Navjivani: Unique school for mentally disabled

Patiala: A very special school near Patiala, Navjivani - literally a new life - strives at propping the mentally disabled on their own feet, literally as well in the symbolic sense.primarily on voluntary donations, the school also receives financial assistance from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Looking beyond, the institution urges steps to enlarge the scope of education for the disabled. "As per the world statistics, the incidence of mental handicap is 2.5 percent. Now, if we simply go arithmetically, we cannot have so many schools and it`s not physically possible. We do not have the resources in a developing country like India," said Sodhi. He suggests that we should have a small cell in normal schools which handles special children. "Some kind of basic training should be given to one or the two teachers in a normal school and some services can be provided over there," Sodhi added. Cultural activities and functions within the school, and interaction with outside world serve an all too important objective - recognition of the human capabilities of the children. It gives them ability and confidence to take on life in the outside world. Besides teaching students, Navjivini has been a pioneer in Punjab as the only centre to organise training programmes for teachers of these children with special needs. According to a national survey, the approximately 24 million mentally challenged persons clinically diagnosed in the country, takes the national average to around 19 per thousand that is almost two percent. Punjab has the highest state average in the country, a disturbing 29 mentally challenged persons per thousand population. Bureau Report