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‘Taare Zameen
Par’ might have moved many but has failed to move MCD
authorities of New Delhi. All the children with disabilities
other than the children with locomotor disability studying in
the MCD schools are the worst sufferers as the teachers
attending those do not know how to teach them. The schools are
totally unequipped to teach such students.
Azad and
Nuruddin, 11 yrs and 8 yrs old, are deaf and dumb students of
III and I standards respectively of the MCD School, C Block,
Jahangirpuri, Delhi. Mr. Surinder Kumar is the class teacher of
student Azad who has passed ETE course from Haryana DIET whereas
Mr. Raj Kumar is the class teacher of student Nuruddin who has
passed ETE from Delhi DIET. Both these teachers candidly admit
that they do not know how to teach these students as they have
never been given any training in this regard. It is unfortunate
that the Principal of the school is still carrying an age old
notion that such students should be admitted in special school
only.
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Similarly,
10 yrs old student Chandu, suffering from the disability of
mental retardation, is the student of class III of MCD
School, H Block, Jahangirpuri, Delhi. The school does not
have any medical profile of student Chandu. None of the
school teachers is trained to teach a student like Chandu.
In his school bag, Chandu was found carrying some books and
one copy. The copy was found to be blank though Chandu has
already completed 10 months in class III. The teachers admit
that Chandu has not learnt anything. |
We have met Azad, Nuruddin and Chandu and also the school
principals and teachers while visiting the above mentioned two
schools on 19.01.2008.
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The
students like Azad, Nuruddin or Chandu are not the only
victims of the apathy on the part of the authorities. There
are about 1854 MCD run primary schools in Delhi catering
about 1 million students belonging to most underprivileged
and marginalized sections of society. All most every MCD run
school has two to three students with disabilities. There
was a time when these schools were flatly refusing admission
to the children with disabilities. The situation,
fortunately, is now changed to the some extent. Children
with disabilities are though reluctantly given admission in
the schools but schools do not know how to deal with them.
Such children are, however, not given any education,
attention and care and even discouraged and cursed by the
school. The result is; children those are in school do not
learn anything and those who are out of school do not dare
to attend the school. |
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The failure on
the part of the authorities to provide quality education,
attention and care to the children with disabilities tantamount
to violation of fundamental and human right to education of all
such children as guaranteed to them under Articles 14 (right to
equality), 21 (right to life with dignity) and 21-A (right to
education) read with the provisions of Persons with Disabilities
(Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full
Participation) Act, 1995.
Social
Jurist is a New Delhi based group of activists mainly working
for Children
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