Education for Disabled

Inclusion
Generally, all Centrally–funded educational institutions reserve seats for students belonging to disadvantaged groups as follows:

Scheduled Castes (SCs) : 15%
Scheduled Tribes (STs) : 7.5%
Disabled : 3%

Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalays, which are pace-setting schools established by the Central Government in over 500 districts of the country, have, in addition to the above, reservations for the following categories also:

Girls : 33%
Rural Children : 75%

Besides, reservation of seats as above, following other facilities are also generally available to students belonging to SCs and STs:

Post-Matric Scholarships
Coaching to prepare for Entrance Examinations
Post – admission Remedial Coaching

Inclusive Education for Children with Special Needs (CWSN)
The inclusion of children with special needs (CWSN) in regular schools and classrooms is presently a part of a large world wide human rights movement which calls for full inclusion of all people including those with special needs in all aspects of life. The 86th Constitutional amendment has given a new thrust to the education of CWSN. SSA follows a policy of ‘zero rejection’, attempting to provide for education of CWSN including those with severe or profound disabilities

The important areas and strategies which need to receive greater attention are:-

Identification And Enrolment
The percentage of CWSN identified under SSA seems to be low, being only 1.54 % the total
child population in comparison to Census 2001 data, wherein 2.1% of the population has been
found to have some disability. The SRI-IMRB report (2005) estimates that 38 % of CWSN are
out of school. Therefore adequate measures for identification of CWSN have to be taken up by
training teachers, involving Primary Health Centres/ panchayats, community based organizations and NGOs. Data collection methods and parameters need to be evaluated and refined, so as to ensure complete and scientific data that can form the basis of planning and implementation, of provisions for all children identified.

Early Identification & Intervention
A concerted drive to detect children with special needs at an early age should be undertaken
through PHCs, ICDS, ECCE centres and other school readiness programs. Identification of
children with special needs should become an integral part of the micro-planning and household surveys. The ECCE centres under ICDS and SSA should specifically be targeted for early identification and instruction.

Age Relaxation (PWD Act)
According to the PWD Act free compulsory education for CWSN extends to 18
years. This implies extending support to education of CWSN to high school with
appropriate provisions. The possibility of taking this up under SSA should be
explored. Otherwise, alternative arrangements need to be worked out

Girl child with disability
Girls with disabilities suffer a double disadvantage. There is a need to work out more flexible and need based education and vocational training facilities for girls with disabilities. Adequate provisions has to be made under the existing NPEGEL / KGBV schemes to facilitate inclusion of girls with disability

Teacher training
There needs to be systemic changes to equip the existing system to meet the diverse needs of CWSN. Training strategy should include development of a database on the training needs of
each teacher on IE, developing and strengthening of training institutions and faculty, developing a training curriculum and introducing a mandatory IE module in the pre-service trainings by NCTE. An arrangement for regular on-site follow-up resource support for trained teachers once they begin practicing inclusion in their respective classrooms is absolutely crucial. The number and quality of resource teachers being recruited under SSA leaves much to be desired. Unless 3-4 resource teachers with an understanding of educational strategies for children with different disabilities are available at the block level, the academic support to teachers cannot be ensured.

Inclusive learning friendly environment
to be developed keeping schools as the centre of
development in terms of curriculum /teaching / evaluation for learning achievements of CWSN.

Community Based Approach & decentralization
Involvement of parents of CWSN, community / NGOs working in this field is very essential for
supporting mainstreaming CWSN. Block and district level Committees could help in planning
and implementation of IE activities.

‘Out of school’ children strategies
Isolation of CWSN needs to be avoided as far as possible. Thus there should be clear criteria of nature and extent of disability for taking up home based education. Also multi-option programmes like day care centres, pre-vocational programme resource centres and community based resources could be tried out to reach out to the most challenging categories.

Financial
The financial norm of Rs. 1200/- may be modified to Rs. 1500 per child. This is applicable for the total number of children. It is not to be applied for each child. The amount of fund required would be different for different categories of CWSN.

In conclusion, Education of CWSN needs to adopt a twin track approach - (i) bringing
systemic changes in the system for mainstreaming CWSN & (ii) individual needs of
children with disabilities has to be taken care to ensure that every child with special
needs receive education and continuous support.

Education for Disabled : Government Interventions

INTERVENTIONS FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

SSA will ensure that every child with special needs, irrespective of the kind, category and degree of disability, is provided education in an appropriate environment. SSA will adopt ‘zero rejection’ policy so that no child is left out of the education system. Approaches and Options: The thrust of SSA will be on providing integrated and inclusive education to all children with special needs in general schools. It will also support a wide range of approaches, options and strategies for education of children with special needs. This includes education through open learning system and open schools, non formal and alternative schooling, distance education and learning, special schools, wherever necessary, home based education, itinerant teacher model, remedial teaching, part time classes, community based rehabilitations (CBR) and vocational education and cooperative programmes. Components: The following activities could form components of the programme:

Early detection and identification: A concerted drive to detect children with special needs at an early age should be undertaken through PHCs, ICDS, ECCE centres and other school readiness programmes. Identification of children with special needs should become an integral part of the micro-planning and household surveys.

Functional and formal assessment of each identified child should be carried out. A team should be constituted at every block to carry out this assessment and recommend most appropriate placement for every child with special needs.

Educational Placement: As far as possible, every child with special needs should be placed in regular schools, with needed support services.

Aids and appliances: All children requiring assistive devices should be provided with aids and appliances, obtained as far as possible through convergence with the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, State Welfare Departments, National Institutions or NGOs.

Support services: Support services like physical access, resource rooms at cluster level, special equipment, reading material, special educational techniques, remedial teaching, curricular adaptation or adapted teaching strategies could be provided.

