I too agree with the openion of bavya.----- Original Message ----- From: "Vidhya Y" <vidhya....@gmail.com> To: "AccessIndia: a list for discussing accessibility and issues concerningthe disabled." <accessindia@accessindia.org.in>
Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2014 8:06 AM Subject: Re: [AI] Regarding Inclusive Education and Special School.
ok Bavya, I read your mail. will surely answer your questions tomorrow as I am very busy today. On 11/1/14, sanjay <sanjaylpra...@yahoo.co.in> wrote:First of all, I don't believe that blind people who study in integratedschools will possess extraordinary skils of mingling with sighted folks. Iam also a product of special school. Forget about other books, we were noteven provided sylabus books properly. We were introduced to English alphabets in 5th Std. Blaming my Kannada medium school for not teaching English is unfair on my part. This was the situation in 1980's. In myneighbourhood, I had many sighted friends and I was even atending a tuitionclassss with my sighted peers during weekends.AT certain point of time we have to quit our native place for job/training purposes. When you go to new place, whether you are a sighted or blind weall have to face initial ods.I have seen many blind folks who have no business with any sighted personbut are living happily without mourning for sighted person(s) assistance/friendship. Perhaps, it is their 100% interdependent nature which gave them this level of joy and confidence. I said interdependentnature because 100% independence is a myth. It is because of such people,many inventions and innovations of products have been taking place relentlessly.Today's relations are based on common interest and reciprocity. Whether you are sighted or blind, as long as you have something to offer or share, you can always have good friends and relatives. As we mature from childhoodto adulthood, the dynamics of relations too change.I have also seen blind people who could not have been educated well withoutspecial schools. I do support the view that primary education should be given in special schools. Then let the children and parents decide what suits them best. Please don't go by the myth that integrated schools are the only way tomainstream disabled people in the normal society. Such concepts hold littlevalue in highly individualised societies of today; and, this is the falsepropaganda by some vested interests. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Amiyo Biswas" <amiyo.bis...@gmail.com>To: "AccessIndia: a list for discussing accessibility and issuesconcerningthedisabled." <accessindia@accessindia.org.in> Sent: Saturday, November 01, 2014 8:46 AM Subject: Re: [AI] Regarding Inclusive Education and Special School.I am not against inclusive education for those who can manage it, particularly with the support of parents. The old integrated education programme was the best choice perhaps. I want that the special schools should be developed with good teachers and resources. In West Bengal special schools are under the ministry of mass education whose primaryresponsibility is to promote mass literacy. The teachers are paid less thanthe teachers at normal schools. The most pathetic situation is that the special educators are paid hardly Rs. 8,000 or something like that when they have to bear greater responsibility than regular teachers. Parents want to send their children to normal schools because they gain financially from it for the incentive. They refuse to talk to the representatives of the special schools because of this incentive. Organisations should take up the issue as they did for the copyright act or the rpd bill. With best regards, Amiyo Biswas Cell: +91-9433464329 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Vidhya Y" <vidhya....@gmail.com> To: "AccessIndia: a list for discussing accessibility and issues concerningthe disabled." <accessindia@accessindia.org.in> Sent: Friday, October 31, 2014 2:24 PM Subject: Re: [AI] Regarding Inclusive Education and Special School.I still believe that for primary level atleast till 5th grade, Special school helps for all Blind children. I would like to share why I think so, till 7th grade I studied in a blind school (in a hostel). it was very difficult for my parents to leave me their but that was the only alternative. I know that the quality of education is not good at the blind schools because I had to learn all concepts like algebra and geometry and also many concepts in science in the integrated school for my 8th grade from scratch(as my friends had already learnt it before 7th grade) and they had not taught these concepts in blind school.for a year or so it was very difficult and later I managed it very well.I used to stay in a village and there are no good schools near buy. my parents have given me all the facilities but english is not what they have studied so converting books would not be possible at any cost. as a girl, there is a question of sending me to any institute to take training in computer math etc on my own and the people from the institute would not come because I stay too far from city. and these institutes are so far from the village. in the village where all students in general are not getting proper education in computer, english, what about the blind children especially at the primary level? I studied in integrated school from 8th grade because I could manage on my own at that level with a little help. but how could I do that from primary level? I have very supportive family and tutors so I have managed to study math and programming even in the degree level and now I am working as research