Govt's Duty To Ensure Online Education For Specially-Abled Students: Bombay HC

The Bombay High Court, on Monday, said that it was the Maharashtra government's duty to ensure a fair online education for students with special needs across the state. The decision comes following a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by an NGO raising concerns over the accessibility of online classes by specially-abled students during the pandemic. The HC has thus also advised the government to make use of Doordarshan to telecast educational programmes.

The hearing was presided over by a division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice GS Kulkarni. Anamprem, the NGO petitioning through advocate Uday Warunjikar, shone a light on the difficulties being faced by specially-abled students in attending classes online, since educational institutions are halted given the COVID-19 pandemic. "Find out some solution. It is the state government’s duty. You (government) can take some slot.. for one or two hours.. on Doordarshan and show special educational programmes," Chief Justice Datta was quoted saying.

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Concerns raised in the petition

According to Economic Times, Warunjikar highlighted the "non-availability of staff or mobile facilities" for students with special needs. He suggested the government could utilise local radios and broadcast channels to impart education to these students.

The bench has reportedly addressed the PIL asking the petitioner to submit recommendations to the state government on methods to be used, following which the government can study them and take necessary action. Bombay HC has advised the government to submit its report by January 18, 2021.

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Online education during the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic hasn't been kind to the education sector, posing hurdles to students who are having to attend classes online with the necessary technology and devices. Many have expressed the inaccessibility of such an online education system, since affordability of internet, laptops, phones, etc. is proving to be an issue.

In July, it was reported that a man from Himachal Pradesh had to sell his cow only to buy a smartphone on which his children could attend classes. More recently, reports came that a student of Delhi's prestigious Lady Shri Ram College for Women had died by suicide, stating the financial burden of online classes as one of the reasons in her parting letter. This incident had raised the issue of institutional murder. Read more on that here.