Special children get mobile educators
Prashant Hamine
Parents of children with special needs (disabilities)
need not despair anymore, especially when it comes to
finding special educators.
Now, through its Inclusive Education for Children with
special needs (IED) programme, the government has
kicked off a special scheme wherein special educators
will be able to reach the doorstep of these children
in need.
All that the parents of such children need to do is to
register with the nearest office of the education
officer to seek help.
Speaking to DNA, IED programme state coordinator Ajay
N Kakade disclosed that getting a special educator
would be as easy as walking up to the nearest
education
office or the local district disability coordinator or
in case of urban metros like Mumbai and Pune the civic
bodys education department or the local
ward office ans asking for details and help.
In villages and talukas, parents can approach the
sarpanch or local health officer respectively. Besides
this, all the 35 districts of the state would have
a district-level
disability commissioner who too can help the parents,
added Kakade.
Stating that the government has already begun
registration of those students who have just cleared
the two-year diploma course for special educators,
Kakade
said the allocation per child under the programme is
Rs600 while the overall budget for implementing IED is
Rs2,384 crore.
The programme will cover children with disabilities
that include orthopedic, visually impaired, hearing
impaired, mentally retarded, learning disabled,
speech impaired, autism, cerebral palsy and multiple
disabilities.
So far, 4,02,192 lakh children in the state have been
identified. In fact, starting December 3 the
government will start a pilot programme for school
readiness
for children with special needs in eight select
districts, including Thane, Nashik and Pune.
An educational assessment by the educator will decides
whether the child is to be provided with home-based
education or regular schooling or a pre-school
education programme, thereby making possible an early
intervention.
Kakade disclosed that under the programme 70 per cent
corrective surgeries have already been performed on
the disabled children.
Over 2.9 lakh children with special needs have been
identified in the state for support services which
range from providing spectacles, orthopedic aids,
brail books, escort allowance and other such services.
Of the 4,02,192 lakh children identified with special
needs in the state, 3,59,021 lakh are enrolled under
the programme.
As against 2,316 posts of special mobile educators
(teachers), the government has been able to fill up
850 posts so far.
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