assistant (thinking of doing PHD in computer science ). and there are other blind children especially girls who are not even cared by their families(I am telling this because I know many of them), same flexibility in mingling with other children and also in mobility cannot be expected like boys for girls as all of you know that no place is safe. and if their are no special schools too, how to educate blind girls when female education in general is too bad in our country? atleast through special schools people will learn few basic educational skills and survival skills right? or else how to promote literacy among all blind girls? this is my personal opineon, I know that there are many exceptional cases with well educational and financially stable parents who can take care of blind children. so please don't take this opinion too seriously. On 10/30/14, Parakh Rajesh <rajeshparak...@gmail.com> wrote:the real essence of inclusive education is integration of differently abled to main stream where the notions and hesitance of the sited or normalsociety is reduced to a level where inclusion of these children becomes smoother. and moreover the feeling of isolation amongst the differentlyabled population may fade away during the course of time which in turnincreases their confidence level. coming to resources and facilities in rural areas or lesser priviliged society the issues are real complex incountry like ours. here stronger, pragmatic laws and stiff accountability may help in long term perspective. regards, rajesh parakh ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bhavya shah" <bhavya.shah...@gmail.com> To: "AccessIndia: a list for discussing accessibility and issues concerningthe disabled." <accessindia@accessindia.org.in> Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2014 4:51 PM Subject: Re: [AI] Regarding Inclusive Education and Special School.Hi,'great bhavya, in todays context the need is to use technology in bestpossible ways. further there is a need to create strong laws fornormal schools that they do not refuse any differently abled child foradmission and provide atleast minimum standard of technology for the children to achieve education. i think strong rules will surely help children from rural areas also.' I think there is a law that mainstream schools cannot refuse to give admission to a visually impaired child, I might be wrong here. Thiswasn't in my case, because I have been studying in my school from whenI was completely sighted to now, where I am completely blind. In a poor country as India, perhaps the school may not give technological solutions to the children, but certainly, they shouldallow the use of laptops and other such solutions. I am not sure aboutrural areas, I have seen that some NGOs with lots and lots of teachers, have failed to spread awareness, and sadly parents of other blind children aske me whether I am able to use a computer or not, whether I will drop maths or not, because in those NGOs (I won't take their names) only and only Braille is taught, and just nothing else. If NGOs themselves become more aware, then perhaps we can talk about the adoption of inclusive education in rural areas. On 10/30/14, Ketan Kothari <muktake...@gmail.com> wrote:Dear Bhavya, I am a student from a "special school". I have also been a student ina regular "not normal" school but I personally feel that education isimportant to begin with and then the philosophical debate of "special" versus "inclusive" for both have their advantages and disadvantages. In a case as yours, at least you have parents who have computer athome. How many blind people or their parents in the country have it?What about regional languages? And yes, the biggest asset that you have is your mother who is painstakingly doing the conversion etc. I am not advocating special school but I am of the opinion that a child must be educated in the best scenario that helps him. I have been to the villages where both parents have to go to NREGS work andthe child goes to a regular school with little or no attention. Thiscertainly hampers his education and the learning outcomes will definitely suffer. In the best available circumstances, children must be in an inclusive environment but e-text can never replace Braille till we have mobile sets that are easily accessible, fast to operate and can maintain privacy (which present sets do not allow I am afraid), and yes, Braille is not a language but a script.Having said all this, I really admire your courage and wisdom at yourage and for this I would certainly salute your parents. Their perseverance is what led you where you are. I am sure you will go miles in the future. Wish you best of luck, lad and may you climb heights unthinkable. With best wishes, Ketan On 10/30/14, Amiyo Biswas <amiyo.bis...