From the States

New Delhi

Assam

Tiruchy

Mumbai

Disability Theatre

Disabled artists gave a marvelous performance in the play Ramayana on wheels, which was earlier, awarded the International Theatre Festival Award at Helsinki, Finland.

Possible, a weeklong cultural festival, which comprised a rally at India Gate, an art exhibition and an international film festival, was organized from the 1st to the 7th of December by disabilitytheater.com. The play, based on the Ramayana, had a cast of mentally and physically challenged artists who were outstanding and left the audience spellbound.

Syed Sallaudin Pasha who is a director and a choreographer presented this amalgam of dance, music and theatre. 20 years ago he took up the challenge of teaching children with severe disabilities. Passion and patience kept him going. He said that utilization of ancient Indian technique of dramatics (Natyashatra) helps children to gain confidence and activates their mind. Pasha who is from a family of healers believes that teaching is a service to humanity rather than a profession.

Ajay Sharma, the producer said that they want to take these children away from NGOs and give them a professional platform where they are paid for their work. He said that they should be treated as upcoming professionals and not as a cause. Their whole team aims to generate employment opportunities and equality for disabled children.

Naresh, Hemlata and Manoj who played Ram, Sita and Ravana respectively are proud to be associated with theatre, which not only ensures a good pay but also fulfills their dreams. For the past 4 years Manoj has been playing Ravana and with each performance his acting skills have improved. They work 30 hours a week in which they are taught history of theatre, control over expression and stage timings.

Source: Wheelchair Wonders. The Statesman, New Delhi, 15th December 2005.

Top

An Inclusive Education Plan

The government is finalizing an action plan to ensure that children with special-needs are integrated into regular classrooms. The HRD ministry has asked for an additional allocation of budget to rework existing programs such as the integrated education for disabled children.

The need to include these children in regular classrooms arises from a view that it would be beneficial to both the special-needs and non-disabled children. The government is holding meetings with States, NCERT, and several civil society organizations. The plan for inclusive education will include all institutions.

The Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995, ensures a 3% reservation for the disabled in all institutions receiving government funds. The HRD minister, Arjun Singh, assured that no child with disability would be denied admission on the grounds of his disability.

Source: Regular Classes for disabled mooted. Economic Times, New Delhi, 14th December 2005.

Top

Temptation 2005: SRK to support the disabled

Shah Rukh Khan performed in Delhi as a part of 'Temptation 2005', a multi-star extravaganza that has become quite popular with over 30 performers from across the globe coming together to support the rights of 70 million disabled people, on Christmas Eve.

The program is aimed at raising funds and awareness for the National Access Campaign launched by the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for the Disabled people (NCPEDP) to create a barrier free environment. The actor said that he felt fortunate to be able to contribute his bit as a performer to an institution like NCPEDP, which was playing a key role in ensuring that disabled people got their due from the society.

The actor also said that it was unfortunate that the last show, in Colombo, was marred by a bomb blast causing 2 people to loose their life. They wanted to highlight issues like transport, education and work infrastructure in the country not being accessible to the disabled and thus effectively forcing disabled people to become prisoners in their homes

. Even ten years after the Disability Act was passed, disabled people are waiting for opportunities for jobs, education and participation in public life. To a question on whether he felt enough is being done for disability rights in the country, Shah Rukh said that in India there cannot be anything that is 'enough'. Since we are a developing nation and things are not exactly how they should be.

Temptations 2004, produced by Red Chillies International, SRK's own company, created a record-breaking history across the globe. It traveled to UK, USA, Europe, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Dubai and has been witnessed by over two million people worldwide.

Source: SRK's show in Delhi on Christmas Eve in support of disabled. Kashmir Times, Jammu, 19th December 2005, Shah Rukh enthralls at Temptation, Delhi, 25th December 2005

Top

Cabinet looking at policies for the disabled

The Cabinet has approved a national policy for setting up a mechanism for promoting and protecting the rights of the disabled and providing them equal opportunities to participate in the society.

Mr. Dasmunsi, the Information and Broadcasting Minister, said that the policy would also enhance the dignity and self-respect of the disabled persons. He said that the policy focused on rehabilitation measures, early detection and intervention and provided for assistive devices.

It also envisages development of professionals in their rehabilitation, education and economic empowerment, including self-employment and creation of barrier- free environment and social security. The policy addresses the problems of women and children with disabilities, outlines the role of NGOs in providing services to such handicapped persons and provides for research and data collection specific to their needs.

