No growth for disabled kids, says OSCPCR chairperson
Odisha State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (OSCPCR) chairperson Sruti Mohapatra on Thursday stated that during her visit to several residential, special schools and Anganwadi centres in last two days in the district, she came across several issues which are yet to be addressed properly.
According to Mohapatra, the infrastructure in most of the residential and special schools is in deteriorated state due to lack of maintenance. It should be developed on a war footing basis, she suggested. The students in residential schools are staying in an unhygienic condition whereas the mid day meal (MDM) is being prepared amid unhygienic atmosphere in several child care institutions in the district, she revealed.
Due to shortage of teachers, the students fail to get qualitative education in the schools, she said, suggesting further that the district administration should increase the skill and capacity of the teachers. Besides, she said special attention should be given to the adolescent children for their physical and moral development in child care institutes.
She was dissatisfied that in special schools no development was visible. To improve the disabled students, proper care and attention should be taken by the teachers of the special schools, she emphasized. She urged the district Collector to take steps to solve the problems in the child care institutes. She said that the district labour department had been told to conduct an inquiry and submit a detailed status report on the exact number of child labourers in the district.
The district Collector was also asked to constitute a task force and raid different hotels to rescue the child labourers, besides providing a detailed report on missing children, she said. Mohapatra also said that the district administration had been asked to ensure safety measures for the school children during before and after floods.