The Delhi High Court issued notice to the Central Government on a plea filed by two law students from Delhi University seeking an adequate and effective mechanism for the visually impaired and specially abled individuals with auditory impairment for transmission of educational instructions and teaching and material for the same.
A Division Bench of the High Court comprising of Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Subramonium Prasad issued notice to the Ministry of Human Resource Development and Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and has asked them to submit a counter affidavit within 5 days.
The Petitioners appeared in person and sought for an interim relief that the mid-term evaluation as per the UGC guidelines be stayed till guidelines and mechanism is set-up.
The petition filed by Prateek Sharma and Diksha Singh, stated that due to Covid-19 outbreak, universities, schools, colleges and other educational institutions have started teaching online, but the Government has made no efforts to consider the need of the visually impaired and individuals with auditory impairment.
According to petitioners, directions need to be issued to the Government, whose nonchalant attitude has worsened the educational conditions to provide adequate steps and undertake measures to facilitate online learning and online examinations and examinations being conducted – including mid-semester evaluation and/or continuous evaluation as per the UGC guidelines.
The petition stated that the current educational system with no effective mechanism for imparting education to the individuals with visual and auditory impairment is discriminatory and also operates as a hurdle in educational endeavors and aspirations these people.
According to the petitioners, its the duty of the State to ensure that effective teaching methods are provided and the burden of learning should not fall on the visually impaired and specially-abled individuals
The respondent Government has been asked to state the steps that have been taken in this regard in 5 days and the Petitioners have been asked to file a reply within three days. The matter is scheduled to be listed on 2nd June 2020.
-India Legal Bureau