Gujarat: U-turn on intake in special schools after protests

AHMEDABAD: A notification by G N Nachiya, director of social justice & empowerment department, on Monday met with widespread protests. The notification, that asked the special schools for children with disabilities not to start admissions for the academic year till further orders and asking the parents to admit their disabled kids in a nearby school, was hastily removed by the department on Tuesday.
The notification read, ‘This year all organizations under department of social justice & empowerment would not initiate admissions in class I to VIII till further orders. If any children come for admission in these schools, they would have to be admitted to nearby schools for education. If the admission is given by any of the organizations, all responsibility (of the children) would be of respective administrators.’
Labhubhai Sonani, president of Bhavnagar-based Andh Abhyuday Mandal, on Monday wrote to Nachiya and Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani, bringing to their notice the issues faced by about 12,000 children and students with disabilities in the state. Gujarat has 165-odd schools/organizations dedicated to special education, said disability sector experts.
“The notification is wrong on the counts of the rights of persons with disabilities (PwD) and right to education. The children with one or multiple disabilities cannot be assimilated in general schools with one swift move without any planning on counts of the schools or students,” said Sonani. “The government can ask schools not to open on count of Covid-19 but how can they stop admission? Is it plan to systematically kill the institutions?”
When contacted, Manoj Aggarwal, principal secretary (social justice & empowerment), told TOI that the notification was an oversight. “It was a mistake and the original status has been restored,” he said.
Bhushan Punani, executive secretary of Ahmedabad-based Blind People’s Association (BPA), said that the revocation is a welcome move.
“It would be great if the stakeholders are consulted before such decisions as hundreds of students get affected in each of the institutions of Gujarat that try to make the person with disabilities self-reliant and active member of the society,” he said.