For the 3,185 children with special needs enrolled in UT’s government schools, there are only 97 special educators available against a sanctioned strength of 122 – figures which showcase the abysmal state of affairs when it comes to providing an equal chance of a dignified life for these students.
The job involves understanding not just a child’s learning needs but also emotions. Sometimes it becomes difficult to understand exactly what a child is trying to communicate. Saddling one teacher with more than the recommended strength of special students, and responsibility across multiple schools, defeats the purpose. She also highlighted the need for more trained professionals who can provide appropriate classroom support.
For perspective, the recommended teacher-student ratio at the primary level with regards to special children’s education is 1: 10 while at the secondary or middle-school level, it is 1:15. To put it simply, each teacher is to be responsible for only 10 special students at the primary level, and 15 at the secondary level. But given the current strength, each special educator in UT is responsible for an average of 32 students with some even having to divide time between two schools to meet the education department’s mandate of having at least two special educators in each school. It had appointed 94 special educators in 2025, out of which 22 resigned, according to the education department. the department says it is looking to raise the total strength to 251 While 25 posts of special educators are currently vacant in the UT. Director School Education Nitish Singla said the department had sent a letter to the Centre seeking approval for the creation of 129 additional special educator posts.
Therefore, teaching them requires a lot of patience, emotional strength and time to ensure each child gets individual attention. The teacher further explained that due to the overwhelming nature of the responsibilities, it’s not uncommon for teachers to quit the job after a while.
Explaining the challenges, a special educator, on the condition of anonymity, said, “Teaching special children is not a cakewalk. “The proposed posts are intended to strengthen the availability of special educators in government schools,” he said.
