Disabled children forced to attend classes in the open

MUMBAI, JULY 8: Each time it rains, little Heena and Dhruv shiver in the cold and their shoes get wet. The plastic sheets put up as a bar...

MUMBAI, JULY 8: Each time it rains, little Heena and Dhruv shiver in the cold and their shoes get wet. The plastic sheets put up as a barrier between the ground floor corridor and the playground outside hardly offer any protection to them and their schoolmates suffering from deafness, spasticity and other learning disabilities.

For the last two years, the Sanskardham Vidyalaya for the Hearing Impaired at Goregaon has been forced to run classes in the open, thanks to the MHADA and the BMC passing the buck to each other over a plot of land meant for the school. Set up in 1993 in the campus of the Sanskardham Junior College, the school which currently has 62 students is managing with four classrooms. The rooms equipped with chairs and gadgets meant for the hearing impaired have to be filled with children from different classes at the same time and the rest are forced to sit outside in the corridor. At least 11 classrooms are needed to cater to the students from kindergarten to Std X.

Two years back the school applied to the MHADA for plot number 240 and 223 at Shastrinagar to build its own premises. When they failed to get any repsonse for months, they approached the MHADA which said that plot number 240 had been handed over to the BMC. The BMC in turn send the school officials back to the MHADA saying they had nothing to do with the said plot. 8220;It was only in June this year that the MHADA told us that the plot had been given out for a playground since no one came forward to claim it. They have still not told us what happened to the other plot,8221; says a staff member. MHADA officials when contacted said the application would be scrutinised soon.

Plot number 223 meanwhile has been encroached upon by slums and a plot adjoining it has been given to a fish market. 8220;Our hopes are pinned on this land since it touches the link road and is near the Oshiwara bus depot. It will make travelling easy for our students. If we get it, we will be able to not only build extra classrooms but also a swimming pool, a playground and a vocational training centre for the children,8221; says another staff member.

The Sanskardham Vidyalaya which recieves no grant from the government is managed by a parents8217; association and run entirely on donations. Says a parent, 8220;Rules framed by the government for the benefit of the handicapped remain on paper. Insitutes for the disabled come under the Social Welfare Ministry which does not understand the educational set-up at all. Everytime we ask for grants, we are told that the government does not have funds. We have been running from pillar to post for the last two years for this land. If the Social Welfare Ministry cannot take care of the handicapped, the institutes should be brought under the Education department. At least we will be on par with other schools8221;.

8220;Our final goal is to integrate our children with the mainstream. Fifteen of our children have already joined institutes for able children,8221; says a teacher adding, 8220;It is unfortunate that instead of helping us the government is actually making things more difficult for us. Apart from the donations, we make do with the money that we get from the sale of handicrafts made by our children and charity shows8221;.