SHILLONG: Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Krishan Pal Gurjar will inaugurate the ‘Inclusive Mela’ at the Bethany Society Complex here on Thursday. The Inclusive Mela aims at creating awareness on inclusive education to ensure that children with disabilities have access to education.
During the programme the Minister will also distribute 250 “high quality hearing aids” to the children with disability, along with learning kits.
Informing this during a press conference here executive director of Bethany Society, Carmo Noronha said, “The Minister will then proceed to North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) where he will distribute cochlear implant processors to children who have undergone or are due for surgery.”
The Inclusive Mela is part of the CBM-Include Vidya Campaign, an organization that works for inclusive education enabling children with disabilities to have access to education. It complements the National Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), to achieve education for all.
Replying to a query Noronha informed that as many as 9000 children with disabilities are enrolled in Meghalaya. “But children with autism and intellectual impairment have not been identified properly,” he added.
Meanwhile, Noronha informed that the Ali Yavar Jung National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped will organize a two-day workshop for community based rehabilitation (CBR) workers of Northeastern states in collaboration with the Bethany Society from October 8-9.
The programme will help and direct the CBR workers on “rehabilitative management of hearing impairment with focus on prevention, early identification, early intervention, education and socio-economic rehabilitation”.
