In a bid to imbibe inclusive education in its system, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has decided to set up an exclusive centre where all teachers of its schools will be trained on ‘special education’. The training centre will be established in the civic agency’s Aanchal Special School for children with special needs.
“The Right to Education (RTE) Act also directs inclusive education which means the differently-abled children can be admitted to regular schools rather than creating special schools for them. We will impart special education to all our teachers in the training centre so that our unique kids can also be a part of mainstream education,” said Vidushi Chaturvedi, Director (Education), NDMC.
The Council has planned to begin the move as a pilot project first which will be flagged off within a month. Initially, three teachers from every NDMC school will be taught this course and later, the intake will increase, officials said. The agency currently has 72 schools under its jurisdiction.
Officials said that the teachers of Aanchal Special School, located in Chanakyapuri, will impart this training to teachers pursuing this course. Besides, the civic body also plans to outsource more teachers.
“The faculty at Aanchal is there, but apart from them we will call in experts from the field who will instruct the educators. At present, we do have a few autistic children admitted to some of our regular schools. But we lack a professional system of educating them as our teachers are not equipped with those skills. This will bring quality in the teaching style of our mentors as they will learn techniques not only to teach them but also care for them,” added an official.
The Council believes that the move will also help trained teachers to identify students with symptoms of such disorders. “There are many cases where children are dyslexic or autistic, but they go unidentified. Teachers equipped with this special kind of skill will be a great help,” he added.
Presently, Aanchal Special School which caters to the mentally-challenged, deaf and mute children has 250 students. These children are given vocational training like stitching, carpentry, art and crafts, and so on. Their products, which include paper bags, cards and lamps, are sold during festive seasons and the money raised is utilised for their betterment, said an official.