Parvarish: Special school for spl children PRADIP LOHAGUN, KALIMPONG, 14 Jul 2014: After being discarded by many schools citing umpteen reasons, a few differently-abled children in Kalimpong have found a refuge for learning and development in a special school called Parvarish. At Parvarish, these special students have found new and innovative ways to learn giving their parents the long-sought relief that had been eluding them. Situated just 3km away from town along East Main Road, the school was established by Kalpana Prasad in 2011. An artist by profession, Kalpana said she did not open the school just to fill the void for a special school for disadvantaged children, but also to develop the potential within an individual and bring the person into mainstream society as a normal human being. The school has adopted special ways to teach these differently-abled students on how to live life through education. Parvarish takes students who have difficulty in understanding what they study even after attaining a certain age and ones who are not accepted by society due to their physical and mental conditions. The school believes the students may not be able to pass board examinations, but they do have the potential to be someone worthwhile in life and be part of society as normal human beings. The school currently has seven students who have various forms of disabilities. “These students have different types of abnormalities, which make them look or behave in a different manner, but by no means are they incompetent or inefficient,” says Kalpana. According to her, some of the students take a while to register things with their brains, while some take a lot of time to understand simple things. “These children are not mentally ill; the problem is the slow development of their brains, which can been taken care of with special teaching methods,” stressed Kalpana. She informed the students in Parvarish are taught in a different way, with teachers focusing more on visual and self-assessment tools for imparting lessons. The school uses many techniques, including drawing, handicraft, songs and dances, sports and oral techniques to teach the students. “They need constant guidance and each student is taken care of by a teacher during an entire session, as sometimes they get too excited and even violent,” Kalpana informed. Parvarish was established by Kalpana Prasad without any external assistance and is run by the fees collected from the students. Kalpana and one of her colleagues named Priyanka Lepcha take care of the students and teach them from 9am to 2pm in the presence of the guardians. The guardians said they are extremely happy with the education their children are getting at Parvarish and hope it continues the good work for many more special children. [CAPTION: - Students and teachers of Parvarish with guardians. -Interactive class in progress at Parvarish. Text & Photo by: EOI ]
Posted on: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 14:26:19 +0000
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