Philosophical deo
It is Sunday evening and the raise of the bright sun is hitting my back as I am standing at the Madhupur railway station waiting for the train to Delhi. The train is half an hour late and as per the anounsement will pull into platform 2 with in a few minutes. Pankaj Da from Judav is with me and has come to drop me to the train. I asked him “is the train coming” “yes replied he, its just arrived” I strain my years to hear the rattle of the train. “It’s slow” “yes just 100 meters away”. ….. He dropped me to the door of the coach A3 and I bid thanks and good bye. As Now my task was to find my seat (24) – I asked the people sitting on the first cubical, got no response, asked the people in the next cubical, “what number is this” a lady responded “43” so I realized I was on the other side of the compartment. I now decided that I will walk up to the other end of the cabin and count from 1 to reach 24 as I generally do. So walked up and counted the bunks, 6 – 12 – 18- 24 so there am I on my seat – side upper. Being little unhappy as I got a side seat I took my seat. – I herd some one opposite to my seat. I asked him “where are you going” He replied “delhi” ……. I was really unhappy with the side lower birth for my height and thought that the e-ticket that I was carrying mentioned A3 22 instead of A3 24. Indignantly I pulled out my ticket from the pile of papers in my bag and put it out to the gentleman asking him “please check if it states 22 or 24” I got no response – then slowly I put my hand out to the seat where he was sitting (it was empty) so a little embarrassed I tuck my ticket in quickly. After a few minutes the gentleman came back. This time he asked me “are you going to Delhi” “yes replied I” – He asked “you are working” - “yes I replied, I work for an NGO in Delhi” I asked him the same question “I am working in a cloth company” “Ia am from Kolkata” he replied. The train is half an hour late I asked – “no, must be around 15 minutes late he said” – “what time did you start from Kolkata” 2.05 he replied” Then he asked “you have any problem with your eyes” – “I am blind I replied” “totally” he asked “yes”- “no you must be able to see” – I laugh and replied “why should I lie regarding my blindness” – you are working in a company, you are perfect, you tell the time so you are joking he stated – I laughed and replied again “can’t blind people do all these things?” – Then you must be able to see a little “no, I replied” Then he asked me the time “how you see the time” I showed him my watch and asked him can you see the time in my watch? “yes” I opened my Braille watch and told him the time 6 PM. “amazing he sied” – “what is amazing about it, exclaimed I” By the time the attender came to serve the snacks – I told him that I am blind and requested him to let me know when ever you are giving food. – as the last time I traveled in Rajdhani 5 years ago I missed a few course of the meal as the attender did not know I was blind. My Philosophical deo then asked me “you are traveling in Rajdhani?” – “What about it, I asked” – “do you get concession?” “why should I get a concession said I” – no generally you get consession – “There is no consession system in rajdhani for any one” – “ you should have got” replied he – “not necessarily said I” – I then stopped the conversation and started listening to my book which I had carried and had my snacks. After reading the whole book now it is around 1130 PM and time to sleep. But as I go to bed I think that philosophical deo of mine might be thinking as to how a blind man can travel AC coach that too on a Rajdhani express as he went to bed or he might have taken me for an object of joke.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
STRANGER
I am a stranger people say,
no not I the world,
I have lost my senses,
but I have come to stay.
baring the hot sun and shivering cold,
lay I by and by,
quenching my thirst and hunger,
till when know not I.
from where I hale is the past,
my destiny is not known,
know I not my name,
seek I no fame.
men come and men go,
perhaps I really don’t care,
devoid of all feelings,
no sorrow or joy to say.
come summer come winter,
nothing to me is fare,
a long cloth and my wear,
is all that I can share.
people tread on me,
a passion of belongingness,
no one of my own,
thoughts and aspirations.
time will come and time will go
I am a lay man you see
A million dream to show
DALIT is my name you know
In Solidarity
“Guru Bhai”
I am a stranger people say,
no not I the world,
I have lost my senses,
but I have come to stay.
baring the hot sun and shivering cold,
lay I by and by,
quenching my thirst and hunger,
till when know not I.
from where I hale is the past,
my destiny is not known,
know I not my name,
seek I no fame.
