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Punjab misses SC deadline for special educators’ post
On March 7, the SC directed all states and Union Territories to notify the sanctioned posts of teachers for special children and initiate the selection process by March 28.
Ludhiana
The Punjab education department has missed the Supreme Court (SC) deadline for announcing sanctioned posts of special educators in government schools, raising concerns about the future of inclusive education in the state.
On March 7, the SC directed all states and Union Territories to notify the sanctioned posts of teachers for special children and initiate the selection process by March 28. However, Punjab’s failure to meet this deadline has left thousands of children with special needs (CWSN) without proper educational support.
Harish Dutt, a special educator, expressed disappointment over the delay. “We were hopeful after the SC’s directive that unemployed special educators would finally get jobs, ensuring proper education for CWSNs. But with the new academic session starting next month, we’re still stuck where we were years ago. Is this the state government’s idea of an education model?” he questioned.
A Right to Information (RTI) request filed by the Union of Unemployed Special Education Teachers revealed the dire shortage of special educators in Punjab. The state currently has only 386 contractual special educators for 47,979 CWSN students — far below the required numbers. In Ludhiana alone, just 30 special educators are responsible for 7,330 special students. This alarming gap violates the Right to Education (RTE) Act 2022, which mandates one special educator for every 10 CWSN students in primary schools and one for every 12 in secondary schools.
In February, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) intervened after receiving a complaint from Dutt on February 17. The commission wrote to Punjab’s director general of school education, urging an inquiry. The Punjab State Commission for Protection of Child Rights also stepped in, directing the elementary education department to investigate the matter.
When questioned about the delay, administrative secretary of school education Anindita Mitra admitted that the department had missed the deadline but assured that the process was in its final stages. “Since the finance and personnel departments are also involved, it took longer than expected. The process is almost complete, and we will release the number of sanctioned posts soon,” she stated.
