Adding value to lives of kids with special needs

Divya Sharma

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, September 3

As Teacher’s Day is round the corner, some educators, charitable organisations and schools are spending their day and night teaching special children in the city. These city-based special educators feel that there is a need for developing a culture of inclusive education in educational institutes, formulating policies to ensure job opportunities for special educators and an overall change in the mindset of the society towards differently-abled persons.

A city-based special educator at Spring Dale Senior School, Prerana Khanna, had to step into teaching when she faced difficulty in getting her son admitted to mainstream schools due to lack of specialised teachers. Her son suffered from cerebal palsy.

She said: “My struggle started when I decided to get my son Kavish Khanna admitted to a mainstream school in the city. There was a no special educator. I had done BEd in Special Education and could train him at an individual level. Therefore, I decided to step in and started teaching at the school. This meant I could take care of my child as well as educate others. Inclusive education is the need of the hour. We must give these kids respect and empathy rather than sympathy.”

The School of Education of Guru Nanak Dev University teaches aspects of special education. The school focuses on honing teaching skills for pre-school and special education. A grant of Rs7 crore had been sanctioned by the Ministry of Human Resource Development under the Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya National Mission on Teachers and Teaching. Besides stressing upon change in mindsets, efforts are to be directed for creating employment opportunities for individuals to consider special education as an employment option.

All India Pingalwara Charitable Society under the Bhagat Puran Singh Institute at their Manawala branch is creating young professionals by imparting them training in the field of special education. Two diplomas courses, Diploma in Special Education and Diploma in Educating Hearing Impaired, are being offered to girl students. Both these courses are affiliated to the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI).

Darshan Singh Bawa, administrator, All-India Pingalwara Charitable Society, said: “Our state has failed to create sufficient job opportunities in the sector. States such as Haryana and Rajasthan have come out with a lot of policies. There is a need to take concrete steps, keeping in view the job opportunities for quality educators.”

“We are providing these courses free-of-cost. There are 50 girls each who are pursuing Diploma in Special Education and Diploma in Educating Hearing Impaired, respectively,” he added.

Institutes such as the Government-run Pehal Resource Centre are also offering skill development, education and sports opportunities to students with special needs.

Simmi Luthra, headmistress of DAV Red Cross School for Special Children, said: “There has been awareness among people for such children. They are being accepted and jobs are being created. Many things changed after Aamir Khan’s Taare Zameen Pe.” She has seven special educators with 132 students.