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A
new chapter in the life of disabled children
New
Delhi: With the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) placing
emphasis on ‘education for all’, including children
with disability, the Rehabilitation Council of India
has been received several requests from the state governments
from across the country to sensitize and train regular
schoolteachers so that the integration of disabled children
into regular schools becomes easy.
The
two states that have recently sent the plea are Orissa
and Karnataka. The governments of both the states want
to train 70,000 and 73,000 teachers respectively. The
RCI, in collaboration with the District Institute of
Education & Training in the two states, will train
these teachers on disability management. The 45-day
training (face to face) or alternatively, a 90-day distance
mode training to the teachers will enable them to imbibe
knowledge, understanding, attitudes and skills to impart
education to children with various disabilities.
“The
best way to educate disabled child in a country like
ours is to send him/her to a normal school. However,
to facilitate that, it is important that the existing
infrastructure is strengthened and the component on
disability in SSA is fully understood and implemented
thereafter,” says Major HPS Ahluwalia, Chairman, Rehabilitation
Council of India.
Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) has devoted a chapter to integration
of children with disabilities in regular schools and
defined the role of each one of the stakeholders – teacher,
parent, principal, special educator, other students,
etc. – for speeding up the integration of disabled children
into regular school. As a result, SSA, a well-defined
infrastructure at the state, district and block level,
has also been created to look after the education of
children with disabilities. As many as 20 states have
coordinators to look after the inclusive education programme
under the SSA.
The
SSA has also emphasized the need for a resource teacher
in every block. Resource teachers are specially trained
teachers, capable of teaching children with special
needs in all settings. Their main role is to provide
remedial assistance to a child in those content areas
in which he/she is having comprehension problems in
a regular classroom.
Source: The Tribune
Date: 17th April 2004
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