20 years of empowering the specially-abled; Mata Bhagwanti Chadha Niketan celebrates its 20th Annual Day
New Delhi: It’s been 20 years that Mata Bhagwanti Chadha Niketan (MBCN), one of India’s largest school for specially-abled, has been enabling the ‘children with special needs’. To commemorate the achievement, the school celebrated its 20th Annual Day today. MBCN works under the aegis of The Ponty Chadha Foundation that works towards the social and economic development of the society. The specially-abled children presented a theatre show Totto-chan, the Little Girl at the Window. The play is an autobiographical memoir penned by Japanese television personality and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Tetsuko Kuroyanagi.
On this momentous occasion, the school released self-instructional training modules to enable the trainers/caretakers of specially-abled children in promoting the development of young children with developmental delays in a home setting.
With this module, the school aims to reach out to caregivers/parents who either cannot afford to avail educational/ developmental training services for their specially-abled child or such services are not available in their areas because of remote and underdeveloped location. The handbook would be available in both Hindi and English language. Some of the topics covered in the handbook are developmental milestone checklist, activities for stimulating cognitive, motor, language and social development. In addition to this, another manual on menstrual hygiene management for special needs adolescent was also released. In the next phase the school will release demo videos for every activity mentioned in the handbook on the mobile-based application.
During the event, Mr. Manpreet Singh Chadha, Vice-Chairman, Wave Group expressed his condolences towards the martyrs of the Pulwama attack and requested the gathering to observe one minute silence.
Talking about the annual day he said, “This year the enthusiasm at MBCN has multiplied manifolds. Receiving the ‘National Award’ for ‘Best Institution working for the Cause of Persons with Disabilities’ has uplifted our commitment and zeal. I am thrilled that with each passing year we are expanding our horizons and touching lives of more and more specially-abled children. Working on my father’s philosophy and vision, we are determined to work towards creating a better society for the specially-abled. I am thankful for the recognition by the Government of India and all the support received from the Principal, teachers, parents and well-wishers who are working tirelessly towards the betterment of this segment.”
Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Vandana Sharma, Director and Principal, Mata Bhagwanti Chadha Niketan said, “The ‘Centre for Research, Innovation and Technology for Disability’ at the school has been doing a lot of innovative work. Sensing a need for providing assistance to caregivers in remote or underdeveloped areas of our country, our research centre has developed these handbooks. With this initiative we can, not only create awareness of the developmental skills for children who are regularly coming to the school, but can also make an impact on the lives of other specially abled children who cannot afford such services. In the next phase, we will release demo videos for every activity mentioned in the handbook on the mobile-based application.”