Teacher training: Intensive teacher training should be undertaken to sensitize regular teachers on effective classroom management of children with special needs. This training should be recurrent at block/cluster levels and integrated with the on-going in-service teacher training schedules in SSA. All training modules at SCERT, DIET and BRC level should include a suitable component on education of children with special needs.

Resource support: Resource support could be given by teachers working in special schools. Where necessary, specially trained resource teachers should be appointed, particularly for teaching special skills to children with special needs. Wherever this option is not feasible, long term training of regular teachers should be undertaken.

Individualized Educational Plan (IEP): An IEP should be prepared by the teacher for every child with special needs in consultation with parents and experts. Its implementation should be monitored from time to time. The programme should test the effectiveness of various strategies and models by measuring the learning achievement of children with special needs periodically, after developing indicators.

Parental training and community mobilization: Parents of children with disabilities should receive counselling and training on how to bring them up and teach them basic survival skills. Strong advocacy and awareness programmes should form a part of strategy to educate every child with special needs. A component on disability should be included in all the modules for parents, VEC and community.

Planning and management: Resource groups should be constituted at state, district levels to undertake effective planning and management of the programmes in collaboration with PRIs and NGOs. An apex level resource group at the national level to provide guidance, technical and academic support to children with special needs under SSA may be constituted.

Strengthening of special schools: Wherever necessary, special schools may be strengthened to obtain their resource support, in convergence with departments and agencies working in that area.

Removal of Architectural barriers: Architectural barriers in schools will be removed for easy access. Efforts will be taken to provide disable-friendly facilities in schools and educational institutions. Development of innovative designs for schools to provide an enabling environment for children with special needs should also be a part of the programme.

Research: SSA will encourage research in all areas of education of children with special needs including research for designing and developing new assistive devices, teaching aids, special teaching material and other items necessary to give a child with disability equal opportunities in education.

Monitoring and evaluation: On-going monitoring and evaluation should be carried out to refine the programme from time to time. For this, appropriate monitoring mechanisms should be devised at every level and field tested at regular intervals.

Girls with disabilities: Special emphasis must be given to education of girls with disabilities.

SSA : Children with special need
Inclusive Education in SSA
The key objective of SSA is Universalization of Elementary Education (UEE). Three
important aspects of UEE are access, enrolment and retention of all children in 6-14
years of age. This goal of UEE, has further been facilitated by the Constitutional (86th
Amendment) Act, making free and compulsory elementary education a Fundamental
Right, for all the children in the age group of 6-14 years. This Amendment has given
a new thrust to the education of Children With Special Needs (CWSN), as without
their inclusion, the objective of UEE cannot be achieved. In-fact inclusion of one of
the groups, which is extremely crucial for UEE, is perhaps that of the CWSN. Hence,
education of CWSN is an important component of SSA.
Read More

Manual for Planning and Implementation of Inclusive Education in SSA
The manual is a step-by-step description to initiate, implement and monitor the programme of
educating children with special needs in SSA. The main objective of this manual is to provide
to the implementers an insight into various aspects of inclusive education and provide help and guidance to them. A related objective of this manual is also to help state and district teams in preparation of plans on inclusive education. In view of the zero rejection policy adopted by SSA for children with special needs and in view of the fact that some severely disabled children may require specialised services, the manual describes a variety of options that could be offered to those children who cannot benefit fully by going to regular school
Read More

Documentation of Home-Based Education
This document is an effort to capture and record the initiatives being undertaken by States to impart home-based education to CWSN in SSA, mainly to enhance reach to children with special educational needs. It describes the objectives, processes and the impact of home-based education. States have adopted different ways to provide home-based support to CWSN. States like Himachal-Pradesh and West- Bengal are using NGOs for this purpose, whereas States like Haryana and Kerala have appointed resource teachers who visit the homes of CWSN to provide them basic functional skills. Parental counseling and training is also an important part of the entire home-based instruction programme. Other States like Tamil- Nadu are using special schools as resource centers to provide short-time or part-time help to individual children with special needs and their parents.
Read More

Integrated Education of Disabled Children (IEDC)
By the end of the financial year 2005-06 a total of approximately 2 lakhs disabled children have been covered in nearly 85,000 schools. The total budgetary provision during the 10th Five year plan is Rs. 200 crore and during the year 2006-07, Rs.60 crore has been allocated for the implementation of the Scheme of IEDC.
Read More

Andhra Pradesh : Mainstreaming CWSN
To achieve the goal of Universal Elementary Education, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan has adopted a zero rejection policy for inclusive education. Realizing this, the NGOs in the State of Andhra Pradesh are playing an active role to mainstream CWSN. NGOs are working in partnership with the State SSA Mission Society to initiate appropriate programmes and support services. These NGOs are assigned the essential tasks of prevention, identification, screening, management, education, training and follow-up. Developing new programmes, innovations and accordingly modifying the existing programmes, developing appropriate educational aids and materials, research and establishing coordination with the system for delivery of services are a few among more responsibilities of NGOs.
Read More on page 11 of the report

Assam Government
Participatory Planning
Axom Sarba Shiksha Abhijan Mission (ASSAM) is an effort to universalize elementary education by community ownership of the school system. It stresses on bridging social, regional and gender gaps with the active participation of the community in the management of the schools. The programme places a special focus on the groups with special needs. One such category is disabled children, in and out of school. Diversity in approaches is required to deal with the educational needs of CWSN. On account of separate administrative arrangements of schools, there is also a need to coordinate and converge interventions
across Departments and local bodies responsible for elementary education for disabled children. This calls for a provision of planning in partnership with civil society groups, which already exist. Thus, State SSA Mission Society of Assam has taken up initiatives to reach out to CWSN with a special focus, in collaboration with the local NGOs.
Read More on page 19 of the report

Karnataka Government
Networking with NGOs
Another example of active participation of NGOs in Inclusive Education is that of Karnataka, where more than 100 NGOs, in some way or the other, are involved in the programme
Read More on page 22 of the report

Education for Disabled : NGO Interventions

To be a part and not stand apart
To belong and not to be isolated
To be accepted and not accommodated
To have opportunities and not favours
Is to be really included

NGO Interventions
In the last two decades of the nineteen century, the NGOs have played an active role in India to impart education to CWSN. This led to the establishment of the first school for the Deaf in Bombay in 1883 and the first school for the Blind at Amritsar in 1887.

