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PRAGATI Society for Reformation of Mentally Challenged

PRAGATI Society for Reformation of Mentally Challenged. Outline. Description Goals Background/Impact Organization Description Existing Infrastructure/Facilities Curriculum/Pedagogy Expected Outcome Budget Other funding sources Big Picture Discussion Acknowledgments.

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PRAGATI Society for Reformation of Mentally Challenged

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  1. PRAGATISociety for Reformation of Mentally Challenged

  2. Outline • Description • Goals • Background/Impact • Organization Description • Existing Infrastructure/Facilities • Curriculum/Pedagogy • Expected Outcome • Budget • Other funding sources • Big Picture • Discussion • Acknowledgments An action group for basic education in India

  3. Project Description • Location: Hyderabad • Area: Urban • Primary Focus: Children with disabilities • Project Type: Special Education / Vocational training • Amount Requested (US$): ~3205* (INR 125000) • Purpose of Funding Request: Infrastructure & Operating Expenses • # of Beneficiaries: 20 * At conversion rate of 1USD = 39INR An action group for basic education in India

  4. Project Goals • Current status of students - all 20 are still at the institute • One student is a paid assistant at the institute • Two girl students attend normal school, half a day • Short-term objectives • Individualized education and personal care to all students • Improve the therapy methods that are currently in use • 5-year vision • Increase the number of vocational trainings and support service to more number of students. • Actively involved in increasing the awareness of the community towards mentally challenged people – participation is good. (please refer pictures) • Celebration of Holi, Rakhi, Republic Day, IndependenceDay and other National Holidays • Periodical visits to parks, railway station, exhibition, etc. An action group for basic education in India

  5. Detailed Organization Objectives • Reform and rehabilitate mentally retarded children and grown ups. • Educate the parents and public about mental retardation and the various measures to improve mental faculties of the disabled. • Integration of the disabled children with normal children. • Provide care for children with low ability by imparting training of basic life skills. • Provide vocational training for youths. • Serve adults with mental retardation through community based rehabilitation and strengthen ties with families. • Grouping the mentally retarded into pre-primary, primary I & II, secondary, pre-vocational I & II CARE groups and impart training. • Provide library, general, technical and professional education. • Provide short term training to special educators. An action group for basic education in India

  6. Background / Impact • The cause of the mental disability could be due to: • Chromosomal abnormality, low IQ (Down syndrome) • Cerebral palsy • Infections / injuries to brain • Complications during delivery • Motion, thinking processes and senses might be impaired • The severity of the disability can be broadly classified into: • Mild (will be able to function daily routine) • Moderate • Severe (severely dependent for most activities) • The above classification can be used to distinguish different categories of handicapped children too, e.g. we willrefer to a person with mild disability as ‘mild student’ for thepurpose of this document An action group for basic education in India

  7. Background / Impact (contd..) • I was sensitized to the situation when I visited the locality in October 2006. Secretary of the institution is a cousin of mine. • Started with 5 students • Started in a slum area, comprising a number of uncared & poor mentally challenged children – parents are daily wage earners and have no understanding of mentally challenged children • Started with 2 trained teachers and 1 untrained teacher assisted by an ayah • Main objective is to facilitate integration of the mentally challenged into the society and provide rehabilitation • Current strength is 20 students – average attendance isabout 75% owing to health issues of students An action group for basic education in India

  8. Background / Impact (contd..) • Evidence of success • Two mild category children, name Bhavana & Jyoti, are being sent to normal school half day since 2003 (for integration of mentally challenged students into normal society). • One mild category student, name Praveen, made rapid improvements and is performing now as a waged assistant teacher. Has won various participation awards. • Recognition • Secretary (and the most experienced teacher with 15 years of experience) received recognition from a famous social worker and writer Smt. Srigiri Raju Vijayalakshmi, in the form of ‘Smt. Polavarapu Venkata Subbamma Memorial Award’ for the institution’s work An action group for basic education in India

  9. Background / Impact (contd..) • Challenges • Requires lot of patience & dedication • Difficult to recruit trained educators because oflack of funds • Missing out on a good number of students because of lack of school transportation, and the parents do not want to send the kids because of that • Difficulty obtaining Government funds due to the corruption and (in)effective Government. An action group for basic education in India

  10. Organization Description • Established in 1999 • Executive / Managing committee consists of 8 members • Registered under the name: Pragatisheel (Institute for Reformation of Mentally Handicapped) ® • Registered Oct-26-1999 • Started taking students in November 2000 • Run mainly by individual donations so far • Donations obtained through word-of-mouth and individual solicitations An action group for basic education in India

