Occupation: Special Educator
“As a child, I was petrified of the mentally-challenged and the hearing-impaired. I would never be part of gatherings where they were present. It remained so for long. Later I got married, graduated in zoology and had a baby. On a routine day, I found an advertisement in the newspaper about a special B.Ed course on teaching the hearing-impaired. That set me thinking. How do you teach profoundly hearing-impaired people who cannot speak either? Out of curiosity, I joined the course at AWH Special Education. I still remember the first class held by Basheer Madavur. He wanted to know why we were there and we gave our very ordinary reasons for it. He told us that we are the blessed hands to which God has entrusted these special children. From that moment on, it has been a learning process for me. My fear slowly vanished as I began to interact with hearing-impaired candidates for my work. I realised the isolation they encountered at every point because of their disability. May be because I was growing genuinely fond of what I was learning, I passed with good marks.
For long I did not see this specialisation as a job opportunity. I had my second baby and merely applied for the post of special educator on the insistence of friends. But my name was in the rank-list and in 2004 I joined two schools in Koyilandy. Most of the special educators in the district now work in two schools. I am part of the Nadakkav Girls Higher Secondary School and PVS HSS at Eranhikkal. I spend three days at one school.
Teachers like me are recruited under the Inclusive Education for Differently-Abled in Secondary Stage scheme of the Central Government. It is executed by the State government and we are appointed to different schools by the District Institute for Education and Training (DIET).
The process of incorporating special children into the mainstream has gone through different stages. Long back, special children were segregated from the mainstream entirely and then came integration when they attended both special and general schools. Now the stress is on inclusion where we have special children attending general classes and are given special care and aid by teachers like us. The process of inclusion is still evolving and will take a while to reach its purpose of complete inclusion.
However, over the past decade, I have seen positive change. Initially, awareness was abysmal among parents as well as teachers. Instances where children were raised cut-away from society were high. Parents with mentally challenged children never bothered to get the medical board's certificate. Now, parents are keen to get for their children all the rights and assistance they are entitled to. Every May-June, I take part in a survey organised by DIET to take count of special children in a locality. We encourage parents to school these children. Though my specialisation is in hearing-impaired children, I deal with children with various disabilities — mental retardation, autism, cerebral palsy and blindness. We undergo an annual multi-category training which equips us to handle various disabilities. We are also registered under the Rehabilitation Council of India and it has to be renewed every five years.
At Nadakkav, I help about 25 students. Though the focus area is students of classes 9-12, I also help children in the smaller classes. I have a child suffering from cerebral palsy. This class VI student insists on writing her papers herself, so part of my job includes being around when she is attending examinations and making sure she is comfortable.
Among all disabilities, it is those with mental retardation who are the toughest challenge. One has to be patient and hard-working. Output from these children will always be lower than your input. I take classes for these children when they are free and the stress is on simplifying things. They will never understand complicated concepts and one has to use various aids to get across the point to them. But it is sad that most children with mental retardation end up sitting at home once they finish school. My dream project is to have a space where they can be trained for vocations which can also employ them. I am preparing a proposal for this with another colleague to be presented to different authorities.
What keeps me in this job is not the salary, but the unconditional love these children give. One teaches children without disability to aim for academic excellence, but I teach my children to stand on their feet. My biggest joy is when they succeed. My husband and children have been my greatest strength.
As told to P. ANIMA
A column on men and women who make Kozhikode what it is.
