Four journalists stay in and report from the heart of rural India in a Governance Now and ANSA-SAR project to study the impact of sustained reportage on implementation of welfare schemes

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mrit Das stood on the porch of the headmaster’s office in Salboni high school as his father spoke to one of his teachers, staring straight ahead, oblivious to the general air of chaos and cacophony around him. The conversation over, the boy’s father came up to him and tapped him on the shoulder, gesticulating that they could leave.

Suffering from hearing impairment since birth, Amrit is in class VI now.

Education, though, does not come easy for children like him in such rural settings like Salboni block, in West Medinipur district of West Bengal: having completed primary schooling in Amchura, the boy had to wait two years before he could be admitted to Salboni high school.

But it’s not the school’s fault either, you discover soon.

“We were directed by the sub-inspector of school’s office to admit him (Amrit). But we are not equipped to teach hearing impaired children,” Prakash Mahato, headmaster of Salboni high school, said.

His maths teacher, Satyasadhan Mondal, said: “I have to pay special attention to Amrit to make sure he understands what is being taught. But even then, there is no way of knowing whether he comprehends the lessons.”

While Amrit’s teacher agreed that he is lagging behind his peers — there are 60 students in his class — they do their best to ensure he does not lag too far behind. “Teachers’ learning materials are used to instruct him, besides sign language,” Mondal said. Amrit, he added, can communicate through written words.

Soumen Pan, who taught the boy at the primary school in Amchura, said Amrit needed some special attention. “After primary school we tried getting him admitted in a school of children with special needs. But there was no vacancy. That is when the special needs educator intervened and secured him an admission in Salboni high,” Pan said.

 

Treating them right
At the office of sub-inspector of schools, special educator Rajkumar Bhuniya said that since the beginning of inclusive education, children with special needs (CWSN) attend classes with general students. “Children with severe levels of impairment can be admitted to special schools, while those with mild (or) moderate category attend school with regular students,” he said.

Admitting that the needs of these children cannot be fulfilled in classrooms, Bhuniya said, “That is why we have a resource room that can be accessed by children with special needs twice a week. A special educator sits with the child and helps him/her clear the backlog.”