@gmail.com> wrote:Dear Friends, Recently I met some of my teacher friends at a meeting of Blind Persons' Association. We were sharing our experiences in our respective fields. We were all surprised to learn that special schools are not getting studentsafter inclusive education was introduced. There are hardly a handfulof special schools for us. If these schools with a very low roll strength do not get sufficient students, what will be the lot of the next generation of visually impaired students?Inclusive Education programme is in effect for some years. We shouldreview the situation now. As a project it sounds very good. Disabled children read at normal schools and ideally it helps mainstreaming them into the society. A cursory glance at a classroom will reveal the real situation. In West Bengal, where I live in, the normal student-teacher ratio is about 1-100 in many cases. It is even worse at the primary schools. Moreover, the primary school teachers have to perform various duties during census and election. Besides, they have their daily chore of midday meal. Many of these schools do not have the necessary infrastructure for children with special needs. Accessible toilets are dreams when the normal children do not get these facilities in some cases. There are Special Educators who are supposed to assist the children withspecial needs. A Special Educator has to cover about 30 schools in amonth. Is it possible for him or her to guide a disabled child by meeting him once in a month? We cannot expect him that he will be efficient in Braille, sign language and so on. They are paid very low (hardly Rs. 8,000 per month) andappointed on a contract basis. They tend to quit their jobs wheneverthere is an opportunity. Why should well-educated young people stick to such a job for so humble a salary? I shall not say that nothing good has come of it. Many disabled children have been enrolled into normal schools or Sarba Shiksha Abhijan. In normal schools there is no pass or fail. So visually challenged children get automatic promotion up to class VIII without ever learning Braille. I have heard of a mentally retarded child who goes to the exam and his invigilatorwrites his name, roll etc. on his answer paper and he gets promoted.There is yet another benefit. Parents of the disabled children gainfinancially from the scheme, around Rs. 4,500. The Special Educatorsearn their living, whatever it is, from this scheme. But this is all at the cost of education. When children with special needs require special training, we are thrusting them into an atmosphere where they feel lonely and isolated. They memorise some rhymes and stories, but they seldom learn arithmetic. As a result they grow up with an inferiority complex. A severe consequence of the scheme is that since the parents earn something from this scheme, they do not send their children to special schools. Most of the special schools cannot enrol their full strength. I do not want to give up with Inclusive Education immediately. But we can do the following to make it more effective:1. There should be some financial incentive for the parents who sendtheir children to special schools 2. The block-level social welfare officer should try to find a special school for a child with special needs and when no such facility is available, only then the child should be enrolled in Inclusive Education. 3. Special Educators should be paid in line with the regular teachers with all facilities. 4. Braille books, Braille writing frames, Taylor frames and other similaritems used by children with special needs should be available at theblock level. I shall request all senior members to do something about it. We should writeto the ministers of Social Justice and Empowerment, Education and tothe PM also. Activists like Mr. Kaul, Mr. Rumta or Dipendra should take initiative with our full support for any action. With best Regards, Amiyo Biswas Cell: +91-9433464329 Clean India Campaign: Let us also chip in! Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in 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 Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity;2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on themails sent through this mailing list..-- Ketan Kothari Phone: [r] 24223281, Cell: 9987550614 MSN ID: muktake...@hotmail.com Skype ID: Ketan3333 Clean India Campaign: Let us also chip in! Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in 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 Disclaimer:1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinkingof the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..Clean India Campaign: Let us also chip in!Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibilityof mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in 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 Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. 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AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..Clean India Campaign: Let us also chip in!Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility ofmobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in 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 Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity;2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mailssent through this mailing list..Clean India Campaign: Let us also chip in!Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility ofmobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe.To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, pleasevisit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer:1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of theperson sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity;2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mailssent through this mailing list..Clean India Campaign: Let us also chip in!Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on:http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe.To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page athttp://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer:1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity;2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
Clean India Campaign: Let us also chip in! Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in 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 Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
