‘There’s joy, but less money’

Last month the Supreme Court raised a concern that disability activists have been trying to draw attention to for decades Do we have enough special educators ldquoTherersquos a dearth of rehabilitation professionals or special teachers who alone can impart education and training to handicapped persons or children with special needs CwSN and are registered by the Rehabilitation Council of Indiardquo observed the bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar adding that there are only 120781 special educators registered at present with the Rehabilitation Council of India RCI As per the data available with Unified District Information System for Education there are 225 lakh children with special needs in the country Experts say a masterrsquos degree in special education can set one apart from other applicants for teaching jobs because a special education degree makes it clear you are capable of teaching every student Why then does India find itself in a dire position Two special educators decode the dilemmalsquoYou need immense patiencersquoMasarrat Khan 55Dyslexia therapistclinical psychologist and CEO Maharashtra Dyslexia AssociationMasarrat Khan at the Maharashtra Dyslexia association in Dadar She says Indiarsquos New Education Policy NEP which seeks to address all such forms of marginalisation in education will help improving access to education and creating an inclusive society PicAtul KambleItrsquos no exaggeration says Masarrat Khan that one in every 10 people has dyslexia which means that in a world with a population of over seven billion more than 700 million children and adults are at risk of social exclusion and illiteracy ldquoWhat makes it dyslexia complex is that you cannot see the problem given that it is not a physical disability Even autism can be gauged from the mannerisms and behaviour pattern but not dyslexia unless the person tells you that they have the condition Besides so many cases go undiagnosedrdquo Dyslexia is a lifelong condition and research has shown that early identification and intervention can help the people affected by dyslexia to lead meaningful lives ldquoYou need a special skill set to be able to teach those affected by dyslexia Irsquod say any field of special education requires 100 per cent commitment along with immense patience especially with dyslexia as these are people who come with a lot of emotional baggage They are labelled as dumb as they struggle to process information making it hard to read spell and write due to which they have issues with selfesteemrdquo Because all children have the right to education and make progress in line with their mainstream counterparts Khan decided that teachers needed to be trained better In 2008 Maharashtra Dyslexia Association MDA a nonprofit committed to building a support system for individuals with Specific Learning Disorder launched the Dyslexia Therapist Training Programme by Sandra Dillon author of the Sounds In Syllables Dyslexia Therapy The firstofitskind in India it was in collaboration with the Multisensory Language Training Institute of New Mexico with Khan as the Course Coordinator The course equips candidates to become specialists in teaching and therapy for individuals with dyslexia However realising that not everybody was interested in becoming a therapist she designed a threelevel course which was launched in June 2020 Khanrsquos experience has shown that those who get into the field of special education often have a family member with disability or feel inspired after having volunteered with organisations that cater to people with special needs or are mainstream teachers who have been at a loss as to why some children in their class are unable to read write and spell despite good verbal skills The motivation is never money In her own case Khan says she did not set out to make a career in special education but a chance encounter in 1989 with a social worker at the then Childrenrsquos Orthopaedic Hospital in Haji Ali led her down the path ldquoBack then the hospital used to run a unit for children affected by cerebral palsy where they were teaching them academics along with providing therapy The social worker insisted that I at least come and observe the kids because they were looking for educators I went for 15 days and the rest is historyrdquolsquoMore posts need to be createdrsquoShoba Srivastava 56Special educator and cofounder of SOPAN Society of Parents of Children with Autistic DisordersShoba Srivastava cofounder of Sopan which offers a variety of human resource development programmes in the field of disability education The organisation recently set up set up a new centre Shanay at Panvel PicSatej ShindeIn 2002 a group of parents whose children with autism needed specialised education and training decided to band together to set up SOPAN Society of Parents of Children with Autistic Disorders a registered NGO working for autism and related developmental disabilities Shoba Srivastava happened to be one of them ldquoWe started out with the aim of empowering parents of children with autism but along the way we opened it up to all disabilities because that was the need of the hour We then started teaching young children with developmental disabilities but now we run a school college and even offer vocational trainingrdquo Armed with a degree in Special Education with a post graduate degree in education Srivastava has since played a significant role in raising awareness around the condition For her teaching special kids is one of the greatest joys But sometimes finance overrides feelings which explains why not many teaching professionals want to sign up for the job ldquoThe compensation is the primary reason for the dearth Therersquos joy but less money Secondly the government has not created enough posts for special educators to promote employment Yes there are schools but not enough And NGOrun schools canrsquot match up to what regular teachers get at private schoolsrdquo The average salary for a special educator in a governmentrun school is Rs 25000 per month which experts say is not adequate The average salary for a special education teacher in the United States is 50506 Rs 3753143per year Srivastava however says that slowly we are moving towards an inclusive society ldquoSpecial schools for visual and hearing impaired children have shrunk over the years because these students can be integrated into regular schools because of the legal provisions in India Children with neurological disabilities are also moving towards inclusive education but require a lot more supportrdquo Making the BEd degree more broadbased so that it includes a special education component will make a difference she feels ldquoThat way we can teach any child in any settingrdquoHow to become a Special Educator Completion of Class X11 in relevantrelated subjects Students must have completed 102 in any subject from a recognised board Clear the Entrance Exams Several colleges and universities administer entrance exams to students interested in special educator programmes Complete your Bachelorrsquos Degree Following the completion of 102 students must apply for admission to institutions to pursue a bachelorrsquos degree in special education Pursue Post Bachelorrsquos Degree Candidates must apply for admission to a BEd programme in special education after completing a bachelorrsquos degree programme