The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed the Delhi Subordinate Service Selection Board (DSSSB) to file an affidavit giving the reason for the delay in the recruitment of special educators in schools of the government and municipal corporations. It also asked the DSSSB to provide details about the requests made by the Delhi government and the process of recruitment for the purpose.
A bench comprising acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar observed: “This matter is certainly of grave concern. Special education needs of children with special needs cannot be ignored. Every day delay will be of grave harm and will be severely impacting the children,”
The Delhi government had brought to the notice of the court that the process of recruitment for 432 special educators was not complete though repeated requests had been made to the DSSSB in that regard.
The bench fixed 30 November as the next date of hearing and issued a direction that a DSSSB official aware of the facts of the matter must be present before it on that date. The Delhi government was ordered to ensure compliance of court order.
The case was transferred to the bench by another High Court judge. The matter related to a woman’s plea filed through advocate Ashok Aggarwal, contending that her two children (sons) with special needs had not been able to learn anything though they had spent many years as students in government and municipal committee schools.
The court perused the affidavits filed by the Delhi government and the South Delhi Municipal Corporation and observed that the government’s response showed that the DSSSB was proceeding in an extremely slow manner so far as the process of recruitment of special educators was concerned.
The court was informed by the government in February that 432 out of 927 posts of special educators in government schools were vacant.