Jan. 19: Three institutions have joined hands to provide specialised education to disabled students in the city.

Shishu Sarothi ? a centre for rehabilitation and training for persons with multiple disabilities ? has decided to start its campaign for inclusive education in Maria’s Public School, touted a model school for teaching and treating disabled children on a par with normal kids.

Inclusive education is a nationwide campaign of the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People, which aims to make normal schools accessible to children with disabilities.

The centre has tied up with Shishu Sarothi to carry forward its campaign in the city.

“Maria’s Public School has emerged as a model school, the only one in the city to successfully impart education to special children along with normal children,” said Shishu Sarothi project co-ordinator Arman Ali.

He added that Shishu Sarothi would hold up the example of the school as a model school, where the concept of inclusive education has succeeded brilliantly.

The school has 15 physically challenged children at the primary level and 12 at the secondary level at present.

“Since our inception, we have been encouraging students with disabilities to attend our regular classes,” said Maria’s Public School principal Maya Choudhury.

“The combined efforts of teachers and students have given us brilliant results and have proved all preconceived notions wrong that children with disabilities are different from others. But it is no easy task and special care is definitely needed,” she added.

The school also provides special classes to challenged children. Special classes provide lessons in exercise, cognitive development and therapy, among other fields.

Vocational courses and crafts lessons are also imparted to the children to help them find jobs in different avenues.

“All the children respond very quickly and some of them are doing well in their studies as well as co-curricular activities,” said the school principal. Inclusive education is being seen by activists working in the field of education for the disabled as a noble way of providing education to disabled children and put them on a par with the rest.

Shishu Sarothi is planning to entrust their volunteers with the task of visiting different schools of the city and popularising the concept by citing the example of Maria’s Public School.

“Many prestigious schools here, despite having state-of-the-art facilities, have denied admission to special children to their schools,” said Ali.

“We have to start somewhere; otherwise, education for challenged people will always remain a hard goal to achieve,” added Ali.

Arpita Borthakur, a Class VII student of the school, considers herself an integral part of it.

“I love my school very much. I want to become an electronic engineer in future,” said a smiling Arpita.

“Arpita is very good in her studies and actively participates in all other activities of Maria’s Public School,” said Choudhury.