Centre Govt. informs SC that it notified the standards of pupil-teacher ratio for special schools and separate norms for special teachers who alone can impart education and training to Child with Special Needs (CwSN) in general schools

Govt. of India has confirmed before a Supreme Court bench comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar, A S Oka, and J B Pardiwala on 21 July 2022 that it has accepted the  norms and standards of pupil-teacher ratio for special schools and also separate norms for special educators, who alone can impart education and training to children with special needs in general schools, as recommended by the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI). In its compliance affidavit filed before the Hon'ble Supreme Court, the Ministry of Education referred to the norms and standards as per which the recommended pupil-teacher (special education teacher) ratio for regular (inclusive) school is 10:1 for the primary level and 15:1 for the upper primary, secondary and higher secondary level.

The letter also clarifies that the parity of pay and service conditions should be adhered to for special education teachers as done for general education teachers at national and state levels", it is related to respective State Governments/ UT Administrations as Education being in the concurrent list of subjects.

With this, a long pending issues have been settled and implemented regarding status of special education teachers  (under RCI) at par with the B Ed. teachers (under NCTE) and also that children with disabilities would be taught only by teachers trained under RCI and the educational insstitutions will also ensure that the teacher pupil ratio as prescribed by the RCI is maintrained to ensure quality of education and to comply with the provisons of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act. 

The department of school education and literacy, Ministry of Education, had issued a letter on June 10, 2022 to the education secretaries of all the states and Union Territories (UTs), the commissioners of 'Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan' and 'Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti' wherein the norms and standards of pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) have been circulated with a request to take further necessary action in the light of the apex court judgement and furnish an action taken report to the department.

"Since this department has finalised the norms and standards i.e PTR for special teachers/special educators who alone can impart education and training to CwSN (children with special needs) in the general schools, it is humbly submitted that this department is in the process of issuing notification by amending the 'schedule' of the RTE Act, 2009, in compliance of para 34 of the judgement dated October 28, 2021, passed by this court. It is further submitted that this process is likely to take 4 to 6 weeks," the affidavit said.

Supreme Court was hearing the complinace of its judgement passed on 28 Oct 2021 in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 132/2016 titled Rajneesh Kumar Pandey & Ors versus Union of India & Ors, wherein the Court had said that the Centre must forthwith notify the standards of pupil-teacher ratio for special schools as also separate norms for special teachers who alone can impart education and training to Child with Special Needs (CwSN) in general schools across the country.

The bench, however, posted the matter for further hearing on August 17, 2022 asking the concerned states and UTs to submit the compliance report to the Secretary of the Ministry.

The affidavit said the committee, as formed by RCI to formulate the norms of special educators in special schools, was also requested to formulate the norms, guidelines, standards on ratio, roles, responsibilities, etc of special teachers/special educators in general schools in view of the apex court directions. It said the draft norms were submitted to the ministry by the RCI.

 RCI has also recommended and redefined the "role of special teachers", while being a catalyst to empower children with disabilities, they will undertake certain responsibilities for facilitating inclusive education. It included providing tips for making an inclusive school climate, culture, and ethos where all systems from admission to assessments, teaching, and evaluation are disabled-friendly. The letter also referred to the "outreach activities" for special teachers which include, undertaking home visits and support home training programs. The "suggested activities" for special teachers, will also include developing an annual/monthly calendar of activities for inclusion.

Here is the Order of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in  Writ Petition (Civil) No. 132/2016 Rajneesh Kumar Pandey & Others VERSUS Union of India & Others. 

Supreme Court follows up on implementation of its order in Disabled Right Group Vs UOI dated 15 Dec 2017 with University Grant Commission

Court: Supreme Court of India

Bench:  HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE, HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE A.S. BOPANNA

Case No.:  BY COURTS MOTION Misc Application No  MA 1637 of 2019 in W.P.(C)No.292/2006 

(Arising out of final judgment dated 15-12-2017 in a disposed off matter W.P.(C)No.292/2006 in categories of matters 3100-Admission To Educational Institutions Other Than Medical & Engineering)

The Hon'ble Supreme court followed up on its final judgement  dated 15.12.2017 by initiating a miscellaneous application on its Own Motion on 08.08.2019 after observing that the University Grants Commission did not take sufficient steps to implement the enabling judgement desspite passage of over one and half years.

Below are various hearings in the MA.

• 08 August 2019 - Own Motion Misc. Application initated by Hon'ble Court.
• 25 October 2019 - The Counsel appearing on behalf of the University Grants Commission stated that a Committee has been constituted in pursuance of the judgment and he seeks two months’ time to place on the record a report indicating the action taken. Two months’ time, as prayed for, is granted.
• 24 January 2020 - UGC prayed for four weeks time to place the report of the Committee on record. Time was granted.
• 08 October 2021 - It was stated that the report of the UGC is ready and in fact the affidavit was also prepared, but, since there was a delay of a few days, the affidavit had to be filed with an application for condonation of delay. The Corut permitted the UGC to file its affidavit within a period of two weeks. An updated status report was directed be filed on behalf of the UGC within a period of four weeks.
• 22 November 2021- It was stated that an updated status report shall be filed and a copy of the existing report and the updated report shall be served on all the learned counsel. It has also been stated that in order to facilitate the updated status report being submitted, necessary inspection is being carried out of the colleges.
• 13 December 2021 - Again Two weeks’ time was granted for filing updated report of the University Grants Commission.
• 10 January 2022 -  An updated status report has been filed by the University Grants Commission (UGC). The status report indicates that pursuant to communications addressed by the UGC, responses have been received from 334 universities and 553 colleges. The Committee which has been constituted by the UGC to prepare accessibility standards related to infrastructure, pedagogy and curriculum for educational institutions in consultation with the Chief Commissioners has initiated work.  A draft working framework for guidelines has been placed on the record. The status report indicates that visiting teams are being finalized to formulate modalities to carry out inspection of educational institutions to ensure implementation of the provisions of the RPWD Act and a Committee of experts would be set up for this purpose. The guidelines are expected to be finalized shortly, after which inspections are envisaged. The court directed the UGC to ensure that the guidelines are finalized before the next date of hearing. Work on the inspections should also commence. A status report should be filed of the progress made. The court requested the UGC to be proactive. However, in view of the current stage of the pandemic the court directed that the proceedings be now listed on 14 March 2022. Compliance shall be reported at least a week before the next date of listing. The report and guidelines shall be made available to all the concerned stakeholders and shall be uploaded on the website of the UGC.
• 14 March 2022- It was stated that the Accessibility Guidelines have been notified on the website of UGC and suggestions to the Guidelines have been invited. The last date for the receipt of submissions is 25 March 2022. 2 Since the process of finalization of the Accessibility Guidelines is being carried out, the proceedings shall now be listed after three months so that the Court can be updated with a fresh status report. (PDF 43.4 KB)
• 25 July 2022 - The University Grants Commission has finalized the Accessibility Guidelines. The Guidelines have been circulated to all the Universities and have been placed on the website of the UGC. The Accessibility Guidelines envisage phase-wise implementation, so as to achieve the purpose of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act. The UGC shall ensure that the Guidelines are duly monitored and that periodic steps are taken to review the progress in implementation. Since the Guidelines have been framed in pursuance of the judgment dated 15 December 2017, no further directions are necessary, at this stage. The Miscellaneous Application is accordingly disposed of.  (PDF 48.6 KB)