Training for rehabilitation workers
AMONG THE less explored areas by job seekers is the area of rehabilitation. The National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) estimated the number of disabled persons in the country to be 1.8 per cent of the country's population, accounting for 18.53 million, in 2002.
The country has been witnessing a spurt in demand for professionals to meet the requirements of the disabled population. Among the different types of disabilities, the prevalence of locomotor disability was highest in the country — 1,046 in rural areas and 901 in urban areas per 1,00,000 persons. This was followed by visual and hearing disabilities.
It was with the intention of enlightening schoolteachers, headmasters, student counsellors and career counsellors on the various employment opportunities in the field of special education and rehabilitation that the Department of Rehabilitation Science, Holy Cross College, organised a one-day seminar on `Career Opportunities in the field of Special Education' this past week, at the initiative of the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) to motivate young people into choosing courses related to disability.
According to RCI, there was a requirement of 3,62,300 trained professionals for 10 million people with disabilities in the IX Plan. In the X Plan, the requirement of trained professionals has almost doubled to 7.2 lakhs. The seminar had sessions on the topics, `Professional avenues in Special Education and Rehabilitation based on RCI approved courses', `Qualities of Special Education Professionals and Opportunities for Career Advancement', and a question and answer session on career opportunities hence.
There are as many as 59 RCI approved courses on special education, rehabilitation manpower development programmes in India, offered through more than 175 institutions.
The Institute of Rehabilitation Science and Special Education is one among them. A recognised study centre in the field of Mental Retardation in Tamil Nadu, the institute has also been recognised by the RCI as a training centre to conduct Continuing Rehabilitation Education (CRE) programme in four major areas of disability: visual impairment, hearing impairment, mental retardation, and locomotor disability.
The institute has also been awarded the Special Grade Performance Rating in the area of Multiple Disability in India by RCI. The Zonal Committee of Southern Zone II with Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, International Human Resource Development Centre for the Disabled (IHRDC), Coimbatore, as its nodal agency, is collaborating with the institute.
According to Sr. Maria Kamalam, Professor and Head, Department of Rehabilitation Science, Holy Cross College, the institute, ever since its inception in 1983 by the Holy Cross Congregation of Chavanod and the Christoffel Blinden Mission, West Germany, has been filling the dearth of trained rehabilitation workers, by offering a plethora of programmes, including a three-year Bachelor of Rehabilitation Science (B.R.Sc) degree programme, and a two-year Masters in Rehabilitation Science (M.R.Sc) degree programme. It offers B.Ed. (Special Education — Distance Education) in collaboration with the RCI and Bhoj (Open) University, Bhopal, besides a host of diploma programmes.
R. Krishnamoorthy
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Karnataka
Chennai
Coimbatore
Hyderabad
Madurai
Tiruchirapalli
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
