Helping special children in inclusive schools

When he became president-elect of his club, RC Madras South, RID 3232, two years ago, Jawahar Nichani knew what the flagship project of his club would be during his year as the club leader in 2022–23 — giving a future to children by giving them access to quality education.

“We all know that every child has to discover the wonders of this vast universe, the basic and fundamental right to receive an education without discrimination. It is education that will give these citizens of tomorrow equal opportunities to compete and excel at the workplace,” he says.

But while giving access to quality education, “it is important to be inclusive and provide equal opportunities even to children who are different… autistic, dyslexic or with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) as also children with Down’s syndrome.

My club member Mukund Vedabudi and I have travelled over 1,000km to identify schools that are far away from the city for this project, which we have named Freedom through Education.
– Jawahar Nichani, IPP, RC Madras South

While he was putting together the fundamentals of this project, including plans to apply for a global grant for around ₹30 lakh, he met Kalpana Kumar, a speech pathologist, who has been working in the field of inclusive education for over 10 years. She runs the Kare Therapy Centre for children with special needs; “he said you have so much experience in the field of caring for special children and our Rotary club wants to do a comprehensive project on inclusive education for government-aided schools, which lack the infrastructure and skilled teachers to provide equal learning to children with special needs. So why don’t you join Rotary by joining our club,” recalls Kalpana.

When she heard about this project, she immediately agreed and joined RC Madras South. The club did some background research on inclusive schools where lower middle class and middle class children study, and which are open to children with special needs. “My club member Mukund Vedabudi and I have travelled over 1,000km to identify schools that are far away from the city for this project, which we have named Freedom through Education,” says Nichani, whose year as club president has just ended.

To identify the eight schools that would benefit through this project many parameters had to be ticked off. These included good school management and faculty, a hygienic environment and the eagerness and willingness of the stakeholders to improve the school’s facilities. Finally, the schools were identified, with six of the eight schools being inclusive schools open to taking in and providing special facilities to educate children with special needs. They are Bala Mandir, Maduram Narayan Centre, Padma Subramanian Bala Bhavan, Saraswathy Vidhyalaya, Sir M Venkatasubba Rao and Sir and Lady Venkatasubba Rao institutions.

“Once we had identified the schools and completed our research, we set about the task of equipping the schools with the special equipment and services required by special children. For such children speech therapy and occupational therapy are very important and have to start with immediate effect once a child is diagnosed or detected with any disorder that will affect her learning abilities,” says Kalpana.

Nichani says he has done many school projects “when I was a Round Tabler and I firmly believe that for poverty alleviation, education is essential. To do this flagship project, it came as a shot in the arm to get an experienced person like Kalpana in our team. She is extremely qualified in this field, and has worked with experts from Singapore, Australia etc and has helped many children with multiple disabilities. She works with 130-odd children and does interviews and assessment of special needs children… their IQ levels, to what extent their brain can process and accept learning. Thanks to her efforts many more people have come to know about this field, and the need to be inclusive; now schools are offering more seats to such children,” he says.

Underlining the extent to which such schools and children need support he adds, “Sometimes a single child requires three teachers. I have gone to these schools and seen the children who need special help… often a child can’t even stand properly, and doesn’t easily accept anything new. But our aim is to make them independent… so that they can do simple things like handling door latches, opening doors. And we have done more than that. Through the use of touch screens and smart TVs we have helped children to express their thoughts and ideas. In the process the child learns.”

Often a child can’t even stand properly. But our aim is to make them independent so that they can do simple things like handling door latches, opening doors.

Using Kalpana’s experience and expertise special teachers were chosen for the schools. The next important step was to acquire the right tools and equipment for the schools to help children with multiple disabilities. These include the T swing, shooter and balance boards “to improve the vestibular activities of the children, a digital board to improve the cognitive abilities of the children, puzzles and other supporting teaching material. “I helped them hire the right people and furnish the schools with such equipment that are required when working with children with multiple disabilities.”

“All this costs money and these schools don’t charge fees apart from the minimum stipulated by the government. Actually the kind of equipment we gave these schools is not even available in elite schools,” she adds.

The parents of the children in the beneficiary schools are very happy, because they are finally getting their children integrated in mainstream schooling.

Club president Nichani and his team swung into action to collect funds. Initially he applied for a global grant for around ₹30 lakh “but it didn’t go through, they asked so many questions and expressed so many doubts, and I wanted to finish the project during my year, so we decided to raise funds ourselves.”

In all around ₹85 lakh have been spent on the eight schools; “we spent nearly ₹14 lakh on employing new and special teachers and academic training, ₹20 lakh on buying computers, touch screen TVs and other equipment for children with special needs. While Chemfab Alkalis gave ₹2 lakh from their CSR funds, one of their members who runs two trusts gave ₹60 lakh. Other club members donated ₹13 lakh. He adds that schools a little away from the city were chosen as “in these places it is very difficult for parents with disabled children to find the right kind of educational support for them.”

The parents of the children in the beneficiary schools are “very happy, because they are finally getting their children integrated in mainstream schooling. Frankly speaking they are overwhelmed because it costs a lot of money to get such special services for children with disabilities. I believe this is one-of-a-kind project that Rotary has done, and it is very important to remember that for such special children, academic and medical rehabilitation go hand-in-hand, that is why occupation therapy is very important,” says Kalpana.

Nichani explains that during the research phase and after implementation of this project the students’ and parents’ views were also taken into consideration to understand if they were happy or had any concerns. In all the Rotarians have employed six teachers in two schools; “such children need shadow teachers or para-educators who monitor and assist with the child’s progress, speech pathologists to help the children with speech difficulty or impediment, behavioural therapists to help train and modify the child’s behaviour and habits, occupational therapists to guide and teach through a scientific basis, providing a holistic perspective, special educators who initiate individual educational planning and a psychologist.”

He is grateful to his club members for enthusiastically supporting this project.