IAS Officer’s Endeavour Helps 120 Visually Impaired Kids Enroll in School

To be able to go to school, to appear for exams, to sing on stage, to share lunchboxes like her friends – little Priya has always carried these aspirations in her heart. But her inability to see the blackboard in class and to participate in extracurricular activities made her hesitate to go to school. Because she lives with a visual impairment, she will struggle to keep up with class assignments.

However, circumstances have changed, and for the better.

The Grade 4 student has been able to study in the government school in her home village, Gaurella, in the Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi district of Chhattisgarh. “I love studying at school. My teacher teaches me a se pineapple (pomegranate). I want to become a lady. Priya says, “I will study a lot and work hard.” India’s best.

This has been made possible by the efforts of IAS Richa Prakash Choudhary.

After discovering the plight of visually impaired students in her tribal-dominated area, the collector decides to turn their lives around. Last year in 2022, I launched a unique campaign to identify visually impaired children of school age and enroll them in schools so that they can excel in life.

“There is a stigma associated with visual impairment, because of these children feeling left out in schools. Most of the time, they drop out of school, especially the primary age group. If we succeed in keeping them in school, they will become vigilant about further studies themselves, and they will not need as much Support,” says Richa, an IAS officer batch of 2014 who hails from Rajasthan, India’s best.

“But it is not just the child who needs to be held by the hand. The program also focuses on family, community, peer groups and schools. We need to educate them so that they do not see these children as a burden,” adds the 34-year-old IAS officer.

The county is home to the Ek Kadam Foundation, a non-profit organization that works to rehabilitate visually impaired children. With their help, Richa was able to identify 120 children in primary school age groups who are partially and completely blind in her area.

Helping children grow

Children who are born blind have difficulties in studying as well as in their daily activities, which makes them dependent on someone. Unfortunately, things are even worse for those from low-income backgrounds, where even the parents are barely educated.

Under the programme, an exclusive teaching volunteer is provided to these children, who administer personal assistance through a supported educational process. Volunteers visit children’s homes and help them dress up like any other child. And there was a clear change.

“I teach her (Priya) at home with Braille books. She touches them and learns. Now she can read. She has developed interest in studies. She now talks with other people too. There has been a change in her behavior and personality in general,” Gunga Jindli, Priya’s mother and volunteer in the programme, said. India’s best.

“We have endured a lot. People used to make fun of me because of my daughter’s disability. But it doesn’t matter anymore. My daughter is no less. When she comes home, she tells me all about her day at school. She considers me a friend,” Gonja says.

She asked me to buy a car. I told her to study, earn and buy herself a car. She wants to become a lady (collector) like Richa gShe adds. Gunja has been teaching Priya with the help of Braille books for the past six months. Volunteers are also given honors for their work.

The IAS officer has facilitated study materials in appropriate formats in government schools. “The content is the same. All these children are taught from NCERT books. But for visually impaired children, these books are converted into Braille books for all subjects. Within two months, every child will also have audio lessons,” says the district collector.

Initially, children were taught to recognize objects by touch. Then they were forced out on their own. After a few weeks, they are trained in Braille to recognize letters like A, B and C. We are also educating teachers that these children should not be on the back seat,” says Richa.

Make a difference

In July 2022, the district administration organized a basic orientation workshop with 2,600 teachers from the district, together with experts at the national level, about 21 disabilities including blindness and cognition. It was pointed out that most parents are reluctant to send their visually impaired children to schools.

“The workshop was open to us. The percentage of the population with one type of disability or another remains hidden,” says Richa.

Recalling the event that prompted her to launch the campaign, Richa says: “I remember meeting a girl in… Chopal (interview). Her name is Kranti Bega (a visually impaired child). She is very smart. We found that she dropped out of school due to the lack of support in the school, and parents were also reluctant to accompany her to school every day. Children like her are smart and have potential but still drop out because there is a gap in our educational services.”

Kranti joined the program sometime in July last year. Talking about the change she saw in Kranti, Richa recalls, “Two days ago, I saw a video of her. She was speaking English. She sang the state song of Chhattisgarh Arba Bari Ke Dar And she sang it very beautifully. She is self-confident. It is very rare for people from the PVTG community (weak tribal groups in particular) to be assertive and open. I look forward to her going to college like all of us, pursuing her higher education, and getting a job.”

Meanwhile, other children go to schools like normal children. Classmates were also sensitized. They feel part of the school and the community now. They don’t feel left out. Through these small examples, you see awareness clicking in your college, in your teachers, in the community. You are able to make a difference. This is one of the advantages of being a civil servant,” the IAS officer smiles.

“When you work in remote areas, it takes a lot of time to see the impact. But in cases like this, you see the change happen within a couple of weeks. After the initiative, I noticed changes in the behaviors and personalities of the children, their families and their teachers. It inspires me to see that difference. Education has always been one of My priorities. They are the greatest thing you can give to any being, if you lose these children, it means that you are not performing the duties that you are trying to do.”

In the next step, Richa also aims to provide vocational training to visually impaired youth who have not been able to complete their education. “We plan to give them vocational training so they don’t feel like a burden to society,” Richa says.

Edited by Divya Sethu. All photos: in order.