Special children get mobile educators

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 body’s 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.