Telangana State yet to fill special educator posts

Hyderabad: The Telangana State's School Education Department is yet to make up its mind to appoint special educators for Children with Special Needs (CwSN).

According to sources in the Department of School Education, there are 616 posts of special educators lying vacant since the formation of the State.

"Currently, the special educators are appointed on a contract basis to handle the primary and the secondary levels in the schools," the sources added.

Speaking to The Hans India, Kalpagiri Sreenu, national convener for Special Educators' Forum-India (SEFI), said that the issue has been raised innumerable times with concerned officials of the School Education Department.

As per the Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992, it is mandatory to appoint regular special educators.

The existing rules say that for every five CwSN students, there shall be one teacher at the primary level. Similarly, for every eight CwSN students, there shall be one teacher at the secondary level. Further, appointing contract teachers on regular basis is a violation as per Section 13(3) of the RCI Act.

However, when approached, the officials claim appointment of regular special educators falls within the scope of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD).

Reason being that the entire financials for the appointment of special educators is being handled by the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). When contacted, the MHRD officials have made it clear that the ministry is ready to give approvals.

Provided, if proposals are submitted to it for the appointment of regular special educators, Kalpagiri said.

Further, both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have got approval for the appointment of special educators at the same time.

The AP had gone ahead with the recruitment process of the special educators. It has been accessing funds under SSA for the same.

Why the Telangana State is not able to get funds like AP, for the appointment of regular special educators under the SSA for the last five-budget years remained a million-dollar question, he said. A similar situation is prevailing in a few other States along with Telangana.

Following this, the SEFI has sought the intervention of the Ministry of Social Justice to take action against the teachers, who were appointed to handle CwSN in violation of Section 13(3) of RCI Act, 1992. Also, for the appointment of regular special educators in primary and secondary education.