New Role of Special Schools/ NGOs
Planning for education of CWSN
Assisting in policy-making
Advocacy
Promoting inclusive education
Referral services
Teacher training
Production and distribution of assistive devices
Organizing camps
Parents’ education/ counseling
Residential services to severe CWSN
Development of material
Income generation
Vocational training
Community-based rehabilitation
Information centres
Research studies
Monitoring the impact of inclusion.

Mainstreaming CWSN
To achieve the goal of Universal Elementary Education, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan has adopted a zero rejection policy for inclusive education. Realizing this, the NGOs in the State of Andhra Pradesh are playing an active role to mainstream CWSN. NGOs are working in partnership with the State SSA Mission Society to initiate appropriate programmes and support services. These NGOs are assigned the essential tasks of prevention, identification, screening, management, education, training and follow-up. Developing new programmes, innovations and accordingly modifying the existing programmes, developing appropriate educational aids and materials, research and establishing coordination with the system for delivery of services are a few among more responsibilities of NGOs.

The State SSA State Mission of Andhra Pradesh has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the NGOs (given at Annex -I) involved in the implementation of IE programme in the State. The MoU focuses on the following:
Background of the NGO; Objectives; Tasks assigned; Schedule for completion of tasks; Final output; Monitoring and evaluation; and Release of funds.
Read More on page 11 of the report

In Andhra Pradesh, NGOs are mainly assisting in:
Early identification and intervention of CWSN, Assessment camps, Orientation classes for regular school teachers, Orientation classes for Anganwadi workers, Parental counselling,
Workshops on different disabilities for the mandal resource persons, and Conducting Residential Bridge Courses (RBCs).

Role of Naandi in IE
As part of its programme, ‘Ensuring Children Learn’, Naandi Foundation, a Hyderabad-based NGO is helping mainstream CWSN from Government Primary and Upper Primary Schools into the regular school curriculum.
The objectives of the programme are:
· To identify children in government primary and upper primary schools with special needs through a screening process followed by medical assessment;
· To provide children with special needs the required medical and specialist attention, and with the necessary aids and appliances based on the medical assessment;
· To develop source education processes and material that are adopted to their needs, and hence ensure their retention in schools;
· To refer severely affected children to special institutions; and
· To facilitate the social integration of special needs children within their homes and community, by enabling parents to cope better.

The following methodology was adopted to achieve the above objectives:
· Group of professionals experienced in the field of special education helped formulate the plan of action.
· Naandi’s Mandal Coordinators and the Mandal Resource Persons were trained on the theoretical aspects of disabilities and also learnt to identify children with different abilities using a simple screening format.
· The Mandal Coordinators in turn were responsible to provide this training to the school teachers, with the help of Mandal Resource Persons.
· Screening of disabled children was conducted in two phases, namely a preliminary screening by teachers, followed by specialized attention to medically assess the extent of disability and suggesting the most appropriate follow up service.
· Appropriate medical care and aids were provided to the children.
· Teachers were trained in attending to the special education needs of these children and appropriate education material was developed/sourced for their assistance.
· The foundation networked with agencies to enrol children with severe and profound disabilities that could not be handled in regular school environment.
· Referrals were made for those CWSN who required special education.
· Community involvement was ensured for effective inclusion of special children, as well as following up with the parents to ensure their cooperation.

The teachers were oriented to the screening format on the basis of which they could identify CWSN. The screening format developed was used in the Naandi project schools and 2340 children were identified in the screening analysis.

Residential Bridge Course Camps for IE run by NGOs in A.P.

Cuddapah
Alshifa Minority Institution for Mentally Retarded 68
Sri A. Stanislaus, MPSSS 72

Visakhapatnam
Sunflower Education Society 50
Gargalamma Trust 50
Uppalapali, Pattabiramayya Foundation 25

Srikakulam
Saranya Manovikasa Kendram 75
Santosh Manovikasa Kendram 50
Behara Manovikasa Kendram 20

Warangal
Space, Ba-asamudram, Hanamakonda 42
Mallikamba Manovikasa Kendram 115
Manochethana 50

Nalgonda
Adrasha Institute for Welfare of Disabled 65
Kasarabad, Suryapet, Society for Education and Rehabilitation 62
Asha Jyothi Welfare Society 67
Valigonda, Sadhana Society 40
Sri Bhavani Disabled Society 35
Nalgonda, Mother Rural Development Society 65
K. Mallepally, Deverkonda, Mission for Integrated Society 18

Hyderabad
Vidhya Centre for Special Children 35
Special Education Centre for Mentally Handicapped Institute of Genetics 50
Aathmeetyas Abhyaasan 38

Anantapur
Penukonda, Rural Development Trust 51
Madakasira, Rural Development Trust 50

Adilabad
Swarna Shayamkrushi 52
Asha Jyothi, Ramnagar 52

Nellore
Vasantha Lakshmi, Charitable Trust & Research Centre 150
Karunya Mano Vikas Seva Sadan 51

Krishna
RIDES, Sncha Buildings 85

West Godavari
Byrraju Foundation 87
Asakiranam, St. Theresa’s Degree College 52
Parivarthana, Ganavaram 26

