Karachi, October 30, 2018 (PPI-OT): Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that in province there were around 300,000 deaf children and majority of them have no access to quality education, therefore he was committed to provide them best education. This he said on Tuesday while presiding over a meeting which was attended by Special Assistant of CM for programmes related to differently abled persons Qasim Naveed, a delegation of DEAF Reach comprising its CEO Mr. Richard Geary, Director Administration Mr. Daniel Marc Lanthier, Ms. Sarah Shaikh, Director Development Ms Sarah Shaikh.
Murad Ali Shah said that he had a plan to involve the experts to create digital learning of sign language and capacity building of the teachers. “The DEAF Reach is a very good organization and they are valuable partners of the provincial governments,” he said and added he would be happy to involve them in the special education projects in Sindh.
DEAF Reach CEO Mr Richard Geary said that the objectives of the chief minister could be achieved by developing and making available Pakistan Sign Language (PSL) digital learning resources across Sindh and launching of training programme for teachers across 51 Special Needs Centers in Sindh. “We will have to train around 500 teachers,” he said.
In the meeting various issues and matter were discussed and the chief minister decided to create and develop Pakistan Sign Language learning resources at primary grade levels with focus on literacy and numeracy. The PSL digital resources would go on PSL portal with access across Sindh.
Under the training programme, as decided by the chief minister, training for all teachers working in 51 Special Education Centers would be started under a Teachers training programme. The PSL resources would also be distributed in all the centers and would also be installed in the class rooms.
The DEAF Reach team told the chief minister that Sukkur Campus, Nawabshah campus have become over-crowded and needed expansion. The chief minister directed Secretary Special education to get Jacob Lines Complex, Karachi completed on war footings so that it could be utilized. The under construction STEVTA building at Sukkur should also be completed on war footings. He also disused directives for making arrangement of a building in Nawabshah.
The chief minister said that education of differently-abled children was quite expensive in private sector. Many students in Sukkur Campus were on waiting list. “This shows that the present are interested to enrol their differently abled children in government schools to make them useful citizen of the country,” he said.
It was worked out that each student at government centers would cost Rs6800/ per child to Sindh government. This cost includes tuition fee Rs2400, transportation Rs1500, lunch Rs940, supplies for students Rs700, vocational training and material Rs360, medical care Rs300, parents training programme Rs300 and teachers training Rs400. At this Murad Ali Shah said that it was a noble cause and he would not hesitate to invest for education of differently abled children.
For more information, contact:
Press Secretary,
Chief Minister House, Sindh
Tel: +92-21-99202019(Ext: 336)
Website: www.cmsindh.gov.pk