GUWAHATI, May 1 - Regional Action on Inclusion Education (RAISE-NE), a five-year pilot project initiated to complement the programme of the Sarba Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) on inclusive education to improve the quality of education for children with disabilities in government/government aided schools, has been launched by Shishu Sarothi.
Shishu Sarothi, with other five partner NGOs, Prerona (Jorhat), Mrinaljyoti (Duliajan), Sacred Hearts (Tezpur), Alphonsa (Bongaigaon) and Monfort School (Guwahati) will lead the project in Assam.
The project was launched at a function held here recently.
Arman Ali, executive director of Shishu Sarothi highlighted the importance and need for education for children at large and hoped that the project would reach out to every child with a disability. Ali also stressed the importance of SSA in terms of cooperation and support to implement the project.
Speaking on the occasion, Mission Director of SSA, Assam, Thaneswar Malakar said that SSA will extend full support and cooperation to the project and will be an integral part of it.
It needs mention that the project that will be implemented in Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura, is being supported by three international NGOs.
The objective of the project is to provide technical support to some of the selected schools, to build capacity of government teachers for teaching children with disabilities, monitoring and promoting inclusive model schools etc.
Victor Dongel and Jayprakash Sarma, two former students of Shishu Sarothi spoke about how they were denied admission in regular schools and colleges due to their disabilities. Victor, at present a degree student at Narengi Anchalik College, mentioned that though he had the requisite percentage of marks, he was denied admission in a city college because the institution was not accessible.
Shishu Sarothi will lead the advocacy part of the project and will try to create an inclusive environment by removing physical and attitudinal barriers.
