Students and teachers of special schools take out procession

CUDDALORE: The students and teachers of special schools in Cuddalore, Villupuram and Nagapattinam districts took out a rally here on Thursday in support of their demands.
Demands

It was held under the aegis of the Cuddalore branch of the All India Confederation of Organisations for Persons with Mental Disability. According to M.Ravichandran, State president of the organisation, the demands included time-scale pay for the teachers in special schools and speedy distribution of benefits announced by the government for the differently abled persons.

According to the 2001 Census, there were two lakh mentally challenged persons in the State, and 250 special schools run by the service organisations were catering to their needs.
Teachers appointed

Mr. Ravichandran pointed out that till 1992, the government had appointed 32 teachers in special schools, but later, no postings were made. In view of the present and future needs, the government must post at least 750 teachers, 250 women helpers and 250 office assistants in special schools.

Correspondents and non-teaching staff of at least 18 special schools such as Oasis, G.V.Dhaya, Santhi Jain, Vela and John, and hundreds of students and parents took part in the rally that wound its way from the Periyar statue to the Collectorate.

Later, the office-bearers of the organisation handed over a memorandum to District Collector P.Seetharaman. Those participated on the occasion included K.Kumar, district president and Kavi.Thavaraj, secretary.