  11. Key Members • Smt C. Rajyalakshmi – Secretary (teacher) • Sri P. Rajeswara Rao – President (lawyer, by profession) • Smt P. Jagadamba Devi – Treasurer • Shri C. Seetarama Raju – Honorary Member • Smt P. Geeta – Executive Member • No political affiliations • No FCRA clearance, not yet applied • Secretary is the main person, the rest of the members take care of the logistics and paperwork. • Most other founding members are close family An action group for basic education in India

  12. Community Outreach • The organization puts a lot of effort in educating the community around about mentally handicapped children • Literacy levels in the community are at ~50% • Of the illiterate parents, only a small fraction of them send their kids to the school quoting “what can these kids get out of school” • Majority of the children currently attending school have literate parents • The organization interacts with other similar organizations nearby. An action group for basic education in India

  13. Existing Infrastructure / Facilities • Staff • 3 untrained teachers (given only short-term training) & 1 ayah • 1 trained teacher with 15 years experience in the field & a diploma from NIMH (she designs the individual curricula) • Infrastructure • Toilets, Chairs & Tables, Drinking water, Playground, Blackboard, Electricity, Toys & Teaching Aids • Food/Medical Service • Medicines are provided to students in case of illness • Occasionally, clothing is provided to needy students • Students get their own lunch • School timings are from 10:30am – 2:30pm An action group for basic education in India

  14. Curriculum / Pedagogy • There are no special schools run by Government • Focus of Pragati is on basic livelihood skills • Drinking, eating, using toilet, basic movements, communication skills • Vocational training such as candle making, plastic flowers making, shampoo making • ‘Functional academics’ is employed • Whole word approach (only relevant or useful words are taught) • Educating parents of disabled children An action group for basic education in India

  15. Curriculum / Pedagogy (contd..) • Minimum age limit is 5 years • Teacher : Student ratio is 1 : 6 (severely understaffed) • A special school for mentally challenged would require Occupational Therapists, Ayahs, Psychologists, Assistants & Special Educators • Boy : Girl ratio is 3 : 1 • Current strength is 20 • Guidelines provided by National Institute for theMentally Handicapped are used for assessment& therapy An action group for basic education in India

  16. Evaluation of success • What happens to the beneficiaries of this program? • Students will be able to earn their livelihood through the training received, and improve their confidence and reduce the inferiority complex • Some mild students will be accepted into the normal schools till a certain period of time for better integration into the society • What are evaluation methods to measure student learning? • Assessment made every 3 months based on guidelines from NIMH. • No exams are conducted. • Success of the organization is gauged from the feedbackof the parents (subjective) An action group for basic education in India

  17. Budget - 2007 • Only relevant budget years are being presented. Detailed budget for 2009 is in the reading material that is passed. • Highlighted in red is what is requested. An action group for basic education in India

  18. Budget - 2008 • Highlighted in red is what is being requested. • Total requested amount = Rs. 125,000 /- An action group for basic education in India

  19. Other funding sources • Previous/Other Funding Sources? • Only individual donors so far • Some are regular • Some are one-time donors appreciating the work • Funding is not assured and it varies depending on the financial circumstance of the individual donors. • Plans for self-sufficiency? • It is not possible to generate significant revenue with the professions that mentally handicapped people can perform under supervision. • Open to suggestions An action group for basic education in India

  20. Project Big Picture • Funding requested is for • Vocational training equipment (education component) • Purchasing a school vehicle (non-education component) • Use of funding • NGO: entire amount is used for the project • Our Component: ~3200$ • Balance sheets and audits available in detail • All donations are deposited & managed through the bank account associated with the organization An action group for basic education in India

  21. Discussion • No site visit done yet • Strengths/Opportunities • To increase the awareness through partnering with other similar projects (e.g. Sandya Sanwardhan Sanstha) • The model of this organization is to provide personal care, free of cost. This model can be compared with other private special schools which charge about Rs. 2000 pm per child • Geared towards underprivileged • Weaknesses/Risks • Secretary is considering moving to a new location within the city (based on survey results, the need is more at the new location) • My recommendation • Fund An action group for basic education in India

  22. Discussion (contd..) • Questions/Thoughts • Arguments for funding • Arguments against funding • Decision criteria.. (in the order in which they need to be done) • Do we need more information? • Site visit report • Vote to approve / reject • Full funding / partial funding • FCRA or can the funds be disbursed locally? An action group for basic education in India

  23. Acknowledgments • Asha Stanford chapter for providing template and guidelines online • Asha SV chapter for attendance and feedback An action group for basic education in India

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