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Vikasam a beacon for disadvantaged
People with disabilities face many barriers every day – from physical obstacles to learning barriers. Vikasam is one such concept dedicated experiential learning school, where students engage in multiple activities designed to achieve curriculum objectives along with textbooks and classroom teaching techniques.
Utnoor (Adilabad): People with disabilities face many barriers every day from physical obstacles to learning barriers. Vikasam is one such concept dedicated experiential learning school, where students engage in multiple activities designed to achieve curriculum objectives along with textbooks and classroom teaching techniques. Thanks to Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) project officer RV Karnan, without whose efforts the school would have not been possible, aimed at enlightening the lives of the disadvantaged children belonging to the underprivileged sections in the Agency.
All that started a year ago when Karnan found that the world of a lot of children in the Agency is filled with darkness due to the absence of special schools specifically designed to address their needs. Albeit it was a huge challenge, the PO made it possible last year with state-of-art facilities. He visited Saksham, a barrier-free residential educational unit for children with special needs, at Dantewada in Chhattisgarh, to make note of the facilities available there before coming up with Vikasam School.
The school now has 118 boys with multiple disabilities including mentally retarded, visually impaired, hearing impaired (HI), cerebral palsy etc. This apart, the school also provides admission to a few non tribal kids also. While the boys stay in the hostel, girls come to the school as day scholars. The ITDA has provided a school bus to pick up and drop the day scholars.
The state-of-art facilities in the school include individual desks with swivel chairs, machines that help in hearing, audiometry lab, sound-proof rooms for HI, physiotherapy equipment etc. The school building which has tactile tiling is of immense help as they serve like guiding lights for the visually impaired. Music is also taught in the school. It’s learnt that over Rs 1.22 crore has been spent on the facility.
The school has nine teaching staff and 14 non-teaching to look after the well-being of the children. Speaking to The Hans India, RV Karnan said “Efforts are on to establish another facility exclusively for the girls on par with the international standards like the Vikasam.” Stating that the proposal is with the government, he exuded confidence that it would be a reality very soon.
Vikasam principal Anusha Rathod said that teaching staff is adept of Braille, sign language besides adopting other modes like using playing and learning material to reach out the children. However, its a tough job which needs caring and patience, serving the disadvantaged is a honour. The efforts of PO are proving to be godsend for the underprivileged in this part of the State.