Chittoor
Velgu 90
RAAS,Pachika Palem 48
RAAS, Kalyana Puram 52
SIREEDS, Nagiri 55
Mother Teresa, Puttor 64
Narein Rehabilitation Institute 45

Mahbubnagar
Kavya Rehabilitaion Institute 78
VALDO, Vangur 24

East Godavri
Vivekananda Manovikas Kendra 45

Kurnool
Voluntary Organisation for Rural Development Society, Nandyal 50
Healers Society, Nandyal 50
Healers Society, Banaganapalli 50
Anantha Jyothi Vocational Rehabilitation Centre, Yenimigamur 50
Anantha Jyothi Vocational Rehabilitation Centre, Yenimigamur 50
Backward Areas Rural Development Society, Kullor 50
Kranthi Educational Society 50
Voluntary organisation for Rural Development Society, Allagudda 50
Marianilayam Social Service Society 50
Backward Areas Rural Development Society 52
Jana Chaitanya Yuvajana Abyhudaya Sangam 50
Jana Chaitanya Yuvajana Abyhudaya Sangam 100
Core Land 50
Arunodaya Mahilamandali 70

NGOs Associated with SSA in Assam

Nalbari
Assam Mental Welfare Society 400

Jorhat
Voluntary Health Association of Assam and Prerona, Pratibandhi Bikash Kendra
East and Central 450
Titabar and Jorhat 750

Golaghat
Voluntary Health Association of Assam and Upper Assam Handicapped Centre
East and West 1425
South 500

Dhemaji
NER Multi-purpose Handicap School
Dhemaji and Bordoloni 1578

Lakhimpur
Asha Deep
Narayanpur and Bihpuria 881

Kamrup
Mon Vikash Kendra - Rangiya and Boko 858
Dristidan - Hajo and Karara 604
Asha deep - Dimoria and Rani 659

Dibrugarh
Mrinal Jyoti - Joypur and Tengakhat 750

Sonitpur - Bishwanathchariali
NER Multi-purpose School and Training Centre
B. Chariali and Behall 857

Barpeta
Handicaps Multi - Development Society
Barpeta and Bhawanipur 485

Golaghat
Upper Assam Handicapped Centre - North block 200

Nagaon
Sreemanta Sankar Mission - Khagarijan and Rupahi 1111

Bangalore Rural
Seva-in-Action
RV Integrated School for the disabled

Tumkur
JSS Mahavidyapeetha

Hassan
NAB Bangalore

Dakshina Kannada
Mangala Jyothi Integrated School

Bangalore Urban
Association for the physically disabled
JSS Sahana
Shrusti

Raichur
Association for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled

Gadag
Bhagavan Mahaveer Artificial Limbs and Calipers Centre, Hubli

Dharwad
Bhagavan Mahaveer Artificial Limbs and Calipers Centre, Hubli

Maharashtra

Pune
Ayodhya Charitable Trust

Nagpur, Bhandara, Gondia, Gadchiroli, Chandrapur,Wardha, Amravati,Yavatmal, Akola, Parbhani
Matoshri Jankidevi Atkar Special Teachers Training Centre


Jalgaon, Dhule, Nandurabar, Aurangabad, Jalna, Beed, Latur, Osmanabad, Nanded,
Hingoli
Navjeevan School for Mentally Retarded, Aurangabad

Gadchiroli, Gondia, Bhandara
Nandvan School and Sheltered Workshop for Mentally Handicapped, Nagpur

Mumbai & Suburban
Spastic Society of India, Mumbai

Parbhani, Aurangabad,Hingoli
Prabodhini Vidya Mandir Matimand Prashikshan Kendra, Satara

Mumbai
Aliyavar Jung National Hearing Impaired Centre, Bandra

Pune
Pune School & Home for the Blind Trust

Raigad, Ratnagiri,Ahmednagar, Kolhapur,Sangli, Satara
Akshar Sanstha’s Matimand Prashikshan Kendra

Orissa

Angul
DPO 350

Balasore
Remuna Handicapped Welfare Association 514

Baragarh
Baragarh Vikash Bhawan 350

Cuttack
Aaina 279

Bhadrak
Centre for Rehabilitation Service and Research 950

Mayurbhanj
Sadhna 282

Dhenkanal
Jibanjyoti 564

Jajpur
DPO 212

Khurda
Pratibandhi Kalyan Kendra 272

Puri
Sadar Opening Learning System 198

Sundargarh
Old Rourkela Education Society 234

Sambalpur
VSS Institute for Mentally Handicapped 450

Tamil Nadu

Coimbatore
Vidya Sagar
UDAVI
Sri Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya

Cuddalore
G.V.School for the Disabled Integrated Education Promotion Council

Dharmapuri
Bala Gnana Illam, CSI School for MR

Dindigul
Association for Rehabilitation of Village & Impairment

Erode
Cheran Region Christian Society for Disabled

Kancheepuram.
Vidya Prakasam
Keelvottivakkam Gramma

Kanyakumari
Oral School for the Hearing Impaired

Karur
Barivalaya School for Mentally Retard

Krishnagiri
St. Louis Institute for the Deaf and Blind

Madurai
Leonard School for the Hearing Impaired
Sadana School for the Deaf and Mentally Retarded

Nagapattinam
Anbagam
Nehru Social Education Centre

Namkkal
People’s Movement for Rights
SERVICE

Perambalur
National School for Deaf and Mentally Retarded
Shri Gowthamabuther Trust