men come and men go,
perhaps I really don’t care,
devoid of all feelings,
no sorrow or joy to say.
come summer come winter,
nothing to me is fare,
a long cloth and my wear,
is all that I can share.
people tread on me,
a passion of belongingness,
no one of my own,
thoughts and aspirations.
time will come and time will go
I am a lay man you see
A million dream to show
DALIT is my name you know
In Solidarity
“Guru Bhai”
Monday, August 18, 2008
INCLUSIVE EDUCATION FROM POLICY TO PRACTISE
In an uncaring society which has earned a notorious global reputation for hypocritical piety and neglect of marginalised communities, there is an impinging reality of disabled people accessing the basic needs and rights in society to fulfill a life with dignity. It is estimated that 40% of over 70 million disabled people in India are children with disabilities. In absolute terms this translates to around 20 million disabled children in the age group 6-14 years and a startling fact is that 90% of them are out of school. India is one of the few countries in the world where a majority of disabled children do not receive any form of education.
Factors :
The ubiquitous cause for this is the negative attitude towards disabled people and lack of understanding of the education machineries to recognize the potentials of disabled people. Psychologically, the thinking is that disabled people are considered dependent, tragic; some one needing help and people who are not productive. This is coupled with the charity approach further alienating them. 82% of disabled people live in rural India and 70% of disabled people come from poor communities. Parents of children with disabilities from this large community have even more difficult choices, as they struggle to pay for medical treatment, special equipment and transport for the disabled child. Many parents, if they have 4 children, 1 of whom is disabled, will focus on sending the other 3 to school and not worry about getting the disabled child into school.
Over the decades, the approach of education for disabled children has been primarily towards special education, with over 3,000 special schools in India today. Of them, 900 are schools for the hearing impaired, 400 for children with visual impairment, and 700 for those with locomotor disabilities, and 1,000 for the intellectually disabled. Tragically, in a country where there is less than 10 braille press, only 33% of students in such schools have books in Braille or other accessible formats.
The persons with disabilities equal opportunities act 1995 provides for 3% reservation in all educational institutions for disabled children. It also provides for provision of education materials, transportation facilities and creation of barrier free environment. These services are dysfunctional in the country especially in rural India where there are no special schools and the door of the regular school being shut to disabled children.
Irony :
Keeping with the spirit of social justice and equity which are dominant sentiments of the Constitution of India the government launched the Sarva Siksha Abhayan (education for all) a campaign promoting education for all including children from the disadvantaged communities. In reality, this campaign has failed to reach out to disabled children largely in rural India; there is no disaggregated data of number of disabled children enrolled in regular schools. Lack of skills and knowledge of the teachers cuppled with the poor attitude has kept the children out. The most depressing fact is that even the funds allocated for disabled children under this programme is less than 1%.
Need of the hour :
With all these anomalies, there is a dire need to create more sensitivity in society as a whole to disability issues and to raise the awareness of community, public and the parents of disabled children about their rights and potential. Government policy, legislative actions, schemes and provisions for disabled people give the impression of a state that is committed to human rights and equal opportunities but in reality, there are no systems in place adapted particularly by the ministry of education to provide the infrastructure in all schools around the country to promote inclusion of disabled children into mainstream education processes. This in vogue is a blatant violation of the fundamental right to education of a sizable population who’s right to education is denied by virtue of them being disabled.
India has recently ratified the UNCRPD, Article 24 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with a Disability promotes; one education system that allows all children to receive a quality education. One set of standards for all children. The article also recognizes that the standards can be adapted where necessary and accommodation made with recognition that disability is not the same as having a special educational need.
There is a need for a holistic approach on this issue. We need to change the education system and approach to make it accessible to all children and prepare the society – public, parents and government missionaries to promote inclusive education for disabled children. There needs to be a greater accountability from both the civil society sector and government structures particularly at the primary school level and the ministry of education right from enrolment of disabled children to providing an appropriate environment for learning. Efferts should be towards building capacity of the teachers and officials in the education cadre in promoting inclusive education and particularly towards changing attitudes. A robust monitoring system needs to be set up to ensure enrolment of disabled children, creation of disaggregated data on the number of disabled children in every school, mobilization of accessible education materials, channelising of funds appropriately to create a barrier free environment and provision of transport facility. Finally, the response of the public in facilitating this process will enable the large disadvantaged population to access education.
