eGovWatch: Facilities for special needs kids on DoE website
Parents of children with special needs, looking to get their child admitted to nursery, can now search for facilities available in private unaided schools in Delhi on the website of the Delhi Directorate of Education (DoE).
The data was recently put up on the website — edudel.nic.in — to facilitate nursery admissions, on the orders of the Delhi High Court.
The DoE on Wednesday informed the court of Justice S Ravindra Bhat and Justice R K Gauba that the verified details submitted by 231 private unaided schools have been uploaded on the website, and can be searched according to the needs of the child and the district in which the school is situated.
Further, the DoE stated that the information has been given on the basis of checklists prepared by the Rehabilitation Council of India.
The High Court had last year directed the DoE to collect data on facilities available in private schools. The court on Wednesday was hearing a contempt plea filed by Pramod Arora, through senior advocate Kirti Uppal and advocate Anshumaan Sahni, alleging that the court’s May 7, 2014, order to reserve seats for children with special needs in schools has not been complied with.
Last month, the court had issued a contempt of court notice against the principal secretary (education) for failing to complete the work. The contempt notice was discharged on Wednesday after taking note of the work done.
During the hearing, the court lauded the work done by the DoE , but also commented that the data could have been collected and made available to the public “much earlier”. The affidavit filed by the DoE also states that data regarding fees, vacancies and facilities available have been uploaded on the DoE website.
Further, a common application form for admission of children with special needs to nursery classes has been made available on the website.
The court has now directed the DoE to issue necessary directions to facilitate nursery admissions for children with special needs and to monitor whether such children are getting admission in the upcoming academic session. The matter will now be taken up on February 25.
