Mangaluru: Special school teachers and non-teaching staff from across the state will stage a statewide protest at Freedom Park in Bengaluru on Jan 28, alleging prolonged delays in funding and an inadequate govt response to their long-pending demands.The protest is being organised by the Karnataka State Special Teachers and Non-Teaching Staff Association and the Karnataka State Federation for the Differently Abled, which operate special schools for children with intellectual disabilities, autism, cerebral palsy, multiple disabilities, specific learning disabilities, and hearing and visual impairments. Teachers, non-teaching staff, parents, and intellectually disabled adults above 25 years of age are expected to participate, with an estimated turnout of 2,000 to 2,500 representatives from across the state.Addressing reporters on Thursday, association state secretary Vasanth Kumar Shetty said only 34 special schools currently receive grants under the 1982 grant policy, while many special schools run by non-profit organisations function without any funding support. He said the department for the empowerment of differently abled and senior citizens introduced a new grant policy in 2010-11, the Child-Centric Assistance Scheme, which extended assistance to about 166 schools but resulted in wide pay disparities.According to Shetty, the honorarium for special teachers under the child-centric scheme was Rs 6,500 in 2010-11, raised to Rs 13,500 in 2014-15 and to Rs 20,250 in 2022. In contrast, teachers working in schools funded under the 1982 policy earn between Rs 60,000 and Rs 80,000 per month. He further alleged that funding under the child-centric scheme is discontinued if student numbers fall below prescribed levels and that salaries are frequently delayed by several months.Shetty also referred to an evaluation report submitted in July 2016 by a STEM institution in Koramangala, Bengaluru, commissioned by the department, which reportedly found that schools receiving child-centric assistance performed better than govt-funded schools.He said the department had abruptly stopped funding for around 176 special teachers trained under the MCTT programme. While govt has allowed an extension of their service for two years from 2025-26, he said steps must be taken to regularise their services after short-term RCI training.The association’s key demands include extending equal benefits to teachers and non-teaching staff under the child-centric scheme on par with the 1982 grant policy under the principle of “equal pay for equal work”, approval of a proposal to increase funding for state special schools by 40% following discussions with legislative assembly speaker UT Khader, and implementation of full financial benefits for special teachers in state special schools in line with a Supreme Court order.Other demands include revising child-centric scheme guidelines every five years with expert consultation from selected special schools, disbursing grants in two annual instalments in June and Oct, and authorising and funding professional and pre-professional institutions for youths above 25 years of age in every district.
