NIREEKSHE EDUCATIONAL CENTER
January 1, 2023
On June 9TH, 2017, my fellow peers and I had the special opportunity of visiting one of three special needs schools offering educational services for children with intellectual disabilities in Mysore, India. Nireekshe currently educates more than 50 disabled children while actively implementing a behavior modification system to help foster healthy behaviors. Hemamalini Krupakar, the founder and current principal of this institution, describes her career path as one “chosen for [her]”. Ten years ago, while in-between jobs, she was offered the opportunity to teach a child who suffers from severe autism, a speech impediment, and a hearing deficiency. After many months of patience and dedication, her first differently-abled pupil successfully passed with a 76 percent on his 10th standard exam, allowing him to continue to the next level. Word spread about this student’s success throughout the community and she began to receive student referrals from the National Institute of Open Schooling. By the end of her first year, she had 15 new students attending class at her home.
11 years later, Mrs. Krupakar now successfully runs a learning center that tailors to disabled children between five and 20 years old. The school addresses each child’s disability differently. Those who have motor functioning issues are given different treatment than those who have intellectual disabilities. Mrs. Krupakar provides these children with the opportunity to succeed and be self-sufficient adults. If she deems a student unable to complete school, she refers the student to a vocational school. She also provides on-campus training programs for intellectually limited students in effort to secure them with a chance to earn some form of income. Students start the day by saying their daily prayer in song. Each row is separated within age intervals. Those who need extra attention have the reinforcement of a teaching aid beside them.
After congregation children move to the learning area. This area is large room separated into four rooms by wooden tablets. Each room has an assigned subject. There are about 14 students and one teacher per learning area. Each group of students struggle from a range of disabilities. Each student is assigned a separate but similar task dependent on their mental capacity. The teacher moves around the area to ensure the student’s participation and safety, but mainly lingers around the area with the students with severe disability. The tasks are mainly colorful palpable learning games. This includes puzzles, building blocks, and books.
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