Karnataka - Mysore   

Proposal for `special educators' in schools

By Our Staff Correspondent

MYSORE, JUNE 8. Even as efforts are being made to integrate disabled children into the mainstream educational setup, a proposal to keep aside a few posts for `special educators' during the recruitment of teachers in government schools has been made.

This is an attempt to ease the integration of students with speech and hearing impairment in mainstream schools. It is learnt that the proposal was made by the All-India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH) at the end of 2003.

Pre-school training programmes for hearing and speech impaired children not only address problems associated with speech and hearing, but also looks after the overall needs of these children.

Speech and hearing experts feel that after children with speech or hearing difficulties come out of the pre-school training programmes, a cushion is required before they are put into mainstream schools.

Here arises the need for special educators at the primary school level. This will not only help in reducing the anxiety among parents of these children, but also help the children overcome their inhibitions.

Besides making the proposal, the AIISH has started a one-year Bachelor of Special Education (Hearing Impairment) programme for B.Ed. degree holders.

Speaking to The Hindu, M. Jayaram, Director of AIISH, said: "As far as the proposal is concerned, AIISH had suggested that it be implemented in government schools as the Government is responsible to society."

Though no accurate figures on the number of physically challenged persons in the country were available, nearly 1.5 per cent of the population was believed to have some kind of disability, he added.

Dr. Jayaram, however, felt that even if the Government made the appointment of special educators compulsory, it was difficult for AIISH to train such a large pool of people. He said that candidates possessing a postgraduate diploma in courses dealing with cerebral palsy, learning disorders and mental retardation after B.Ed. were suitable for further training of children at the high school level.

Keeping this in mind, the one-year programme would later be extended to other areas such as cerebral palsy and learning disorders, he said.

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