PANAJI: For those with a differently-abled child at home, providing basic education and other important facilities is always a challenge.
In Goa, accessibility to special schools continues to be an issue, especially for those residing in the interiors of the state.
In 1981, local NGO Lokvishwas Pratishthan stepped in to correct the anomaly, establishing a school for differently abled children in the remote Dhavali in Ponda. Over time, it went on to establish branches in other hinterland areas of the state, like Quepem, Molem, Canacona, Marcel and Honda.
“We chose to start these schools in remote areas so that we could cater to the needs of special children, who would otherwise have had to travel long distances for basic education,” secretary of the NGO, Raj Vaidya said.
This was following the initiative of the former editor of a local newspaper who wrote an editorial about the needs of the hearing impaired. With public support and donations, Lokvishwas Pratishthan had its beginnings in rented premises in Dhavali, with two teachers and a few students.
This enabled parents in surrounding areas to enroll their children with hearing impairment to a school in close proximity to their homes.
“The daily struggle to reach city-based special schools would often leave the children exhausted. Moreover, the financial expenses involved in daily commute also demotivated parents from sending their children to school. And those living in the rural belt would thus make their children drop out,” said headmaster of the Dhavali-based institute Arvind More.
Loliem-based Divina Furtado didn’t know about her son Mark’s condition until he turned four. “Mark used to be a very problematic child. He would never sit in one place and we couldn’t enroll him in a regular school. He was in a village balwadi earlier. But he has shown much improvement in the past two years that he has been going to a special school. Since Margao is too far, we opted for Lokvishwas Prathisthan’s Canacona branch,” she said. Mark is now nine and studies in Class II.
Starting the schools in remote areas helped reduce the incidence of dropouts.
“When we started a branch in Canacona, 25 students enrolled in the first batch. We learnt that 20 of them had never received formal education of any kind prior to their enrolment,” said More.
Canacona resident, Ashwini Baireli, couldn’t send her son Manraj to school all these years owing to his condition. In the past three years at Lokvishwas Pratishthan, the 24-year-old has shown interest in dancing and other extra-curricular activities.
“The school is 15 minutes away from our residence. He was at home all these years but is very active now. He has started participating in dance competitions and is actively socializing with people around him,” Ashwini said.
Article Source: Times of India