Ramanathapuram
Vijay Human Services

Salem
Ecomwell Orthopeadic Centre
Welfare Centre for Women & Children

Sivagangai
St. Anne’s Karunalaya Rehabilitation Centre for the Disabled

Tanjore
SUDAR
Integrated Education Promotion Council

The Nilgiris
CRUTCH

Theni
Sadana School for the Deaf and Mentally Retarded

Thiruvannamalai
District Society for the Disabled

Thiruvarur
Bharatha Matha Family Welfare Foundation

Thiruvallur
The Spastic Society of Tamil-Nadu

Truchirapalli
Sevai

Thirunelveli
Amar Seva Sangam
Navajeevan Trust
Victory Trust

Thoothukudi
TRUE

Vellore
Pallava Council for Integrated Education
CSI.Central
NESAM

Villupuram
Clarke School for the Deaf & MR
V.Excel Education Trust

Virudhunagar
Uphar-Madurai

West Bengal

Birbhum
Bangia Saksharata Prosar Samity
Joyprokash Institute for Social Change
Rampurhat Spastic and Handicapped Society
Organisation for Protection of Environment and Consumers (O.P.E.C)
Vivekananda Adibasi Kalyan Samity

Bankura
Dr. Sailen Mukherjee Muko Bodhir Vidyalaya.
Bikash Society, Kenduadihi
Barjora Ashar Alo
Bivekananda Adibasi Kalyan Samity

North-24 Paraganas
K arakpur Siksha Samaj
Barakpur Ramkrishna Vivekananda Misson
North 24 Parganas Disabled Persons Association
Basirhat Relief Handicapped Welfare Society

East Midnapur
Pratibondhi Sahayak Samity

South-24 Paraganas
Paschimbanga Rajya Protibondhi Sambilani
Sanchar
Sarishapally Unnayan Samity
Durbachati Sundarbone Rural Development Society.

Hooghly
Shelter
Paschimbanga Rajya Protibondhi Sambilani
Grahambel Centre for the Deaf
Bikash Bharati Welfare Society

Kolkata
Bangia Saksharata Prosar Samity
Care and Counselling Centre
Bikash Bharati Welfare Society
Behala Bodhayan

Murshidabad
Chatra Physically Handicapped and Social Welfare Institute
Y.M.C. Vocational Training Centre
Institute of Social Welfare Education and Rehabilitation
Berahampur Nabadisha
Alokendu Bodh Niketan

Coochbehar
Spastic Society of Coochbihar
Akrahat Dishari Welfare Organisation
Vekrapul Netaji Club
Jnan Deep School and Training Centre

Howrah
Anand Bhavan Deaf and Blind School
Anandabhavan Education-cum-Training Centre
Howrah South Point

Uttar Dinajpur
Saint Johns Ambulance
Raiganj Debinagar Welfare Education Centre
Islampur Ramkrishnapally Rural Welfare Society
Ramendra Mahilam Samity
Raiganj Chittaranjan Suchetana Society
Uday Nagar Chetana

Dakshin Dinajpur
Suchetana Abasik Protibondhi Vidyapith
Indian Redcross Society
Dr. B.R.Ambedkar Special
Gurullya Pratibondhi Kalyan Samiti

Burdwan
Swayambhar Burdwan Blind Academy
Sreema Protibondhi Kalyan Kendra Aniket

Jalpaiguri
Jalpaiguri Welfare Organisation
Latagury Social Welfare Organisation
Torsa Kaljani Social Welfare Society
Paschimbanga Rajya Protibondhi Sambilani
Mal Social Welfare Organisation
Alipurduar Welfare Organisation

Purulia
Majhihira National Basic Educational Institution
Pialsole Sabyasachi
Purulia Protibondhi Kalyan Samity

Malda
Nari Kalyan Samity
Malda Dishari Misson
Malda Sahayogita Samity
R. P.Roy Memorial Blind School
Malda Physically Handicapped Management Society
Milky Kutir Shilpa Unnayan samity

Siligury
North Bengal Handicapped Rehabilitation Society
North Bengal Council For the Disabled

Darjeeling
Darjeeling Hope Brahmosamaj BLDG.
Darjeeling Sparsh Shamrock

Nandini Voice of the Deprived
Free NANDINI Computer School

Free Computer Schools have been set up at the following centers in Tamil Nadu for the benefit of the deprived and disabled boys and girls and those belonging to the lower income group, who have passed +2 examination.

Free computer schools are functioning at the following centers in Tamilnadu:

Course Contact and Examinations

Free Computer School provides training in basic computer operations such as

. WordStar
. MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
. d-Base
. FoxPro
. Pagemaker-5
. CorelDraw
. DTP and others

Tests and examinations are conducted after the completion of the course based on which certificates are provided.

Duration of Course

Duration of the course is six months or more, depending upon the progress made by the individual students.

Since students come from different background, the progress are being monitored very carefully and periodical tests are conducted before the students would be asked to sit for final examination.

Job Placements

Placement services are also provided to the students who successfully complete the Computer course. So far more than 1400 students have completed the course successfully during the last six years from various centres of Nandini Computer Schools and job placement services have been provided to most of them.

Number of Students Undergoing training at any time

Total number of persons who have completed the course so far Around 1400
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Prayas : Inclusive Education
Prayas believes that for the universalization of primary education and for checking the rate of drop-outs from schools, it is extremely essential to make a child-friendly and need-based curriculum. There should be provisions for giving special attention to slow learners and children with disabilities.

Hence the concept of inclusive education is of great significance. This is because a high percentage of children are mentally challenged, visually impaired, hard of hearing and in the category of slow learners.

The Ministry of HRD, Government of India is formulating strategies for alternative models of education with the assistance of NGOs and International agencies. Prayas has been actively associated with the Union & State Governments in this partnership.

The Ministry of HRD has identified the five categories of children for providing inclusive education, they are as follows:

Physically disabled children
Mentally challenged children
Visually impaired children
Hard of hearing children
Slow learners

The fifth category was added by Prayas in the inclusive category list.
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Reach India - Delhi
Action for Ability Development and Inclusion (AADI)

The program proposed for REACH India focuses on providing inclusive education via five government demonstration schools in Delhi as well as transforming the AADI school into one that serves both disabled and non-disabled children. The project aims to reach 4400 children directly. Other activities include community-based educational services for out-of-school children with disabilities and action research.

