No funds, school for special kids shut for 2 months

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, December 3

Harmony Through Education India, the only school that caters to special children in Kangra district, is on the verge of closure. Today the school was closed for two months due to paucity of funds.

Anuradha Sharma, head teacher of the school, was in tears. She said, “It is hard to part ways with the children you have been living for the past eight years. We have tried our best to save the school. Teachers have kept on working without salary for the past three months. However, due to the paucity of funds, we are closing down the school for two months.”

The head said the school was started by US philanthropist Seth Shefferper who had visited the area in 2008. He had promised grant for the school for the first three years with a condition that the institution must become self-sufficient after that. However, Seth Shefferper had continued to provide $2,000 per month to the school for eight years. However, now he had expressed helplessness and stopped the grant, she said.

Anuradha Sharma said there were 42 children in the school who came from different parts of the district. Many belonged to poor families. The school also had a waiting list of 65 students whom they could not admit due to limited facilities. Bela Singh, one of the trustees of the school, said they had been trying to generate donations for the past two years. However, their efforts had failed. They would again try to generate sources for the school. If they were able to generate funds, the school would reopen in

February, he said.

The head said the case for continuing aid was also pending with the Harmony Through Education, the US. However, it would be better if funding was generated from here. Sources here said the school had approached the district administration for aid. District officials had written to the school trustees to identify land for the institute. However, school officials could not understand as to how they would identify the government land for the school.

Meanwhile, special games were organised by the district administration at the indoor stadium for the children with special abilities. The state Welfare Department has also asked the school authorities to apply to them for grants.