PRESENT EDUCATIONAL NEEDS

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Title: PRESENT EDUCATIONAL NEEDS
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PRESENT EDUCATIONAL NEEDS

In this International Year of the Child,
thousands of words have
already been spoken and written about the dignity of the child as a
person and, a potential citizen, the child's rights, his needs.
Promises
have been made and resolutions framed in committees the world over.
A
few years ago during International Women's Year, women, because they
could speak for themselves, moved legislators, achieved ths goal of
drawing attention to the rights of woman as person.
Some resolutions
and some promises of that year were kept.
But wo wonder, perhaps with
a bit of cynicism, what the results of the International Year of the
Child will be - and principally because the, child cannot speak.£or
himself.
The child only .wants eneuqh--to._a.at, to be warm, to be loved
and give love.
His Voice is too small to be heard in an adul t_wgrld_,
It is only later In life when he is no longer a child that he realizes
what he has missed because of an abused childhood, a broken family, a
starved body.
It is a privilege today for me to speak on behalf of the child to
an adult group specifically organized to listen for a child's voice.
I ask you not only to hear and read but to listen.

For this part of the programme we are to consider "Present Edu
cational Needs . "
Ironically the present demanding needs are those
.which re-appear constantly in the history of education.
Above all we
f’1) need teachers who want to teach, who love children; dedicated teachers
possessing a sense of wonder and trust which they can instil .'into their
students.
For these we neecl^training colleges which have the autonomy
and the leadership to devise curricula and formation programme that
will develop creative teachers.
We need administrators who will study the world the child is ,
growing into and will construct and adapt syllabuses and texts to
prepare Him for life.
’■
" '

There- are primarily two areas where radical changes are needed in
our present day educational structure.
One is the area ofHkarly
Childhood education and the other is the area of Special Education
for the. Handicapped.
Q>)
~------~

Just a few comments on the first area.
Psychologists tell us that
almost all a child is going to be, basic attitudes toward life, people
and self is set by the age of One.
Between 0 years and 6 imagine the
life activities a child has learned - speech, and language mobility,
number concep-t, recognition of innumerable' objects of daily life.
In
spite of what wo know- about the tremendous. loaming capacity of the
small child, we stifle his imagination and reasoning powers when wo
put him into a classroom at tho age of 5 or 6, make him sit still for
five hours on ■ an. uncomf ottable bench, repeatedly writing dull sums,
listlessly reading out loud uninteresting stories.
Is this the best
en adult world can do for the child who is eager to learn, bursting .
with energy to experiment with his world?.-But let us look for a moment at tho second area, Special Education
for the Handicappod/ and listen to the silent voice of these children.
The handicapped children are tho disponsible ones — who whon a welfare
or educational budget is cut are the first to suffer.

Let-me cite a few instances.
In the last Five Year Plan, primary
education was to receive a glorious.percentage of funds and much was
promised.
But we have crippled children, blind and deaf children,
mentally retarded children who also want primary education.
And whore
did we see thorn in the budget? - at the very last section as if they
wore an afterthought, a postscript.
Last year tho Government of
Karnataka proposed scholarships for handicapped children, but woro
tho mentally handicapped even to bo soen on tho list of oligiblo
children?
(Contd...2)

2
Yes, this is ths International Year of tha Child and my plaa is
that organizations liko ths Karnataka State Council for Child Welfare
join hands with those of us who- work for the handicappod children to
provide them with the basics which are their rightful heritage.
All
children are entitled to free education, but are there enough - nay,
any - institutions where the handicapped children can receive an
adequate education particularly geared to their handicapped.

ren

I would like to just briofly refer to mentally handicapped child
- briefly because more will be said about these children tomorrow.

Many definitions have been worded, but all allude to sub-averago
general intellectual functioning orginating frequently from disease or
injury.
Mental retardation is not synonymous with mental illnoss which
can bo cured.
To some degree mental retardation can bo prevented but
net cured.
Education which helps tho mentally retarded child reach
his potential can ameliorate tho condition and make him mp.re 'socially
acce ptablo.
Most of these children ato capable of doing much more
than the average person thinks that they can achieve.

The most generally accepted rule-of-thumb approach to an estimate
of mental retardation has been a rate of about 3 percent of tho popu
lation. However, this rate is frequently higher in specific areas and
among certain portions of tho population.
Nevertheless, even this
minimal estimate would indicate some 20,000,000 persons as retarded in
India *s general population of 660,000,000,
In Bangalore alono, has^ng
the figure on 3% of the population, wo can expect the number of mentally
retarded children to come close to 60,000.

We have Very few schools in Bangalore set up primarily for the
handicapped.
One school for the physically handicapped, one for the
deaf, about throe or four for the mentally retarded, perhaps gne foe
the blind.
More schools aro needed.
Day care centres for small childre
who are mentally handicappod are essential — centres where children from
a very young age can be motivated and animated and trained in social
habits.
We need teacher training courses for all areas of handicaps.
Voluntary organizations have done yeoman service in all these areas
Now it is time for a., -iiligiitened and Caring citizenry to prossuro
Government to recognize handicapped children as persons, as future
citizens and not merely as statistics.
Indeed, so far no statistics
havo been gathered on the number of handicapped persons!

Yes, wo see all kinds of voids in our educational sot-up.
But
there are schools for normal, hoalthy children, thero are teachers
trained to teach them, there aro funds for tho opening and maintenance
of schools for children with hoalthy minds and strong bodies,
Ide may
question the standards of excellence in many schools, wo may look"'
askance at the ethics and morality of tho management - We may criticize
the curriculum, tho toxts - that is quite another question.
Yhe point
I emphaticly stress today is that wo can’hardly find schools, manage
ments, teachers, curricula, toxts for special oducation.

If wo look back into tho history of any country, wo can find
numerous instances whoro good, wise and just legislation matured from
a seod planted by a common man.
In this year of the Child lot us
hoed tho voice of the handicapped.and utilize and organize all our
efforts and resources to awakon tho conscience of Government and the
citizenry to their obligations to provide rehabilitation and education
for the handicapped,,
Sister Mary Vauno^ S.N.D.
Principal - Sophia High School
Bangalore,
1979
is a gift
■
to give a chance, to let a child sing, to lot him spread his wings
with your help tho cloud” ■■jill await him liko open doors to the
blue sky above, the flight will last forovor.
- Paul R. Garrido,
IYC Secretariat.

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