Objectives: The project aims to:

Promote inclusive practices and culture through a whole school development approach.

Influence existing policies at the school level to support inclusion of children.

Evolve appropriate and replicable service delivery model(s), which address specific educational and social needs of children with disabilities both within and outside the educational system.Collate and disseminate empirical evidence gathered during the project with the aim of impacting policy.

3. Methodology: The project's key components include:

Developing nine mainstream schools (including Government schools) as demonstration schools with a "whole school development" approach.

Evolving the AADI school into a model for inclusive education.

Providing individual support services for children with disabilities in 40 schools in Delhi.

Offering community-based educational services for "out of school" children with disabilities.

Conducting action research to document and disseminate findings.

4. Target audience: Children with disabilities, their parents and siblings, teachers, school management and staff, children without disabilities and their families, and policy makers.
5. Outcomes:It is expected that different models for providing quality education will emerge for children with disabilities. It is also expected that enrolment and retention of disabled children and the girl child will increase in the regular schools, especially in the demonstration schools.
6. About AADI:AADI (previously called Spastics Society of Northern India) was established in New Delhi in 1978 to provide services for people with cerebral palsy. It later broadened its scope, and worked with people with many other kinds of disabilities. In 1984, AADI began working with mainstream schools to integrate children with disabilities. AADI has played a major role in effecting policy changes at the national level including successfully influencing the Government to ensure that the census in 2001 included people with disabilities.
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Sense International : Resource and Information Unit
The Resource and Information unit on deafblindness is one of its kind in India. It aims at producing and disseminating information about different aspects of deafblindness.
We also produce information in different Indian languages and in formats that are accessible to people with sensory impairments (for example on tape, in Braille or large print).

We are also producing resource material about deafblindness which can be used by teachers in schools, by families at home and by trainers in seminars. The Resource & Information Unit also produces a regular newsletter "SPARSH" for Sense International (India) that provides information about deafblindness and developments in India.

Organising Training Programmes & Conferences

Sense International (India) provides specialist expertise and training in all areas of deafblindness and also aims to ensure the long-term sustainability of the programmes. To achieve this we pay great attention to issues such as the capacity of partners, the empowerment of local people, local income generation programmes and so on. This involves providing support in areas such as management, fundraising and capacity building. This approach has changed the lives of many deafblind people.

Networking

In the field of deafblindness, the three sets of groups that have formed networks are parents, teachers and deafblind people. These networks can act as a pressure group where various policies of the government and the society are concerned. Sense International (India) believes that an active, decentralised, service-users network with proper linkages and appropriate objectives can make a significant contribution to sustainable development.

Mentor Support

We have seen a lot of progress in the deafblind field today. There has been easy access to information, international standards as examples, availability of trained human resources, increased levels of awareness and so on.

But this is clearly not equally distributed, in some of the deafblind programmes in the far-flung areas like Sri Ganganagar (Rajasthan) or Banpur (Orissa). One thing common between established programmes and the newer ones is the will to take the lead and reach out to deafblind children and their families.

The need therefore is to stay in touch, to share, to strengthen and support. The need now is to provide the infrastructure, build a supporting environment and develop the right practices. And it is in these areas that we need your support.

Sense International (India) has been able to work out a mechanism to identify "Mentors" for deafblind programmes and facilitate mentoring support to organisations. The role of the mentor will be that of an advisor, a facilitator. The primary aim of this mentoring programme is to provide deafblind programme team member an opportunity to share their experiences and fears, seek information and develop skills thereby reducing the feeling of isolation. Such a mentoring programme will go a long way in developing quality services for deafblind persons in the country.

Deafblindness Awareness Visits

Many new organisations in the country are in the process of setting up services for deafblind people. All organisations feel a need of exposure to the running of such programmes prior to taking a decision on their needs and strengths to offer the same to deafblind people and their family members.

This need has therefore led Sense International (India) to initiate Deafblind Awareness Visits for interested organisations to programmes that have well-established services for deafblind people.

Such visits provides an opportunity to develop an understanding of deafblindness, learn about the needs of deafblind people, understand the needs of the family members, spend time with the practitioners, deafblind people and the project co-ordinator to gain practical experience regarding a deafblind programme.
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Lead into Light
This project envisages establishment of a Unit for the production and circulation of a Multilingual Braille Magazine in the Indian languages at Vidya Vrikshah.
The project involves:

• composing electronic versions of school text book lessons and magazine articles in the local languages on the computer system
• using the software facilities to produce braille and casette tape versions,
• use of free postage facilities to circulate them to visually impaired students and training institutions for the Visually impaired in the country. It will be possible to obtain permission from publishers of text books and magazines in local languages to reproduce the braille and audio versions.

The Multilingual software package of Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai would be used as the software base for production of the Braille and audiotape versions of the magazine.This remarkable Software Package has been consciously designed and developed by the IIT Chennai, as a National solution to bring literacy, education, training and employable skills for the benefit of all, especially the socially and physically disadvantaged, through the use of Information Technology. At the heart of the package is a multi-lingual editor which enables anyone, literate or illiterate, able or disabled, to quickly and easily learn to use computers in the Indian languages (as also English).

The Package provides for :
(a) Input through the common standard PC keyboard on an intuitive common phonetic basis, of text in any Indian language. (and English, as also ancient scripts like Grantha, and right to left scripts like Urdu, Arabic and Persian).
(b) Output in the language chosen for input, in the following formats :

(i) screen display;
(ii) voice output where input is spoken letter by letter, word by word, line by line or a whole file, as may be desired, along with spoken prompts to aid text navigation and editing, by visually impaired users;
(iii) ink print and
(iv) embossed braille.

