KIIT International School provides wholesome education to Children with Special Needs with its Inclusive Education wing

Bhubaneswar : The Right of Children to Free & Compulsory Education Act (2009) passed by the Parliament requires the state to provide free and compulsory education to all the children from the age of 6 to 14 years and has the potential to herald an era of inclusive growth in India. However, providing equal opportunities for persons with disability has always been observed as the barrier in the course of development of education system. Inclusive Education (IE) is defined as a process of addressing the diverse needs of all learners by reducing barriers to, and within the learning environment. The SEN (Special Education Need) department of KIIT International School, Bhubaneswar is the most professional and advanced department in Odisha which offers inclusive education.
Speaking on the unique department and the need for an Inclusive Education, Dr Mona Lisa Bal, Chairperson, KIIT International School said, “There are more than 40 million children, countrywide, from age 4 to 16 years who have special educational needs, and this cohort needs to be integrated in the mainstream towards building a developed nation. Numerous research has shown that children do better academically when in inclusive settings and Inclusion provides opportunities to develop relationships. Children learn social gestures, empathy, sharing and caring when they get an inclusive environment. Inclusive education not only provides equal opportunity to Child With Special Needs (CWSN) but also provides platform for the rest to know and understand the world from a different perspective and to make space for them with dignity ensured.”
She further added, “Inclusive education is extensively practiced at our school and we have special programs and initiatives for these children. Through our recent edition of ‘Cup and Talk’, parent teacher meetings, we had invited parents of CWSN and exchanged several ideas and practices to ensure continuity in learning and managing children especially during these tough times.”
The SEN department of KIIT International School has an excellent Teacher Student ratio of 1:2 and offers various therapeutic and psychological assessment services like Speech Therapy, Oromotor Exercises, PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) for language development, Receptive and Expressive language development, Behavioural and Language Assessment, Occupational Therapy and Psychological and Sensory Assessment for individual development in both social and academic front. SEN imparts social skills, Individualized education program, Stress on pre-writing skills and concept development, Remedial assistance in reading, writing, spelling skills and concept development, Skill development classes (Computer) for grade 5 onwards, Storey telling and Play way method for KG students, Fine Motor and Gross Motor skill development. Swimming, Dancing, Music, Sports classes and field visits for children for life skill development are organized regularly for overall development of children. Audio visual method of teaching along with advanced level of teaching aid is provided to enhance academic level of children. The SEN department has a tie-up with Autism Society of West Bengal for speech, language development. Currently the department has more than 50 children having different difficulties with regard to learning skills and concepts. Children with Autism, intellectual impairments, hyperactivity, and learning disability are taken care by the SEN department. Trained therapists like speech, occupational, cognitive, behavioural and special educators are appointed to assess each child and understand their needs and then prepare a plan to make the child learn to read and to make them independent.
The very purpose of Inclusive Education is to ensure a platform to get education with equal opportunity is of high priority for the school. Children from SEN Department are encouraged to participate in all the co-curricular and extra -curricular activities with special assistance and training. Integrating CWSN with mainstream students to build a coherent educational environment is one of the primary objectives, which the school is continuously trying to achieve. Besides the policies and programmes, KiiT international school believes that, these Special children have special talents and with a little support they can make their presence felt in more meaningful ways.