Bishops welcome Kerala aiding special schools

Aided status to these schools was a long-standing demand of the Church.

(File photo--The Hindu) )--Members of the Special School Employees Union staging a dharna demanding aided status for all special schools in the State.

Thiruvananthapuram:  Catholic Bishops in Kerala have welcomed a state decision to fund special schools meant for children with disabilities, saying the move shows the government's social commitment.

State Finance Minister K M Mani during his latest budget proposal said special schools with 100 or more students would be given aided status. Schools with aided status get government funds to pay for the salary of teachers and maintain the building.

The bishops in a press release said 120 of the 278 special schools in the state are under their management, while the state runs only one such school.

Aided status to these schools was a long-standing demand of the Church but successive governments have ignored it until now, the release said.

The government decision will be a relief to these schools, several of them under financial stress, the bishops said lauding the legislative members who supported the move.

Source: press release