Medha Kale

Urja

Photos and Video

Priti David

Editor

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“Unconditional love for my students and total acceptance.
That is what I have learned as a teacher!”

Medha Tengshe offers her point, gently but firmly. A special
educator, she is one of the founding members of Sadhana Village where over 30
people of varying ages and with varying levels of intellectual abilities are
taught basic life skills along with some art, music and dance. 

Sadhana Village is located in Mulshi block of Pune district.
A residential institution for adults with intellectual disabilities, here
students are referred to as ‘special friends’ and Medha tai, a journalist by training, defines her role as that of a gruh mata (house mother) to the 10
residents as, “a mother who is also a teacher.” 

A feeling that Satyabhama Alhat, a special
teacher at the Dhayari School for the Hearing Impaired in Pune agrees with. “A
teacher at a residential school like ours is also a parent and we do not want
our children to miss home,” she tells PARI as she turns to teach some girls how
to play phugadi, a traditional game
as it was Nag Panchami, a festival celebrated on the fifth day of Shravan.
Dhayari is a primary school with 40 resident students and 12-day scholars who
come from parts of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi, West Bengal and Rajasthan
among other places.

Satyabhama told PARI that parents prefer to send their
children to this school as they have heard good things about the facilities and
teachers from students who have moved out. The absence of fees and the
residential option make it very attractive – children as young as four and half
also join. Interestingly, not all admission enquiries are from hearing
impaired. “Parents of hearing children also come and enquire about admissions
as they like the school. We have to send them back,” Satyabhama says. 

Teachers of people with disabilities are
referred to as ‘special educators’ and they educate students in a way that
accommodates their individual differences, disabilities and special needs, and
makes them self-sufficient. Most of these teachers and educators believe that
special education is much more than techniques and methods. It is about the trust
and bond between a teacher and child. In 2018-19, Maharashtra noted 3,00,467
children with special needs (CWSN) enrolled in Classes 1 to 12. There are 1,600
special needs schools in Maharashtra. The 2018 state <a href="https://sjsa.maharashtra.gov.in/sites/default/files/pdf/Maharashtra-State-policy-in-marathi.pdf">policy</a> for people with disabilities aims to provide at least one special teacher in every school to assist special children in accessing education. But according to Medha tai, only nine special educators were appointed in 2018 for the entire Mulshi block with 96 villages.

A special educator needs special teaching skills. It’s not
easy, “more so, when the students are your parent’s age,” says Rahul Wankhede,
a 26-year-old social worker from Wardha who has been here since last year. His
senior colleague, Kanchan Yesankar, 27, also from Wardha, has spent five years
teaching students who she believes have taught her to be a happier person.

Twenty-year-old Kunal Gujar has borderline intelligence and
weakness in his left hand. Community worker, 34-year-old Mayuri Gaikwad and her
colleagues conducted classes for him and seven special children. “She taught me
songs and tables, and exercise. Haat ase
karayche, mag ase, mag tase [Move your hands like this, and then like
that],” says Kunal, speaking about his teachers at the Devrai centre in Kalekar
wadi of Hadshi, near Pune. 

Love and feeling of oneness with these children are a must
for this role, says Mayuri who also works with Katkari Adivasi children and
runs libraries. She is a farmer and a community worker, and it was her fondness
and comfort with children with disabilities made her take on the role of a
teacher at the Devrai centre.

Sangita Kalekar’s son Soham suffers from
epileptic seizures, and she has been his sole teacher – teaching him everything
from sitting up to talking. “He can now say ‘aai, aai’,” she says. Ten-year-old Soham is playing with a key,
watching it fall to the ground and making sounds.

For teachers at another residential institute, the Dhayari
School for the Hearing Impaired in Pune, every time a child in their class
makes a sound it is one step towards speaking. Apart from these sounds and
gestures, “they are no different from ‘normal’ children of their age,” points
out Satyabhama Alhat who has been working here for the last 24 years. 

The school is one among 38 schools for the hearing impaired
started by Suhrud Mandal, a Pune-based institute training special teachers for
last 50 years. These teachers have either done a BEd (Hearing Impaired) or
diploma courses and have consciously chosen to be special teachers. 

The blackboard in the Class 4 classroom is
filled with beautiful drawings of a building, a horse, a dog and a pond, all
the words Mohan Kanekar wants to teach his students. A trained teacher with 21
years of experience, the 54-year-old follows Total Communication – a method
that combines speech, lip-reading, sign and writing while teaching the hearing
impaired. His students respond to each sign and try and repeat the words in
different notes and tones. The sounds bring a smile to Kanekar’s face, and he
corrects the pronunciation of each and every child.

In another class, Aditi Sathe’s own speech impairment does
not come in way of teaching seven students in the ‘step 3’ class. She has
worked with the school since 1999 as an assistant.

She and her students are not bothered with all the ‘noise’
created by another class in the same hall where Sunita Zine is working with the
youngest students who study here. The 47-year-old superintendent of the hostel
is teaching colours, and students are running freely in the hall in search of
the colours. A blue bag, a red saree, black hair, yellow flowers… students
scream in joy, some making sounds, others just with their hands. A trained
teacher, her expressive face speaks to her students.

“Today, when there is increasing violence and aggression in
society and in schools, we need to question our notions of intelligence and
success. Of discipline and punishment,” says Medha tai. She is appealing to all teachers to visit at least one school
for special children to see “what can be achieved through gentle words.”

The reporters would like to
thank Dr. Anuradha Phatarphod of Suhrud Mandal for all the support while
reporting this story.

'Love makes you a good teacher'

معذور طلباء کو مضبوط بنانے والے ٹیچر

'ప్రేమ మిమ్మల్ని మంచి అధ్యాపకులుగా చేస్తుంది’

'அன்பு உங்களை நல்ல ஆசிரியராக்கும்'

'ਅਪਣੱਤ ਇੱਕ ਖਾਦ ਹੈ ਤੇ ਫ਼ਸਲ ਹੈ ਚੰਗਾ ਅਧਿਆਪਕ'

‘ସ୍ନେହ ହିଁ ଜଣେ ଭଲ ଶିକ୍ଷକ ଗଢ଼ି ତୋଳେ’

സ്നേഹം നിങ്ങളെ നല്ലൊരു അദ്ധ്യാപകനാക്കുന്നു

'ಪ್ರೀತಿ ನಿಮ್ಮನ್ನು ಉತ್ತಮ ಶಿಕ್ಷಕರನ್ನಾಗಿ ರೂಪಿಸುತ್ತದೆ'

'छात्रों के लिए प्यार ही बनाता है एक बेहतर शिक्षक'

‘તમારો બાળકો પ્રત્યેનો પ્રેમ જ તમને સારા શિક્ષક બનાવે છે’

‘गुरतुर मयारू बोली ले काय हासिल करे जाय सकथे’

अशक्त विद्यार्थी के सशक्त बनावे वाला ‘गुरुजी’

‘স্নেহের জোরেই ভালো শিক্ষক তৈরি হয়’

‘চেনেহে আপোনাক এজন ভাল শিক্ষক কৰি তোলে’

‘चांगला शिक्षक होण्यासाठी मुलांवर माया हवी’

Pune

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'Love makes you a good teacher'

This Teacher’s Day, PARI celebrates special educators who teach people with disabilities. They show how patience and persistence along with boundless love for their students is the cornerstone of all good teaching

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