(c) Supplementary utilities for creating or browsing web pages and using email in local languages.

The entire Software suite is offered free of cost by the IIT Chennai and can be downloaded (except for the Sound enabled version of the Editor because of its large size) from their website http://acharya.iitm.ac.in.The package rests on a high level of technical and linguistic sophistication in design, which makes it a unique, one of its kind solution in the country or abroad.
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The Vishwabharati Trust
The Vishwabharati Trust is located at Anavatti, a rural area belonging to Karnataka,India. The place is about 500 kms from Bangalore, well connected by road, amidst beautiful Malnad greenary.

The Vishwabharati Trust was started on 6 th October, 1997 to provide education to poor and physically handicapped children. The trust is presently running a school and 140 deserving children are now studying.

The main objectives of the Vishwabharati Trust are as follows:
1. To make the children self dependent.
2. To make the children aware of our rich culture and heritage.
3. To develop fine and strong character.
4. To develop the children in sports and extra curricular activities

The Vishwabharati Trust
Anavatti Post - 577 413,
Anavatti, Sorab, Shimoga District
KARNATAKA 577413
Tel: :+91-08184-67146

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Ali Yavar Jung National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF OPEN SCHOOLING AT AYJNIHH

Ali Yavar Jung National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped is a special Accredited Institution for Education of the Disadvantaged (SAIED), of the National Institute of Open Schooling.

NIOS, formerly known as Nation Open School, provides opportunities for continuing education to those who have missed the opportunities to complete school and developmental education through courses and programmes of general, life enrichment and vocational education from primary to pre-degree level.

AYJNIHH act as a study centre for NIOs, specially for the continuing education of the Hearing Impaired, conducting the following courses since Jan.,2001.

1) Open Basic Education

-level A 
-level B 
-level C - Foundation course (equivalent to class VIII )

- Entrance Exam is conducted

Criteria for admission
- No age limit
- Admission to level A, level B, C depends on the prior educational
qualification
- for level c - self certificate of certificate of class V pass
Medium of instruction: English, Hindi, Marathi

1) Secondary Course

Criteria for admission
- No age limit
- Self certificate or certificate of class VIII pass

Contact programmes are conducted every Saturday from 10.00 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. at Dept. of Education, 2nd Floor, AYJNIHH, Mumbai.

Catch them Young' is the crux of success in the education and overall rehabilitation of the children with hearing impairment. It is well accepted that language input given during the critical period of language development (i.e 0-5 years) helps the child in its proper and speedy acquisition of language. Language forms the base on which the educational base is built upon. The early years i.e. the preschool period is crucial for building a sound foundation and is important.

The Dept. of Education therefore runs a preschool programme for the children with hearing impairment in the age group of 3 to 5 years.

The preschool focuses on preparing the children with hearing impairment for integrated education through the following:

- development of language through various methods and techniques of teaching
- maximum use of residual hearing
- development of speech
- development of reading and writing skills
- social, emotional, cognitive and overall development of the children
- empowering the parents to act as equal partners in the educational process

The children are also taught through the 'Auditory Verbal Therapy' (AVT) individually.  Cochlear Implant Children are also provided intervention.  Support services are also provided for integrated children.
The preschool education is provided free of cost. The medium of instruction is English, Hindi and Marathi. The classes are conducted in various groups, daily at preschool, `D' wing, 2nd floor.

Educational Assessment 

Before guiding the parents for the educational placement of their child with hearing impairment, it is essential to undertake  educational assessment of that child in order to suggest an appropriate educational set up.  So educational assessment of the children with hearing impairment is undertaken by the Department of Education.  Apart from educational assessment guidance for language stimulation at home, the language concession and facilities available for hearing impaired is provided for the parents.  Support service  is also provided to the integrated children with hearing impairment. 

Education for Disabled : Corporate Interventions

HSBC

Ahmedabad
HSBC Ahmedabad supports Apang Manav Mandal, an Ahmedabad based NGO working for the education and rehabilitation of physically disabled children. Apart from donations, the Ahmedabad branch has been supporting the NGO by providing space at the Branch for the display and sale of toys produced by the students.
Partner NGO : Apang Manav Mandal, Ahmedabad

Bangalore
HSBC has contributed funds to Bethany's Special School. Started in 1983, the school offers all round developmental training to students with physical and mental disabilities. This unique school's ethos is to respect children and manage an education system that is relevant to each one. Bethany caters to children from all backgrounds, hoping to encourage children to build a society based on fraternity and mutual dependence.
Partner NGO : Bethany High School, Bangalore

Mumbai
HSBC supports Happy Home and School for the Blind in education for blind and visually impaired children and support to annual pottery exhibition and pottery workshop in December every year.
Partner NGO : Happy Home and School for the Blind, Mumbai

Cummins Group strongly believes in responsible corporate citizenship. To convert this belief into active philanthropy, Cummins India Foundation (CIF) was founded to contribute towards the cause of socio- economic development in India. Since its inception, CIF has been working on 3E's namely, Education, Energy and Environment.

SCHOOL ON WHEELS
As against the notion of standard schools with buildings and infrastructure, CDIF helped the noble cause of taking the school to the doors of the street, slum, construction site children with no means of entry into formal school level education. The school tries to teach them formal education with the help of audio visual mediums in the fields of environment, cleanliness, pollution, population, adult education, etc.

DIAOGNIST CENTRE OF HEARING IMPAIRMENT IN INFANTS
CDIF assisted one school viz., Bala Vidyalaya engaged in Diagnosis of Hearing Impairment in infants, Parent Counseling, Pre-school and Teacher Training Programmes. It has developed innovative methods to help hearing-impaired young children to listen and speak.. This equipment gives clear picture about middle ear function and middle ear reflex and also information on ear canal blockage and infection. The most of the beneficiaries are from rural areas and from economically weaker section of the society

HEARING AIDS
CDIF donated ultra modern Hearing Aid Imepedemetors to a School for Deaf and Dumb. These instruments enable them to hear the conversation with the help of techniques of lip reading taught to them in school. The joy of being able to listen as well as speak can be seen on the face of these children born with the defect of deafness resulting into dumbness.

