Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (TU/CN)

Mangalore, Dec 3: The District Special Teachers’ Association for Mentally Challenged has urged the government to award equal status to the special teachers in the state.

Addressing media persons at the Press Club here on Tuesday December 2, Vasanth Kumar Shetty, secretary of the association, said that special teachers and non-teaching staff in the state have been deprived of job guarantee and other facilities.

"The governments in Goa, Maharastra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, and West Bengal, have awarded equal status as in the education department and provided special service facility to the special teachers. But, the state government and central government response to our memorandum has been lukewarm for the last few years", he added.

Shetty said that their major demand is to bring special schools under the education department instead of the current Physically Challenged Welfare Department and provide service facilities to the special teachers.

He said that they will organize a special conference in Bangalore in the first week of January 2009 to bring the plight of special teachers to the notice of the chief minister and the education minister. Maria Sruthi, principal, St Agnes Special School, and Meera Sathish, principal, Lions Special School, Surathkal, were present at the press meet.