Pre-vocational training to be given to children with special needs

The proposal is aimed at developing life skills in these children and integrating them within society by means of employment and to make them economically independent

Skill based pre-vocational training has been proposed to be imparted in government schools for children with special needs (CWSN) as a pilot project at the five school resource centres here from the upcoming academic session.

Aimed at developing life skills within these children, the proposal is directed at integrating them within the society by means of employment and to make them economically independent. "In a first at the elementary level, we are planning to provide skill based training to the differently abled students presently enrolled in schools across the city. This is being done to initiate a beginning towards ensuring greater employability for them at later stages of life," says Nidhi, Assistant Coordinator with the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) Inclusive Education.

She says that the pre-vocational courses will help the students identify their interests at an early stage and be able to pursue them further when they get out of the school. Presently, the Education Department has five resource centres for the CWSN students at GMSSS-8, GSSS-15, 38 West, 45 and GMHS-28 and an official communication has been sent to them regarding the arrangements that need to be made for initiating the courses.

For children with various disabilities, four broad areas have been identified including computer training, art and craft, safety skills and healthcare, and paper bag making. There are to be further activities within these categories that will be determined based on the response and interest expressed by the students. Trained vocational trainers will be recruited for the purpose who will work in coordination with fifteen Resource Teachers already working with the department.

"The children will be taught in groups of five and classes for the children will be taken by the vocational trainers in the presence of our resource teachers who will act as facilitators," says Nidhi.

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