HLL : Special Education & Rehabilitation

Under the Happy Homes initiative, HLL supports special education and rehabilitation of children with challenges.

Asha Daan
The initiative began in 1976, when HLL supported Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity to set up Asha Daan, a home in Mumbai for abandoned, challenged children, and the destitute. Subsequently, Asha Daan has also become a home to the HIV-positive. The objective in supporting Asha Daan was and continues to be to share the organsation's prosperity in supporting the Mother's mission of serving the "poorest of the poor". Asha Daan has been set up on a 72,500-square feet plot belonging to HLL, in the heart of Mumbai city. HLL bears the capital and revenue expenses for maintenance, upkeep and security of the premises. The destitute and the HIV-positive are provided with food, shelter and medication for the last few days of their lives. The needs of the abandoned challenged children are also met through special classes of basic skills, physiotherapy and, if possible, corrective surgery. At any point of time, it takes care of over 300 infants, destitute men and women and HIV-positive patients.

Over the years, HLL has opened schools for challenged children with a sharper objective of supporting families of such children, helping the children become self-reliant by learning appropriate skills to be productive members of the household.

Ankur
In 1993, HLL's Doom Dooma Plantation Division set up Ankur, a centre for special education of challenged children. The centre takes care of children with challenges, aged between 5 and 15 years. Ankur provides educational, vocational and recreational activities to over 35 children with a range of challenges, including sight or hearing impairment, polio related disabilities, cerebral palsy and severe learning difficulties. These physically and mentally challenged children are taught skills, such as cookery, painting, embroidery, bamboo crafts, weaving, stitching, etc depending on their aptitudes. The centre has rehabilitated 10 children, including self-employment for 6 children by providing them with shops, and 3 girls have been provided employment as creche attendants. It has also moved to normal schools 18 children. Since inception it has covered about 80 children. Ankur received the Lawrie Group Worldaware Award for Social Progress in 1999 from HRH Princess Royal in London.

Kappagam
Encouraged by Ankur's success, Kappagam ("shelter"), the second centre for special education of challenged children, was set up in 1998 on HLL Plantations in South India. It has 17 children. The focus of Kappagam is the same as that of Ankur. The centre has 17 children, being taught self-help skills, useful vocational activities like making of paper covers, greeting cards, wrapping papers, fancy stationery, napkins, brooms made out of coconut leaves, candles, and also some home care products. About 12 of the children have become relatively self-reliant by earning through crafts learnt at the centre. Since inception, it has covered about 28 children.

KPMG

S.P.J Sadhana School for Handicapped at Mumbai
To support the training of children at the S.P.J Sadhana School (for the Developmentally Handicapped) at Mumbai, KPMG's New Delhi office arranged for the supply of magnetic board accessories, box files and note books.

Astha
Kedar is an eleven year old boy. He has a dream to carve a name for himself in the annals of history, and like all of us wants to try the latest gadgets available. But he has a slightly special background - he cannot speak or write; he suffers from cerebral palsy.
Under the care of Astha, a Charitable Trust for the handicapped, he has access to a computer, which has been donated by KPMG. KPMG appreciates the endeavour of Astha and hope that physically challenged children like Kedar are able to achieve their aims.

Standard Chartered Bank

Central School for the Education of the Deaf
The Bank is a strong supporter of the Central School for the Education of the Deaf - a registered society and public charitable trust founded in 1966. Its prime concern is to rehabilitate profoundly and severely deaf children by providing model teaching and training facilities, both in English and Marathi. In doing so, the School also endeavours to bring vocational and other employment opportunities, which would otherwise be denied to them, within the reach of deaf children.

The Central School for the Deaf has 62 children divided into 6 classes. Education is imparted to the children free of charge and a school bus service is provided for bringing and taking the children to and from school. A balanced mid-day meal is also provided to the children free of cost. Regular medical and dental camps are conducted every year for the children and follow-up treatment is ensured. The school also offers assistance for the purchase of the individual hearing aids wherever necessary.

The Bank provides ongoing assistance to the School, through our cash donation, as well as the Standard Chartered Income Fund, in which the Bank's donations and the School's own funds are invested, and which interest returns fund the School.

Prem Dan
Prem Dan is a charity run by Sister Felicity Morris, which has three learning centres for children forced into living on the streets.
We have committed an annual donation for a period of five years towards the Education and Nutrition Programme for the underpriviledged children in Mumbai.
The children covered under programme are provided with a wholesome mid-day meal and are given free tuition classes to help them cope with their studies. This programme has helped the children because they leave their homes early morning and return home only in the night for their supper. The programme supports around 572 children in four local schools in Mumbai.

Victoria Memorial School for the Blind
In 1995, during the visit to India of Chairman Sir Patrick Gillam, the Bank undertook to sponsor the refurbishment of the central hall of the Victoria Memorial School for the Blind in Mumbai.
The school required nearly five years to complete the renovation project, due to the meticulous care with which the renovation to an 86-year old Heritage building needed to be carried out.
The hall, now complete and known as the Standard Chartered Hall, was inaugurated by Dr. P. C. Alexander, Governor of the state of Maharashtra, in January 2001.
During his visit to Mumbai in February 2001, Sir Patrick Gillam visited the school, and residents of the school entertained Sir Patrick and Lady Diana Gillam with performances of nursery rhymes and songs. The Chairman and Lady Gillam were also particularly impressed with the Computer Training facilities in the school.