Hariksha

Project Brief: Learning center for cerebrally palsied and mentally retarded children
Project Type: Children with Disabilities (description)
Primary Focus: children with disabilities (description)

Secondary Focus: other

Area: Rural
Supporting Chapter Contact:
Irvine
Status: CLOSED - COMPLETED
Project Steward: Ramanathan Subramanian
Project Partner(s): Bhaskar Venkateswaran
Project Address: Hariksha
No: 800 - C, Gokulam Nagar
Vengikkal Post
Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu 606604
Tel: +91-4175-232224
Stewarding Chapter: Irvine
Nov 2008IrvineUSD 1000

Total = $1000

Melmalayanur is a block of 55 panchayat villages in Gingee taluk of Villupuram district in TamilNadu, and borders Thiruvannamalai. Most of the people here work as agricultural laborers or coolies in construction industry in nearby big towns or some form of unskilled labor.

According to an SSA survey in 2005, there are about 100 children in the age groups of 3-16 who have cerebral palsy and other mental & developmental disabilities in this block alone. The policy adopted by the state government is to provide inclusive education to children with special needs. That is, such children are brought into regular government schools for mainstream education, and teachers in these schools are trained by special educators to handle them. The same special educators are expected to provide home-based care for children with severe disabilities. In Melmalayanur block, for example, only three SSA special educators are assigned to meet the needs of about 100 children which turns out to be far too less to provide any significant development.

This project aims at setting up a learning center in Avalurpet village to cater to children with severe disablities in and around this village. Most of these children currently don't go to any school and remain at home where the care they get is constrained by their families' economic situation and commitments. Trained special educators and caretakers will be employed in the school.