DoE directs schools to provide food for disabled students during lockdown

A senior official at the Delhi government’s inclusive education branch said that there are around 12,175 Children With Special Needs (CWSN) enrolled in their schools at present.

The Delhi government’s directorate of education (DoE) has identified as many as 346 disabled students enrolled in its schools who are in urgent need of food amid the lockdown and directed the heads of schools (HoS’) to ensure that these students get food daily during this period.

The DoE has identified another 1,656 disabled government school students who may also need food during the Covid-19 lockdown. (PTI file photo. Representative image)

The DoE has identified another 1,656 disabled government school students who may also need food during the Covid-19 lockdown.

A senior official at the Delhi government’s inclusive education branch said that there are around 12,175 Children With Special Needs (CWSN) enrolled in their schools at present. The inclusive branch had also issued a circular last week saying that it had carried out a survey to assess the availability of food for the children with disabilities studying in government schools across the country.

“It’s been noticed that 346 students are in urgent need of food and it’s expected that an additional 1,656 children with special needs may also require food during the lockdown period,” the circular stated.

The DoE has directed all the HoS of government schools to ensure that the identified 346 disabled children get food during the lockdown and asked them to provide daily Action Taken Reports (ATRs) to the directorate. “All HoS of government schools are hereby directed to ensure that all children with disabilities must have food throughout the lockdown in collaboration with nearby concerned hunger relief centres of the government, at schools, or night community centres etc., and provide ATRs for the 346 CWSN daily,” the circular added.