As many as 23 schools for the mentally challenged will become eligible for government funding. The State Cabinet on Wednesday decided to accord aided status for such schools with 100 or more students each.
These are among the 278 schools for the mentally challenged in Kerala, of which 277 are run by private service organisations.
Addressing reporters after the Cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said a proposal to accord aided status for such schools with 50 or more students had also been approved in principle. The BUDS schools managed by local bodies would become aided institutions in the next phase, he said.
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Mr. Chandy said the decision would help address the injustice towards children with special needs. “Successive governments are to be blamed for not addressing the issue. When education up to Plus 2 level is free in all the government schools in the state, it is unfair that these special schools have not been provided aid,” he said.
Special scheme
A special scheme would be worked out for students above the age of 18 who could not be accommodated in the schools once they became aided institutions. He added that teachers in the aided schools would be protected.
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The Cabinet also decided to upgrade the government school for the visually challenged at Olassa in Kottayam to a high school and create 10 new posts of teachers.
Aided status for such schools with 100 or more students
School for the visually challenged to be upgraded