Mudasir Tariq
Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Jan 18 : Though the successive state governments have made tall claims to provide education to every child in the valley, but there are thousands of visually disabled children who can't get education as there are no schools for such persons.
Amid 'good development' in education sector, authorities have altogether forgotten the blind students as there is no government school for them.
An association of parents of blind children told Early Times that despite assurances by every government nothing has been done so for and their children are unable to get education.
"We went to higher ups in the education department with our demands to bring special schools for our children. Our children cannot get education in a normal school, they have special needs and the teachers in such schools are not trained to teach our children," said Mohammad Haneef, a parent.
Parents held that in absence of any school for the visually challenged children, they are forced to send their wards outside the state to get education, while many among them are not able to send their children because of the economic constraints.
"Every parent wants that their children should get education, blind children need utmost care from parents; they need to be looked after every time. While they are not able to get education here, many parents are forced to send these beloved children outside the state for education, these children have to face hardships in life," said Mohammad Abdullah Wani, another parent.
Even though there is a provision in the government to admit such children in any normal school where according to government special attention will be paid to such students, but experts believe that these children need separate schools.
"They need to be taught in a different environment and those teaching them require special training. Their books are different and their prerequisites need to be catered specially," said Dr. Wajid Ali, a Psychiatrist.
Meanwhile, the present scenario of specially abled children is providing a shocking revelation. According to National Survey on Estimation on Out of School Children there are 81,476 children in the state which require special needs, while as 14,361 among them are visually disabled.
"While the number of these children is increasing day by day, but the successive regimes in the state are not serious about their education and future," said Razia Jan, a teacher who also has a specially abled child.
Although the Ministry of Social Justice is running a center in Srinagar at Bemina, but the center is lacking basic facilities. "The center is not able to accommodate every blind child and besides this it lacks staff strength and infrastructure," said an official at the center wishing anonymity. |
