VK Singh, on August 26. We have considered theregularisation of all the SSA teachers. A proposal for the process will be prepared shortly by the

SSA society and it will then be sent across to the competent authorities for action, said Director Public Instructions (Schools), Sandeep Hans, who is also the State Project Director for SSA. There are no technical glitches in the regularization of SSA teachers as they are allappointed in accordance with the norms of the education department. They are alsoexempt from CTET as per the provisions of the RTE Act, 2009 and NCTE AmendmentAct, 2011.Same type of policy may be implemented for Special Educators in HP.Gujarat HighCourt GujaratHigh Court SuoMutoC/SCA/33/2005 vsChief Secretary,Govt. of Gujaratand others on 22March, 2013Bench:Mr.Bhaskar BhattacharyaJ.B.Pardiwala,J.B.PardiwalaSUOMUTO....Petition

er(s)V/STHECHIEFSECRETARYmust be made asdirective principlein this policy.

Under this policy the Special Educators in the Department of ElementaryEducation H.P. will be engaged on contract basis initially for one year,which may be extendable on year to year basis. Provided that for extension/renewal of contract period on year to year basis the concerned HODshall issue a

(a) certificate that the service and conduct of the contract appointee issatisfactory during the year and only then his period of contract is to berenewed/extended. The services of the Contract Appointee will bepurely on temporary basis. The appointment is liable to be terminated incase the performance/ conduct of the contract appointee is not foundsatisfactory.

(b) Contract appointee will be entitled for one day casual leave after puttingone month service. This leave can be accumulated up to one year. No leaveof any other kind is admissible to the contract appointee. He /She shall notbe entitled for Medical re-imbursement and L.T.C etc. Only maternity leave


19/25

will be given as per Rules.

(c) Unauthorized absence from the duty without the approval of theControlling Officer shall automatically lead to the termination of thecontract. Contract appointee shall not be entitled for contractualamount for the period of absence from duty.

(d) An official appointed on contract basis who have completed five yearstenure at one place of posting will be eligible for transfer on need basedbasis wherever required on administrative grounds.

Selected candidate will have to submit a certificate of his/ her fitness froma Government / Registered Medical Practitioner. Woman candidatepregnant beyond twelve weeks will stand temporarily unfit till theconfinement is over. The woman candidate will be re-examined for thefitness from an authorized Medical Officer/ Practitioner.

(g) Contract appointee will be entitled to TA/DA if required to go on tour in

connection with his /her official duties at the same rate as applicable toregular officials at the minimum of the pay scale.

Provisions of service rules FR SR, Leave Rules, GPF Rules, Pension Rules andConduct Rules etc. as are applicable in case of regular employees will not beapplicable in case of Contract Appointees. They will be entitled for emoluments etc.

From of contract/ agreement to be executed between the Special Educator (Name of thepost) and the Government of Himachal Pradesh through Deputy Director of ElementaryEducation of concerned District (Designation of the Appointing Authority).

This ag reement i s made on th i s ____________ day o f

in the year _________________ between

Sh./Smt. _______________________________ S/O

Shri _____________________ R/O __________________________________________

Contr-act appointee (hereinafter called the FIRST PARTY), AND The Governor of Himachal Pradesh through Deputy Director of Elementary

Education (Designation of the Appointing Authority) Himachal Pradesh(

here-in-after the SECOND PARTY). Whereas , the SECOND PARTY has engaged theaforesaid FIRST PARTY and the FIRST PARTY has agreed to serve as a Junior BasicTrained Teacher (Name of the post) on contract basis on the following terms &conditions:-

1. That the FIRST PARTY shall remain in the serv ice of the SECONDPARTY as a Junior Basic Trained Teacher ( Name of the post) for a period

of one year commencing on day of _______________ and ending on the

day of ________ . It is specifically mentioned and agreed upon by both the


20/25

parties that the contract of the FIRST PARTY with SECOND PARTY shall ips o -fac to s t and t e rmina ted on the l a s t work ing day i . e on An di n f o r m a t i o n n o t i c e s h a l l n o t b e n e c e s s a r y .

Provided that for further extension/renewal of contract

period the HOD shall issue a certificate that the service and conduct of thecontract appointee was satisfactory during the year and only then theperiod of contract is to be renewed/extended.

2. The contractual amount of t he FIRST PARTY will be Rs per month.

3. The service of FIRST PARTY will be purely on temporary basis. Theappointment is liable to be terminated in case the performance/ conductof the contract appointee is not found good or if a regular incumbent isappointed/ posted against the vacancy for which the first party was

engaged on contract.

4. Contractual Special Educator (Name of the post) will be entitled forone day casual leave after putting in one month service. This leave can beaccumulated up to one year. No leave of any other kind is admissible tothe contractual Special Educator (Name of the post). He will not beentitled for Medical re-imbursement and L.T.C etc. Only maternity leavewill be given as per Rules.

5. Unauthorized absence from the duty without the approval of theControllingOfficer shall automatically lead to the termination of thecontract. A contractual Special Educator ( Name of the post) will not beentitle for contractual amount for the period of absence from duty.

-2/-


21/25

6. Transfer of an official appointed on contract basis will be permitted after completion of 5 years tenure atone place of posting on need based basis wherever required on administrative grounds.

7. Selected candidate will have to submit a certificate of his/her fitness from a Government/ Registered MedicalPractitioner. In case of Woman candidate pregnancy beyond twelve weeks will render her temporarily unfit tillthe confinement is over. The woman candidate should be re-examined for the fitness from an authorizedMedical Officer/ Practitioner.

8. Contract appointee will be entitled to TA/DA if required to go on tour in connection with his /her officialduties at the same rate as applicable to regular officials.

9. The Employees Group Insurance Scheme as well as EPF/GPF will not be applicable to contractualappointee(s).

IN WITNESS the FIRST PARTY AND SECOND PARTY have herein to set their hands the day, month and yearfirst, above written.

IN THE PRESENCE OF WITNESS:

(Name and full Address)

(Signature of the FIRST PARTY)


IN THE PRESENCE OF WITNESS:


(Signature of the FIRST PARTY)



22/25


23/25


24/25


25/25

Documents

Policy for Special Educators in Himachal Pradesh Drafted by Vijay Heer