Education

Identify. Instruct. Include.

An alarming UNESCO statistic claims that 90% of children with disabilities in developing countries do not attend school. In a world where basic education is almost a mandatory pre-requisite to a decent livelihood, where poverty and disability sometimes spin in an incessant, vicious loop; there is an absolute, urgent need to ensure that children with disabilities are not left behind. APD’s education programme targets the holistic development of children with disabilities focusing on Early Assessment, Preparation for Learning, Tailored Instruction and Mainstream Integration. Working through its own integrated school and a host of community programme, APD supports over 1700 children each year.

The programme covers:

Education

Shradhanjali Integrated School

At its Bengaluru campus, APD has run a model, inclusive school since 1973. Non-disabled children study here along with students with CP, hearing impairment and severe and multiple disabilities.

165 students in classes from kindergarten through Std. VII, study under the regular state SSLC curriculum, benefiting from APD’s health and therapeutic intervention, mid day meal programme, trained staff and teaching methods that are designed to overcome the challenges of each child’s unique disability and leverage his highest learning potential.

Using visual aids and computer aided tools, emphasizing on training and empowerment of parents; APD has evolved effective education support systems and alternative learning options.

Almost every single child in Shradhanjali eventually moves on to a regular or special school, through APD’s sustained collaboration and networking across the education system. Students unable to join mainstream institutions are enrolled in pre vocational training or alternate learning programmes.

Back to School

Hemanth was born with cerebral palsy. His family lives off the money his father makes selling snacks from a pushcart. His parents took their son to doctors and “god-men” before they brought him to APD. There they confronted the bitter truth. Hemanth’s condition was going to be permanent. He needed specialized help.

When his mother had enrolled him in a regular school, Hemanth found it impossible to learn anything. The school relegated him to a forgotten corner. APD invited Hemanth into the special environment of Shradhanjali.

Here he received individual attention and was encouraged to experiment with alternate learning methods. Writing assignments and speech therapy improved his communication skills. Physiotherapy worked on his body co-ordination. 

When Hemanth joined SIS in 2006, his parents didn’t have much hope. In 2010, the young lad passed out of SIS, completing Std. VII and received admission in a mainstream school.  Along with his family, Hemanth will always look back fondly at the 4 years at Shraddhanjali that changed his life.

Rural and Urban community intervention

Across 250 villages in Chikkaballapur District and 43 urban slums in Karnataka, APD staff – trained teachers, community organizers and therapists- provide inputs to children with disability, parents and caregivers, local authorities and community stakeholders.

Under this programme, APD has set up five learning centres in Chintamani taluk.  These centres, run in government schools, have become successful models that organizations like SSA have replicated in five other taluks in the district.

Children with Disabilities: The APD team visits our learning centres once a week to conduct assessments and provide technical intervention and training. Working with the existing school system, representatives of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan(SSA), local education authorities and home based volunteers; APD workers create individual assessment plans for each child. Teachers and SSA volunteers, who bring the children to the learning centres, are provided with the necessary training to execute the assessment plans.

Having successfully impacted over 200 children through this initiative, APD constantly intervenes with the Education department to create many more centres at the Taluk level and at the cluster level in Bengaluru.

Pushing hard for the enrolment of CWDs in schools, APD has had over 830 children admitted to 138 rural and 118 Bengaluru urban schools.

Stakeholders: Ultimately, sustained impact is possible only through the efforts of the stakeholders involved in the welfare of the child.

To enable this, APD runs formal and non-formal training programmes for parents and caregivers, training them in long term disability management. Some parents have gone on to specialize as therapy aides and become SSA home based volunteers!

As the onus of the child’s development is taken on by the community, teachers become an integral part of the rehabilitation process. APD conducts structured and non structured programmes for IERTs (Inclusive Education Resource Teachers) of SSA. Together with the IERTs, APD staff also train teachers of regular schools in various aspects of inclusive education.

To build awareness in the community, APD relies on the street-play format. Peer groups are sensitized and involved in social inclusion programmes.

Watch how Ranjith learns to express himself, blossoming under the efforts of APD’s rural education programme:

Specialized Education for the Hearing Impaired

APD’s state wide survey to understand the status of deaf education revealed that the issue was being addressed only in certain special schools. Other institutions were not teaching sign language to deaf students which meant that there was no structured means of communication among the deaf. This was a serious concern.

APD is now one of the key organizations that focuses on community based education for the hearing impaired.

Initially trained by “Deaf Child Worldwide” a UK based international development agency, APD workers have gained the necessary expertise to train deaf children and to provide support to other organizations including SSA.

APD now has an exclusive team that works with education for the hearing impaired. This group:

  • Gives inputs to children in the rural and urban centres
  • Works with parents and teachers to enhance the learning ability of children with hearing loss
  • Initiates inclusive processes, working with stakeholders- parents, teachers and community members. Great focus is given to getting deaf children included into mainstream schools.

Recognizing that the peer group has the greatest impact on deaf children, APD runs structured sign language courses for all involved. In Chikkaballapur, a HI instructor teaches sign language at APD’s five learning centres.

APD took a significant step forward in creating a common language of communication among the deaf in Karnataka by commencing the translation of the Indian Sign Language manual from English to Kannada. There are ongoing efforts to promote Kannada sign language training across the state.

Community Learning Centers

At Murphy Town, Chamarajpet and at its campus in Lingarajapuram, Bengaluru, APD runs three Community learning centres.

These fully equipped units serve as preparatory centres for children with severe disabilities. Around 50 children between the ages of 3 and 10 come to each of the centres from the neighbouring urban slums. These are kids who have never been to school and need extensive intervention, therapy and training to be ready for a regular classroom.

Teachers and therapists at the CLC, with the involvement of parents and volunteer groups, engage the children in non-formal learning for 1-2 years, introduce them to daily living skills and stimulation activities before they can be absorbed into APD’s Shradhanjali Integrated School or other special schools.

Advocacy and Capacity Building initiatives

APD strongly believes that to benefit the maximum number of people, the community has to be empowered to care of itself. More organizations working deep in rural areas need to be trained and equipped to ensure sustained local impact.

APD does this at two levels :
* Capacity building by training other NGOs and schools to take up community based education
* Working closely with the State Education department, Panchayat and BBMP to influence policy in favour of children with disabilities and to facilitate action at the grass roots level.