Defying odds, 15 differently-abled students shine

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 27

Taking a step ahead in reaching out to CWSN (children with special needs), the Pehal Resource Centre, the only government-run school for differently-abled, this year is celebrating the success of its Class XII and Class X students. After CWSN students from Class XII from the centre passed the PSEB exams with flying colours, the students of Class X at the school have done the centre proud by getting 100% result in the PSEB exams.

Fifteen of its students, with autism spectrum disorders and hearing disabilities, have achieved 100% result in the PSEB Class X exams with Vaibhav bagging the top spot in the CWSN category in the district. He scored 458/650 with 70.68%, followed by Harpreet Kaur who scored 448/650. Sneha, who scored 426/650, secured the third position.

Among the 15 CWSN students, four are girls and rest are boys. Vaibhav, Harpreet Kaur and Sneha are hearing impaired while 10 out of 15 students have autism spectral disorders and cerebral palsy.

Dharminder Gill, coordinator, Pehal Resource Centre and SSA, said this year, the District Education Department had worked on a special curated inclusive education plan for ensuring that each CWSN student was assisted in learning according to their individual needs. “It’s great that our students have shown determined efforts and hard work to continue with their learning process,” he said.

The majority of students at Pehal come from poor families with no means to provide education or cater to the needs of CWSN. Pehal has developed academic as well as vocational infrastructure to offer its students self-reliance and a chance to be part of the mainstream education system.