The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Lack of teachers puts differently-abled children in distress

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Friday, Dec 07, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Lack of teachers puts differently-abled children in distress

S. Prasad

The residential school has on its rolls 52 children, including 11 girls
For the past 13 years, the caretakers are being provided with Rs. 383 a month

Krishnagiri: The differently-abled children in the Government-aided IELC MANN School for Mentally Retarded at Bargur near here are put in distress as the school lacks special teachers.

The residential school has on its rolls as many as 52 children, including 11 girls, affected by mental handicap (mental retardation), cerebral palsy, autism and multiple disabilities.

The children, many of who come from poor families, need special attention in the learning process and individual care starting from bathing to toilet needs, dressing and feeding them.

According to school headmaster, J. Eliah Charles, “apart from trying to create awareness about the existing gross social stigma against these children as ‘mentally ill’, the thrust of the school activities is to get the parents first understand that their children are not inflicted by any disease and that it is more of a condition.” There have been numerous instances of fathers of such children deserting their family on coming to know about the impairment.

On most occasions it is the mother and the grandparents who take care of such children.

They are also engaged in various learning activities and gradually moved from a stage of dependency to independency.

Struggle

But lack of qualified teachers in handling these special children has resulted in children struggle to learn on their own.

The existing faculty, includes a headmaster, two-second grade teachers with a diploma in special education, a warden and a watchman. The unwillingness of special teachers to work in the school for the salary provided by the Government has been a major setback.

In fact, more than eight qualified teachers have switched jobs to Government regular schools in the past few months due to social stigma and lack of incentive.

Another unfortunate aspect is that the school has been provided with three caretakers and two cooks on consolidated pay. For the past 13 years, the caretakers are being provided with just Rs. 383 a month, Mr. Charles added.

As a result, many of them are not willing to work in the school the whole day. The school does not have a physiotherapist either.

Service

Though repeated representations were made to authorities concerned to hike the salary, nothing concrete has emerged till date. The sense of service has been the lone motivating factor in getting some person or the other to work in the school.

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