Praveen Kumar G
In an uncaring society which has earned a notorious global reputation for hypocritical piety and neglect of marginalised communities, there is an impinging reality of disabled people accessing the basic needs and rights in society to fulfill a life with dignity. It is estimated that 40% of over 70 million disabled people in India are children with disabilities. In absolute terms this translates to around 20 million disabled children in the age group 6-14 years and a startling fact is that 90% of them are out of school. India is one of the few countries in the world where a majority of disabled children do not receive any form of education.
Factors :
The ubiquitous cause for this is the negative attitude towards disabled people and lack of understanding of the education machineries to recognize the potentials of disabled people. Psychologically, the thinking is that disabled people are considered dependent, tragic; some one needing help and people who are not productive. This is coupled with the charity approach further alienating them. 82% of disabled people live in rural India and 70% of disabled people come from poor communities. Parents of children with disabilities from this large community have even more difficult choices, as they struggle to pay for medical treatment, special equipment and transport for the disabled child. Many parents, if they have 4 children, 1 of whom is disabled, will focus on sending the other 3 to school and not worry about getting the disabled child into school.
Over the decades, the approach of education for disabled children has been primarily towards special education, with over 3,000 special schools in India today. Of them, 900 are schools for the hearing impaired, 400 for children with visual impairment, and 700 for those with locomotor disabilities, and 1,000 for the intellectually disabled. Tragically, in a country where there is less than 10 braille press, only 33% of students in such schools have books in Braille or other accessible formats.
The persons with disabilities equal opportunities act 1995 provides for 3% reservation in all educational institutions for disabled children. It also provides for provision of education materials, transportation facilities and creation of barrier free environment. These services are dysfunctional in the country especially in rural India where there are no special schools and the door of the regular school being shut to disabled children.
Irony :
Keeping with the spirit of social justice and equity which are dominant sentiments of the Constitution of India the government launched the Sarva Siksha Abhayan (education for all) a campaign promoting education for all including children from the disadvantaged communities. In reality, this campaign has failed to reach out to disabled children largely in rural India; there is no disaggregated data of number of disabled children enrolled in regular schools. Lack of skills and knowledge of the teachers cuppled with the poor attitude has kept the children out. The most depressing fact is that even the funds allocated for disabled children under this programme is less than 1%.
Need of the hour :
With all these anomalies, there is a dire need to create more sensitivity in society as a whole to disability issues and to raise the awareness of community, public and the parents of disabled children about their rights and potential. Government policy, legislative actions, schemes and provisions for disabled people give the impression of a state that is committed to human rights and equal opportunities but in reality, there are no systems in place adapted particularly by the ministry of education to provide the infrastructure in all schools around the country to promote inclusion of disabled children into mainstream education processes. This in vogue is a blatant violation of the fundamental right to education of a sizable population who’s right to education is denied by virtue of them being disabled.
India has recently ratified the UNCRPD, Article 24 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with a Disability promotes; one education system that allows all children to receive a quality education. One set of standards for all children. The article also recognizes that the standards can be adapted where necessary and accommodation made with recognition that disability is not the same as having a special educational need.
There is a need for a holistic approach on this issue. We need to change the education system and approach to make it accessible to all children and prepare the society – public, parents and government missionaries to promote inclusive education for disabled children. There needs to be a greater accountability from both the civil society sector and government structures particularly at the primary school level and the ministry of education right from enrolment of disabled children to providing an appropriate environment for learning. Efferts should be towards building capacity of the teachers and officials in the education cadre in promoting inclusive education and particularly towards changing attitudes. A robust monitoring system needs to be set up to ensure enrolment of disabled children, creation of disaggregated data on the number of disabled children in every school, mobilization of accessible education materials, channelising of funds appropriately to create a barrier free environment and provision of transport facility. Finally, the response of the public in facilitating this process will enable the large disadvantaged population to access education.
Praveen Kumar G
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