Specially abled students should be renamed as specially Talented Students-Alok Kumar ; Samagra Shiksha, J&K observes International Day of Persons with Disabilities

GNSONLINE JAMMU

JAMMU NOVEMBER 03:-Samagra Shiksha under the aegis of School Education Department, J&K organized a cultural event on the eve of International Day of Persons with Disabilities at Teachers’ Bhawan today. Principal Secretary School Education Department, Alok Kumar was the Chief Guest on the occasion. Besides, Dr. Ravi Shankar- Director School Education Jammu and Manisha Sarin- Secretary JKBOSE also graced the occasion.

At the onset, Children presented the National Anthem in Sign Language which mesmerized the audience with a patriotic emotion. Deputy Director, Planning Samagra Shiksha- Bilal Mir presented the welcome address wherein he briefed about the different initiatives taken for welfare of Children with Special Needs under Inclusive Education scheme of Samagra Shiksha.
Children presented heart-throbbing performances one after the other and mesmerized the audience with their extra-ordinary talents.
Director School Education Jammu, Dr. Ravi Shankar felt very emotional in his address and expressed that School Education Department is taking several initiatives for upliftment of Specially Abled Children who are enrolled in Government Schools. He also reiterated that Department encourages the Non-Governmental Organizations which are genuinely working for Persons with Disabilities by offering admissions to such students in Government Schools.

Principal Secretary, School Education- Alok Kumar in his address lauded the students for performing, with their best talents on the stage. He also reiterated that, the aim of IDPD is to encourage the Specially abled students and further added that, these Specially abled students must be renamed as Specially Talented students, who performed at par with Professional people.He maintained that, all the facilities, shall be provided under Inclusive Education, so that the students may excel in their life. The skill development courses shall be made available for these specially abled students, so that they may earn their livlihood. He said that, awareness needs to be imparted to general public, about the rights, security and development of Children With Special Needs. While mentioning the role of School Education Department, he said that, under Samagra Shiksha 70 fully equipped Resource Rooms have been constructed wherein 83 Special Educators/ Resource Persons have been placed for providing educational as well as therapeutic support to Children with Special needs (CWSN). He also added that Assessments Camps are being organized in all Zones and free Aids/Appliances are distributed among the CWSN. As a remarkable achievement, notification has been issued this year on Board Accommodations where under different relaxations shall be offered to CWSN during exams at par with CBSE. Around 3.10 Cr was disbursed to CWSN on account of allowances during last two years through DBT Mode. Besides, under architectural support around 12000 RAMPS and 850 CWSN Toilets have also been constructed in the Government Schools. He lastly congratulated the Samagra Team headed by Deep Raj, Project Director, for making their continuous efforts, for the betterment of Children with Special Needs.

Some of the thematic performances included folk dances, folk music, contemporary dance, Singing and Mime. Performers rejoiced the house with colours and hues and auditorium was fully packed with audience. Students and teachers from different Government Schools, Jammu Sanskriti, M.V. International and Cluster University attended the event. Felicitation of children, who have achieved remarkable achievements in the field of academics, fine arts, Sports or other fields was also part of the evebt. Principal Secretary also presented the prizes to all the children who participated in the event.
Prominent among others, who were part of the event were Subha Mehta- Joint Director SED,J. R. Pakhroo- Joint Director, SCERT, Suraj Singh Rathore- Chief Education Officer Jammu, Rajiv Khajuria- Chairman National Development Foundation, J. K. Padha- Administrative Officer Samagra Shiksha, Dr. Ravinder Jangral- Asst. Coordintor along with all other coordinators.

Vijay Singh, State Coordinator (IE) presented vote of thanks and expressed gratitude to all participants, all the Chief Education Officers, Zonal Educational Officers, teachers, Special Educators and especially Students for making the event a grand success.