Special schools on indefinite stir from July 1 in Kerala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Special schools in the state have decided to hold a slew of protests against the official apathy towards their long-standing demands.

Special School Management Association will hold an indefinite relay strike in front of the Secretariat from July 1. Parents and special needs students will lay siege to the Secretariat on July 4, and from next day onwards, all the 250 special schools in the state will be closed down where an indefinite fast will be held.

This was decided at the emergency joint protest meeting held at VKM Special School, Malappuram, held late on Friday after the chief secretary-level talks with general education and social justice secretaries failed.

They feel that the officials, including bureaucrats of both general education and social justice departments, A. Shahjah-an and Biju Prabhakar, are not keen to implement the special school package initiated by the Chief Minister. Management associations allege that the more deliberations have taken place at the official level, things have become more complicated and complex.

“The general education department officials are keen on shifting the special schools under the social justice department. As per 'Right to Education', the special needs children will not get the benefits if they are being shunted out to social justice. Similarly, the bureaucrat's recommendation that the mild and moderately affected special needs children have to be shifted to normal schools have been undertaken without proper feasibility study", said Father Roy Vadakkel, cha-irman of the Association for Intellectually Disabled (AID).

All 325 special schools including the lone government-run Rotary Institute for Children In Need Of Special Care, Vazhuthac-aud, in the capital city,  as well as 70 BUD schools in the State will be closed down from July 5.

It should be recalled that already the special schools' management association as well as close to 5,000 special needs students out of 25,000, 6,000 teachers, therapists and supporting staff had held two-day long satyagraha in front of the Secretariat during October 2017. The three months grant of Rs 11.2 crore allocated towards the 250 special needs schools for operations during January - March have also not been released which has caused hardships to them.