The Fight for Education of Children with disability in India

Discover Shadaf’s inspiring journey as he bravely tackles challenges to learn independently with an iPrep tablet by his side.

More than 20% of the poor population of the world is disabled. Children with disability in India rarely go beyond primary education because of a lack of resources in rural areas. This further alleviates issues like limited employment opportunities resulting in a lack of growth.

Filling the education gap for children with disability in India

The government and many foundations are making considerable efforts to include special children in mainstream education and have access to growth opportunities. Through the efforts of various foundations, Rotary School for Special Children in Panvel, Mumbai, has seen several infrastructural changes over the years, all designed to make life and learning easy for special students. 

An outbreak of the pandemic affected the overall learning of children with disability in India. They had absolutely no support at home to continue their learning. Unfortunately, there isn’t much online digital content that can suit their learning style. At this juncture, we got into a discussion with an NGO, to empower students with OFFLINE access to digital content to meet the specific learning needs of children on their personalized devices. As a result, to enable access to enjoyable and personalized learning content, we provided iPrep Tablets to all the students of Rotary School. 

One student who amused us with his growth after the implementation of iPrep Tablets was Shadaf. Let us walk you through his journey of learning on a tablet shared by his mother.  

Never Give Up Attitude: Story of Shadaf 

The growth of Shadaf, a six-year-old studying in class 2, is evidence of how he started enjoying on learning tablets in a non-judgemental environment. 

“He is a curious learner who came out of his resentment in very little time with his strong willpower”, said Shadaf’s Mother.

His mother, trying to pull him out of resentment.

She says a lot of hard work is required to be put in to educate children experiencing hearing loss. I was stressed for years when Shadaf used to put his efforts into learning and being like every other kid but never succeeded. He just used to watch YouTube cartoon videos or TV to build interactive relationships. This always bothered me because, being a mother, I wanted my child to grow and be a part of this world despite his disability. But, I couldn’t ever force him to study because repeating everything becomes irritating. The learning tablets given in school were a blessing to my child where:

•  I saw him studying on his own through multiple digital content categories such as videos, assessments, and books. 
• Shadaf switched from mobile and TV videos, and now he sits with learning tablets for hours and continuously writes or draws as shown on the learning tablet.
• He sees video lessons and tries to speak like the people in those video lessons.
• He also asks me to make him understand a few stories and talk about them in his language. 

With learning tablets, I saw a life in my child, life in his voice, life in his actions, and most of all, zeal to grow and stand up like every other kid in this world

-Shadaf’s Mother

Now, let’s know the views of teachers of the Rotary school 

Educating children with disabilities demands special efforts from teachers to ensure engagement. This includes the inclusion of innovative methods for reading, storytelling, and more. The teachers at Rotary School have emphasized the effectiveness of digital learning materials such as inspiring stories, animated lessons, books, and interactive lessons. Learning Tablets have not only motivated our Divyang students but also contributed to their overall personality development. As a result, students are now attending school regularly.

Teachers’ perspectives on Shadaf’s progress:

• We observed Shadaf attempting to communicate when he played a video lesson and made his first attempt at speaking.
• Teachers also noted that Shadaf’s usage report demonstrated full engagement, with 100% participation in animated lessons, interactive lessons, and inspirational stories.

From Silence to Speech: How is Shadaf now?

For 1.5 years now, teachers and his mother have worked tirelessly with Shadaf, pushing him to learn from the digital learning content of his current class and of junior classes as well as to cover up his learning gap of 2 years. As the tablet had various forms of content like videos, books, and questions to solve, Shadaf never got bored and explored most of it.

Shadaf is now able to speak, perhaps not as fluently, but it is still a huge progress for him. Having this confidence, his mother is ready to enroll Shadaf in a formal school.

In last, we would summarise by stating that,

Not just Shadaf but, the lack of resources is one big obstruction to education and growth opportunities for children with disabilities. But, the selfless efforts of Shadaf’s mother and teachers in Rotary are the biggest inspiration for the people across India not to let any child feel any less. Also, helping children with disabilities gave us a sense of belongingness and also motivated them to learn and grow. 

iDream Education aligns with core principles outlined in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which advocates for the widespread integration of technology in educational practices. By leveraging technology, we aim to eliminate language barriers, enhance accessibility for students with disabilities, and streamline educational planning and management processes. We are enthusiastic about collaborating on initiatives that align with these objectives, striving to empower every student with the ability to learn unlimited. Through iPrep’s content, which includes animated lessons, audiobooks, and various other resources, we aspire to create a dynamic learning environment conducive to holistic growth and development for all learners.

If in case you would like to support children with disability in India, write to us at [email protected]. You can also leave your comments below, and we will be happy to get back to you. And if you have any similar story or a case study to share with us, please let us know. It would be wonderful to learn and continue to improve the experience of our students and teachers.