Through the simple act of walking from the classroom to the school gate, Shaktivel inspires his classmates and teachers to go beyond their limitations. Until five years ago, he needed support to walk over such a distance. The boy, who suffers from cerebral palsy, needed help to carry out any task and had great difficulty with speech.
“Twice a week he would come to the day care centre run by Sarva Siksha Abhiyan’s Inclusive Education for the Differently-abled for physiotherapy and on the remaining days he received special education,” says B. Santhalatha, special educator, SSA, TVK Nagar, Perambur.
Once he showed improvement, he was enrolled at the Chennai Primary School located on the same campus. Today, Shaktivel is studying in class IV and is showing a keen interest in chess.
The World Disability Day celebrations held recently at Chennai Middle School, TVK Nagar, sent a message to parents and the society at large that differently-abled children must be admitted to mainstream schools.
“The message for parents is not to keep their children at home. No child should miss education,” says Santhalatha.
There are nearly 214 special children in Perambur zone IV, identified with disabilities such as hearing impairment, low vision, mental retardation and autism. Special educators at SSA are creating awareness on inclusive education with particular emphasis on school education for the differently-abled children.
Nearly 100 differently-abled students of the day care centre from Perambur zone took part in a function. Cultural programmes were performed. Vasanthal, SSA coordinator, Kalidas, president, Indian Medical Association, Perambur, Lalith Kumar, paediatrician, Kamala Hospital and Kannamal, psychologist, Railway Hospital, Perambur participated.
For details on the IED programmes of SSA, call 2558 0233.
