Additional Chief Secretary, Temjen Toy, IAS delivering his keynote address at the workshop on ‘Mainstreaming of Children with Learning Disability in Education’ held at SCERT conference hall on November 2. (DIPR Photo)
Kohima, November 2 (MExN): One day workshop on ‘Mainstreaming of Children with Learning Disability in Education’ was held at SCERT conference hall on November 2. The workshop was organised by SCERT Nagaland and supported by Department of School Education, Government of Nagaland.
Dyslexia affects 20% of students
According to the DIPR report, Additional Chief Secretary, Temjen Toy, IAS delivering his keynote address remarked that such workshop was long overdue but nobody thought of it until SCERT took the initiative to organise the much needed training in Nagaland. Citing examples of some famous dyslectic people around the world like Tom Cruise, Salma Hayak and Steve Job, Toy said that in spite of being dyslectic they could achieve so much in their own fields and wondered how many Naga’s and young people who are dyslexic have missed their bus. He added ‘it is high time for Naga’s to actually join the movement and recognised the special needs and cater to the requirements of students affected by dyslexia as about 20% of the students are affected by it’ .
He remarked that many dyslectic children are branded as dumb and useless because of their inability to do what the other children of their age are doing. He said that all human beings are wired differently and likewise the dyslectic child is also wired differently and have their own strength and that they are not disadvantaged in any way.
Toy hopes that starting with this first workshop on learning disability this will be the beginning of huge movement where successful dyslectic people will come out and make a mark in the society. He therefore urged the teachers to identify the children with dyslexia and give due attention and also provide the same kind of education in a different way to them.
He added that government of Nagaland is serious and felt that this is one area which needs to be addressed but unless government is told what to do and without any doable road map to take it will be left high and dry. He is hopeful that at the end of the workshop the participants will be able to come up with some recommendations to the state government if there was any need for change or updating in the syllabus.
The resources persons for the workshop were Rama Tandon, Founder, Centre for Dyslexia, New Delhi, Dr. Anupam Ahuja, Head DEGSN NCERT, New Delhi, Dr. Niharika Nigam, Head-Standard and Quality Assurance, Skill Council for persons with Disability, Government of India, Dr. Sheffali Gulati, Pediatric Neurology, AIIMS-Delhi, KK Choudhary Director CBSE and Balendu Sharma, Office of Group Director, Government Affairs & Public Policy-Microsoft India, New Delhi.
Topics discussed were demystifying Intellectual Disabilities, providing hands on tools for teachers and parents, policy on Special Education and Curriculum, vocational training and skill development opportunities for students with disabilities, assessment & certification of students (via Skype), curriculum integration and demonstrations on technological solutions available to assist students with learning disabilities.
The programme was chaired by Daniel Thong Sr. Lecturer SCERT. Special song was presented by Rukuse Sakhrie Music Therapist Jo Foundation Kohima. Principal Secretary, SCERT and School Education, Menukhol John gave the closing remark.
The workshop which is first of its kind brought together participants from heads of schools, special educators, policy makers, teachers, parents and government representatives.
