The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed all the state governments to provide necessary infrastructure, stationery, books, and other equipment to child care institutions (CCI) for conducting online classes within 30 days.
A bench headed by Justice L Nageswara Rao ordered that states should ensure that the required number of teachers are also made available to teach children in the child care institutions.
The bench was hearing a suo motu case on the condition of children in protection, juvenile and foster or kinship homes across the country amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The apex court passed a list of directions to meet the educational needs of child care institutions and children who have been restored to families from these institutions, during the pandemic.
Apart from this, it also directed the institutes that extra classes should also be provided to children to prepare them for final exams for the upcoming academic year if needed. As per official data, a total of 2,27,518 children were living in CCIs when the COVID-19 pandemic started. As of now, 1,45,788 of them have been restored with their families or guardians.
The bench also directed the states to pay an amount of ₹2,000 per month for their education. This amount has to be given at the recommendation of the District Child Protection Unit (DCPUs) keeping in mind the financial position of children’s families.
Taking into account, the importance and the need for providing education to the children who have been recently restored with their families, the bench directed that DCPU shall coordinate and oversee the progress made in this area.
The top court also directed that CCIs would inform the district legal services authority about the progress made regarding the issue of facilities. The order was passed while the bench was hearing a suo motu case on the condition of children in protection, juvenile and foster or kinship homes across the country amid the coronavirus outbreak.
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