Aiming to mainstream SAVITA IYER
A programme to create awareness in rural areas about the need to mainstream children with disability. INCLUSIVITY: Leave no child out. Children with disabilities are often sidelined, and this is more obvious in rural India. In impoverished rural areas, there is no awareness that children with disabilities, too, have the right to education and to a future, says Lakshmi Hariharan, director of the Bangalore-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Shrushti. Changing mindsets is a tough task, but thanks to the efforts of the Government of Karnataka to make inclusive education (the inclusion of children with disabilities in regular schools) a must, and the work of organizations like Shrushti, things are changing, and the future of impaired children in the state is starting to look brighter. Dance and drama In October, Shrushti put together a special campaign to raise awareness on the need to include disabled children in mainstream education. The group, which specialises in using dance and performing arts as a medium of communication, travelled to the most impoverished parts of Northern Karnataka, showcasing the problems that disabled children face at home, in their neighbourhood and in school. The outreach campaign was successful, Hariharan says, not because it helped in creating awareness on the need for mainstreaming, but more so because it highlighted the fact that these children do not need to be pitied, instead they need to be included. "This is the message we are constantly sending out," Hariharan says. "Unless a disabled child feels accepted as a friend, there is no way that he or she can go through their education. Our goal is to help them make a shift from compassion to friendship." Hariharan believes that children are the motor of change, and Shrushti's aim is to raise awareness among children on the need to treat their disabled peers in the same manner as they would treat others in their group. "We're not looking to glorify disabilities; rather, we seek to celebrate inclusivity," she says. Hariharan says, "The Government of Karnataka has put in a lot of effort towards training teachers for inclusive education, and these teachers are extremely dedicated people, but it is the spirit of the people in the most impoverished areas that works." For more information call Srushti Performing Arts and Communications Center at 9341247198 or Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.hindu.com/quest/200612/stories/2006120800080800.htm Vikas Kapoor, MSN ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Skype ID: dl_vikas Mobile: (+91) 9891098137. To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
