The students were accompanied by their teachers and parents on stage to help them
Madhuram Narayanan Centre for Exceptional Children home page
Chennai: With colourful attires and bright smiles, students with special needs from the Madhuram Narayanan Centre for Exceptional Children (MNC) put together a music and dance performance, including Thirukkural recital, on Saturday.
The students were accompanied by their teachers and parents on stage to help them. MNC is turning 25 this year and has about 75 -100 students between the ages of 0 and 6, with issues such as Down’s syndrome and Autism, visiting it daily.
Vimala Kanan, the founder of the school, said the centre concentrates on providing effective early childhood education to the child. “We don’t have a standard curriculum. For us the curriculum is individualized and based on the needs of the students. Also we don’t aim for normal, we just help the child become as independent as they can get.”
Apart from training the child to become independent, the Centre also provides support and training for parents and how to deal with the child’s needs. “We have a course that parents can take to become special educators. A lot of our parents take up this course and also pass with flying colours,” Kanan said.
The programme was called “Samyam” because it brought together the current and past students, who were there to narrate their experiences. Many students from MNC manage to enroll into regular schools. MNC also provides training for the teachers who teach the former students of MNC, so they can learn how to deal with them. Now that the RTE Act has come into play, education has become more inclusive and therefore proves that all children are alike, said Kanan.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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