The Government Blind School in Pudukkottai has only one teaching faculty, who is also the Head Master(HM). With no other teacher available to unburden him, the HM, Vadivelan, is forced to teach all the classes across grades 1-8 together, under one roof. While the union government has not stipulated a pupil-teacher ratio for schools for children with visual impairments in India, the Supreme Court had notified 8:1 as the ratio through the stop-gap arrangement in October 2021. However, government-run schools for those with visual impairments in Tamil Nadu, including the said middle school in Pudukkottai are nowhere close to attaining this ratio.
Sources who wish to remain anonymous confirmed with TNM that out of the 129 posts for teachers across all the 10 government schools, almost 100 are vacant. Specifically, the vacancies for teachers of science and mathematics at high schools have persisted for the last 10 years. “There are no science teachers in all the three high schools located in Thanjavur, Trichy, and Chennai. All four posts dedicated to science are vacant. There have also been no takers for mathematics either, as two out of four posts are vacant. The worst part is that there are seven vacancies for music teachers. Music is the most important subject for children with visual impairments and currently, among all the 10 schools, there are only three music teachers,” a source said. Additionally, out of 10 posts for physical education teachers, nine are vacant.
When TNM reached out to Jacintha Lazarus, the Commissioner of the Department of Welfare of Differently Abled, to confirm these numbers, she said, “I don’t want to comment on the exact numbers but the vacancies are sizable.”
Apart from Pudukkottai, the government middle school for the blind in Salem functions with just one teacher and an HM, and the high schools in Trichy and Thanjavur function with three to five teachers only. The Poonamallee school for boys is the only government school that has an optimum number of teachers. The Headmaster, Arulanandan , told TNM, “We have teachers for all the subjects except for science and P.Ed. Since this is a high school, some students are writing the 10th and 12th board exams. It is challenging for substituting teachers to teach science and unfortunately, students have to appear for exams without a qualified teacher.”
Commissioner Jacintha cites that the reason for the lack of teachers is not having enough people who have completed Teachers Eligibility Training (TET) and special education training. “The Supreme Court has ordered that completing the TET is compulsory. In Tamil Nadu, there aren’t enough teachers who have completed both the special training and the TET to meet the growing demand in government schools for children with visual impairments.”
However, a source from the community of people with visual impairments expressed that the government should give importance to special educators more than TET. “At present, the situation is so troubling and there are 30 to 40 people who have been trained as special educators but haven’t cleared TET. We are not sure why TET is so important because, for those with visual impairments, the teaching methods and practices are very different. What do we do with people who have cleared the TET but have no idea about the Braille?” the source asks. They also pointed out that aided special schools for the blind are exempted from this rule. “It's only fair to provide an exemption for a year or so until more special educators complete the TET,” the source added.
Moreover, Vishnu (name changed), a parent who spoke to TNM highlighted that there aren’t enough non-teaching and supporting staff at the Thanjavur school. Since all 10 schools for children with visual impairments are residential, the need for non-teaching staff who cook, clean, and assist in washing the clothes of the students, plays a significant role in supporting the students’ education. “The number of students who study at these schools is going down drastically because parents are not happy with the way these schools function. Without supporting staff, children are unable to live in hygienic conditions and many of them are psychologically affected by all this,” a source said.
“As a parent, I do not know who to vent out to. Time and again, I visit the school and call the faculty to find out if and when new teachers will be appointed. Personally, my ward is attending the school only for namesake. There is not much learning happening. If I bring my ward back home, I will not be able to teach because as parents, we are not adept with the Braille method of teaching. I am very scared for my child’s future,” Vishnu said.
The state government has allocated cash incentives for curbing dropouts. But, the number of students is depreciating year on year at these schools. According to the incentives scheme, students who complete the 12th will receive Rs 5,000 (Rs 1,500 for completing the 10th, Rs 1,500 for completing the 11th, and Rs. 2,000 for finishing the 12th). Although the government claims that the scheme benefited 1,461 students between 2021-2022, parents and teachers deny that all those who finish 12th are availing of this benefit. Commissioner Jacintha said, “Based on the number of students, the department parks the allocated fund with Power Finance. After that, the students can realise it.” However, Vishnu differed and said, “Both my ward and I haven’t heard of anyone who has received this incentive. In fact, we just came to know about it.” Sofia, the Headmaster of the Thanjavur Government Blind High school also corroborated, “The District Differently Abled Welfare Officer (DDAWO) is responsible for distributing the funds. I think only a few have received this incentive in 2019. I cannot say for certain that this incentive has been reaching all the students in the last three years.” When TNM contacted Swaminathan, Thanjavur district’s DDAWO, he said, “Due to the pandemic, we didn’t receive cash for this incentive scheme in the last two years. We haven’t received the funds this year either.”
While addressing the dropout rates, a source said, “The government sees that the strength is reducing every year. They are not trying to assess why. If this situation persists, I am afraid that in the coming years, they will close these schools down citing that there are no students.”
Meanwhile, the Poonamallee blind school which is staffed suffers from infrastructural threats. Sources complain that during heavy rains, the roofs of the building, which was constructed in the 1800s, leak and that the students constantly fear that the ceiling will collapse. When TNM visited the school, there was forest staff scouting for venomous snakes. A student said that all students are forced to be extra cautious and alert to avoid any encounters with venomous snakes which are often spotted by the school’s teaching and non-teaching staff. “As we cannot see them, we keep our ears open all the time. Many of us are terrified,” he added.
Due to heavy damages, the students and teachers do not use the first floor of the building to avoid fatal accidents
Citing such long-standing problems, a source from the community of people with visual impairments told TNM under the condition of anonymity, “Previously, we used to meet with the department’s minister easily. But in recent times, since Chief Minister M K Stalin is heading the department, it is not very easy for us to directly meet him and talk about these problems.” Meanwhile, Commissioner Jacintha is positive that the problem of staffing will be fixed within the next month. “We are encouraging those who have finished special education training to clear TET and we are in the process of finalising the contractual employment for non-teaching staff,” she said.