‘Cater to the educational needs of special children'

“If you are planning for a year, sow paddy; if you are planning for a decade, plant a tree; if you are planning for a lifetime, EDUCATE people”—Chinese thought

These lines written on a board formed an apt backdrop for a fortnight-long workshop for Kendriya Vidyalaya school teachers in the region, in Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 1 at Satyanarayanapuram on Sunday.

“Every child has the right to go to a regular school irrespective of his/her physical/mental limitations. It is the duty of the school management and parents as well to provide necessary resources for the child's learning,” said Santhi Karamcheti, a former student of the school and currently working as head special educator at Harvest International School promoting inclusive education at Bangalore.

Santhi was one of the resource persons throwing light on the need to provide special children access to an inclusive educational set-up. Pointing to the severe dearth of ‘special educators' to take care of the large population of children with special needs, she said the art of teaching a ‘special' child was no rocket science.

“It is a matter of common sense. With little extra effort, all of us can enable a child with ‘special ability' to learn classroom lessons with ease,” she said.

Identifying the different types of learners in the classroom was important; she pointed out and went on to explain the categories of VAKT (Visual, Auditory, Kinaesthetic and Tactile).

Visual learners learn through written language, such as reading and writing tasks.

They remember what has been written down, even if they do not read it more than once.

They like to write down directions and pay better attention to lectures if they watch them.

Auditory learners are good listeners. Auditory aids make learning process easy for them.

They do better with charts, demonstrations, videos, and other visual materials.

Kinesthetic (movement) and Tactile (touch) learners tend to lose concentration if there is little or no external stimulation or movement.

When listening to lectures, they may want to take notes for the sake of moving their hands.

Explaining the different needs of the different categories of children through a power point presentation, she reminded the teachers that every child is unique. “We need to explore new means to cater to their needs,” she emphasized. School Principal L. S. Rambabu and others were present.