The policy document would provide guidance to the Centre Government ministries, State Governments, NGOs and other stakeholders for taking up programs for persons with disabilities.

Source: Cabinet nod to policy for disabled. The Tribune, Chandigarh, 24th December 2005.

Top

Aid for Disabled Children

The Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA), Dhubri has identified 386 disabled children in the district and all of them are being supplied with aid and appliances as per their needs. The aid and appliances include wheel chairs, tri-cycles, crutches etc.

Befitting the occasion, the meeting began with Rabindra Sangeet sung by a disabled child and a beneficiary of a wheel chair. The distribution of the aid and appliances began with Nazibul Omar, MLA, Dhubri LAC ceremonially distributing aid to some of the beneficiaries in a meeting presided over by Bhuban Saikia, retired lecturer of BN College, Dhubri.

For this ceremonial distribution of aid and appliances, 30 beneficiaries were brought from 5 educational blocks of the district, Agomoni (6), Golokganj (5), south Salmara (5), Gauripur (7), and Bilasipara (7). In his speech, Omar mentioned that the State government has taken up development of education on a priority basis.

Several other dignitaries including Binit Saikia ADC, Smti Abida Parveen, chairperson, Dhubri Zila Parishad, Smti Indrawati Das, CEO, Dhubri ZP and two representatives from Guwahati SSA also addressed the meeting. Earlier KU Ahmed, DEEO and Dist Mission Coordinator, SSA Dhubri, while explaining the purpose of the meeting said that 3% of India's population constitutes of physically and mentally impaired children.

As a separate school for such a large number of children is not possible, the SSA has devised the IED (Integrated Education for Disabled) scheme by which steps have been taken to provide education to this category of children in the existing formal schools along with other children and by providing special attention to the physically handicapped children from trained teachers/educational workers.

Source: Disabled children in Dhubri district get aid, appliances, Assam Tribune, Guwahati 16th December 2005.

Top

Too much emphasis on English: One of the reasons for Learning Disability

Hali Varsha, a speech and language therapist at the University of Reading in London is convinced that teachers and parents can change the life style of a student and she expressed that at the workshop that was held.

She spoke about understanding and remediating the learning problems of school children at the Holy Cross Service Society (HCSS); she also explained how language skills could be developed. About 10 - 15% of school children face learning disability and teachers and parents have a key role in moulding them.

She explained how speech and language were different entities. Speech is the manner in which words are produced and language is just a tool for the child to express his experience. A child should be given room to develop experience. Language and cognition go hand in hand. The major problem in learning disability (LD) is that the English language is taught like the mother tongue.

Ideally, it should be taught through the senses the play way method and exposure to different situations. It is important to develop language skills right from the kindergarten level. Initially, the child needs to be taught to develop skills in one language.

But the system focuses on education more through the English medium education than the Tamil medium. Consequently they fail to prepare the child to comprehend and apply the concepts. Children are often made to memorize the lessons, and know only how to memorize rather than to understand.

She added that education should focus on language in a structured way. The role of parents and teachers is important for the child with LD. Early intervention is necessary for remedial assistance. It is better if we are able to detect it by the age of seven or eight, before the child's mind is conditioned to certain activities.

Later, a teacher said that though they were able to identify children with LD but parents fail to accept the fact and co-operate. Prof Dr. S Prabakar Immanuel, HCSS executive director and secretary, said teachers should organize "counseling for parents".

At the workshop participants unanimously opted for training to tackle children with LD and take part in a LD children support group. As many as 22 people participated, out of which 13 were from matriculation schools.

Source: Early intervention vital to tackle learning disability. Indian Express, Chennai, 13th December 2005.

Top

Inclusive sports meet

More than a hundred Ruia College students, including 45 visually impaired ones, celebrated their two-day annual sports fest. At the intra-college event, students participated in 25 different sports events, including Frisbee, dodge ball, badminton, table tennis, chess and 'lagori'.

The organizers held special sports events for the visually challenged students, who took part in chess, cricket and the Frisbee tournament. Sachin Yele, a visually impaired student, who played in the cricket match, said that he loved playing cricket and for the past 3 years, Ruia has been organizing events for them.

He has also participated in the zone and state-level matches. He is happy that Ruia recognizes their talents. These college-level events are a stepping-stone for higher-level matches and selections.

Source: Ruia fest gives collegian a role. DNA (Dairy), Mumbai, 12th December 2005.

Top