Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Central government on a plea seeking an adequate and effective mechsm for the education of visually impaired and specially-abled individuals amid the coronavirus-induced lockdown.
A division bench of Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Subramonium Prasad issued notice to the Union of India (Ministry of Human Resource Development and Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment) and asked them to file a counter affidavit within five days stating measures they are proposing to take.
The court also allowed liberty to the petitioners to file a reply to the counter within 3 days, if any.
The petition, filed by law students Prateek Sharma and Diksha Singh, sought setting-up of an adequate and effective mechsm for the visually impaired and specially-abled individuals for transmission of educational instructions and teaching and material for the same.
It said that due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the universities, schools and colleges and other educational institutions have engaged in online teachings, however, no efforts have been made by the Respondents (Union of India) to consider the need of the visually impaired and specially-abled individuals (auditory impairment).
The petitioner-in-person also sought an interim relief that the mid-term evaluation as the UGC guidelines must be stayed till such guidelines and mechsm are set-up and put in place.
It said that the nonchalant outlook has and is leading to worsening the educational conditions and no notice of this situation has been taken by the Respondents or respective state governments.
The plea sought directions to provide adequate steps and undertake measures to facilitate online learning and online examinations and examinations being conducted - including mid-semester evaluation and/or continuous evaluation as per the UGC guidelines.
Due to the various guidelines and maintaining social distancing and staying indoors has been taken as a pivotal precautionary measure and therefore, the government restricted all educational institutions from operating and the same had to abide by the rules of the lockdown, the plea said.
Because of this, the normal mode of education was done away with and that online learning was adopted and no considerations were made for visually impaired and specially-abled individuals (auditory impairment) and their educational needs, it added.
The plea alleged that due to this non-consideration, students at all levels who are visually impaired and/or specially-abled find themselves in worsening educational condition and effectively have been left to fend for themselves during this period of hardship.
The current educational system and lack of an effective mechsm thereto for imparting education to the above stated are discriminatory and therefore operates as a hurdle for educational endeavours and aspirations of our fellow visually impaired and specially-abled students, the plea said.
It said that the burden of learning is not on the visually impaired and specially-abled individuals, rather it is the duty of the State to ensure and provide for effective teachings method, however the same is not being done due to lack of any such policy or effective mechsm, therefore, placing visually impaired and specially-abled individuals in an apathetic situation.
The universities/colleges/schools /educational institutions have adopted a nonchalant and non-serious approach to the said issue and are not providing or effectively dealing with the said issue and thereby effectively causing and forcing the students to either wait out the said period and hope for the said lockdown to subside to resume their learning, the plea said.
( With inputs from ANI )