Samagra Shiksha under the aegis of School Education Department (SED) today organized an impressive function on the eve of International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) at Teacher’s Bhawan here. Principal Secretary, Education, Alok Kumar was the Chief Guest on the occasion.
Commissioner Secretary, Social Welfare, Sheetal Nanda; Project Director Samagra Shiksha, Director School Education Jammu and other senior officers of the SED were present on the occasion. The event witnessed extraordinary cultural events showcasing the unique talent of Specially abled children drawn from schools of across the UT.
Addressing the gathering, the Principal Secretary lauded the specially abled students for performing with their best talent on the stage like folk dances, folk music, contemporary dance, singing and mimes. He also reiterated that the aim of IDPD is to encourage the specially abled students, adding that specially abled students must be renamed as specially talented students as they performed at par with professional people.
Alok Kumar maintained that all the facilities need to provided under Inclusive Education so that the students may excel in their life and may fight with the challenges they face. He remarked that awareness needs to be imparted to general public, about the rights, security and development of Children with Special Needs.
While mentioning the role of SED, Principal Secretary said that under Samagra Shiksha 64 fully equipped resource rooms have been constructed wherein 83 special educators/resource persons are working for providing educational as well as therapeutic support to Children with Special needs (CWSN).
He also added that Assessments Camps are being organized in all 188 Zones and free aids and appliances are being distributed among the CWSN. He highlighted that as a remarkable achievement, 4990 children have been provided assistive devices under Samagra Shiksha in the current year in collaboration with ALIMCO.
The Principal Secretary further said that more than Rs. 2.35 Crores have been disbursed to CWSN on account of allowances during current year through DBT Mode. He also highlighted that 550 CWSN friendly toilets have also been constructed in the Government Schools.
Speaking on the occasion, Commissioner Secretary, SWD, said that specially abled children are having lot of potential which depicted from their performances in the cultural event. She remarked that school education and social welfare departments are jointly taking several initiatives for upliftment of Specially Abled Children who are enrolled in Government Schools.
The Commissioner Secretary also underlined several welfare schemes being implemented by the Social Welfare department for welfare of CWSN and urged the stakeholders to avail their due benefits. She added that parents and students should show courage and come forward for the education in Schools under Inclusive education. ”Teachers as mentors who can do miracles in the life of children with special needs by supporting them and they are doing at their best”, she maintained.
Earlier, Project Director, Samagra Shiksha in his welcome address briefed about the different initiatives taken for welfare of Children with Special Needs under Inclusive Education scheme of Samagra Shiksha. He highlighted that efforts are being made to encourage students to attend the school and special educators/resource teachers are working tirelessly for imparting Education to these children.
He informed the gathering that presently 21000 Children with Special needs are enrolled in various schools across the UT and getting benefits under inclusive education. He also intimated that special exposure tours and sports activities have been organised for the CWSN in the current year across the UT and reiterated that department encourages the NGOs genuinely working for specially abled children.
During the programme a Specially abled children in sign language presented National Anthem which mesmerized the audience with patriotic emotion. The children were also felicitated on the occasion in different fields like academics, fine arts, Sports or other fields.