SALANG, 3 May: Mount Aghee Integrated School – a special school for children with multiple disabilities, run by registered non-profit organisation New Life Foundation (NFL) – reopened here recently, in the presence of Lower Subansiri DC Bamin Nime.
The NFL aims at reaching out to the marginalised in the community and strengthening them through education and various training programmes to enhance the life skills of the differently-abled children of Ziro valley.
Established in 2005, the foundation opened Mt Aghee Integrated School in 2006, in view of the special needs of children with disabilities.
NLF chairperson Cheryl Susan Tada informed that the school is the first of its kind in the state for children with intellectual disabilities.
“The school had been running successfully for a period of ten years, but had to be closed down, owing to lack of special educators.
“Our school now has two trained teachers, guided by a special educator. With this new team, the school will commence from 5 June,” she added.
Tada is retired deputy director of health services (nursing) and has been the founding registrar-cum-secretary of the Arunachal Pradesh Nursing Council.
“Considering the lack of schools in the state for children with intellectual disabilities, we decided to open a school for them in 2006 in Ziro. Earlier, we used to conduct surveys in villages and encourage parents of special children to send their wards to our school. We made home visits for a month and gradually built a good rapport with the parents, who later agreed to send their wards to our school,” said Tada.
She added that “two young students mentored by the non-profit organisation have completed their degrees in computer and electrical engineering.”
