'Governmet schools more disabled-friendly'

CHENNAI: Members of the Spastic Society along with the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan conducted an awareness rally here on Monday, demanding that more number of  physically-challenged children should be inducted into the government schools. They felt that government schools were more disabled-friendly than private schools.

Thenarasu, a special educator from the society, speaking to Express said, “thousands of children are still waiting to be admitted to the mainstream schools; presently, only 6000 special needs children were studying in mainstream schools. Though the government has made efforts in the field, as there are adequate number of special educators, there are still many hurdles for including special-needs children into mainstream schools.”

Jeeva, coordinator from the society, said, “private schools still refuse admission to special-needs children on some pretext or the other. Many parents want their children to study in prestigious private schools, but only a few of them are able to get admission to these institutions. Government schools on the other hand teach through the activity-based learning methodology, which is disabled-friendly and also instils peer support in the children.”