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CBR for School Children?

Rayadurgam arasimham,

Consultant (Vocational Rehab and Livelihood Programmes), Chennai

CBR defies definition. Its simplicity and complexity have led to confusion about what CBRmeans. The simplicity of CBR has to do with its history of starting with the delivery of primary

rehabilitation therapy to people with disabilities in their communities. The complexity of CBR is theresult of the current concept that CBR programmes should be multi-sectoral (or multi-disciplinary) sothat they can provide assistance in all of the areas which are central to improvement of the quality of lifeof people with disabilities. This complexity recognizes the need for close coordination, collaboration andcooperation between governmental and non-governmental organizations of all types and at all levels.The basic concept inherent in the multi-sectoral approach to CBR is the decentralization ofresponsibility and resources, both human and financial, to community-level organizations. According toEinar Helander, an internationally recognized expert CBR is a strategy for enhancing the quality of lifeof disabled people by improving service delivery, by providing more equitable opportunities and bypromoting and protecting their human rights. The general perception about CBR is that it is a quick,cheap episodic distribution of some appliances for persons with disabilities (PWD). Many governmentalas well as non government agencies, with all good intentions to rehabilitate PWD (Persons WithDisability), resort to quick fix solutions, with no long-lasting impact in the community.

Rehabilitation, considered as functional restoration, can be achieved only by empowering thePWD as well by enriching their community. It amounts to development of the community as a whole,empowering the PWD achieve their complete potential, enabling them to integrate into the fabric of thecommunity and make decisions for themselves and dealing with physical, emotional, social andarchitectural barriers within the community. Empowering the disabled persons involves medical, social,vocational and educational inputs.

It cannot be gainsaid that the children in rural areas face several constraints in accessingeducation and vocational training. It is more so for those with disabilities. Accomplishing this involvescreation of awareness in the community regarding disability, value of disability prevention, and

rehabilitation methods. It is of prime importance to inspire the community and recruit volunteers for thistask. The volunteers need to be trained to identify and intervene appropriately to deliver rehabilitationservices in the community. As Volunteers gain expertise in managing 70% of disability problems, theywill also encounter 30% of the difficult problems related to disability, which they are not able to deal withand solve within the community. The Institutional Rehabilitation should take care of this with itsprofessional competence and availability of related special skills. These links help the CBR workers(local volunteers) to deal with difficult problems, learn from them, and thereby become confident in thewhole process of CBR through their interactions with disabled people, families and community as wellas trainers from secondary and tertiary centres.

CBR is organized in different ways in different communities. Certain principles however remaincommon. One of the major processes involves identification of leaders in the community. The wordleader is to be understood not only in political context but in the sense of opinion makers such as

Panchayat Leaders, teachers, merchants, Anganwadi workers and other non elected leadersincluding Non Profit Organizations and service clubs functioning in the area.

Components of CBRThe CBR activities are carried out by qualified professionals. It is not shirking responsibility of

rehabilitation intervention, nor is it a cost saving technique, but a way of advocacy and enablingparticipation of the community in taking care of its PWD.

In the context of School children, the management lies in two parts. It should however be keptin mind that different disabilities cause different types of challenges and every PWD is different, not onlyin their personality make up but the impact of impairment is also different, challenging the professional

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to resort to wide variety of solutions. Managing children in class rooms, teaching them and alsomotivating them to participate in school activities is the least of them all.

The second and the most important group is the school dropout. The MuthukumaranCommittee on Education of the Children in Tamilnadu (2007) has found that more than 5.22% ofchildren drop out at 8th standard level and 42.55% at High School level for non-disabled children. Noinformation is available for the children with disabilities (CWD). However considering the high illiteracy

level of PWD at as much as 80.2% (73.9% to 97.2% for different disabilities), the dropout rates for thecwd is very high. As a concerned community of school teachers it is imperative that alternate skilldevelopment facilities to help this group of dropouts acquire a reasonable living is created.

Community Based Vocational Training (CBVT) is one such concept. The HSE had theopportunity to develop the concept while working in Ahmedabad at Pirana in 1989. The CBVTprogrammewas further fine-tuned. A survey after one year of training, revealed that over 83% of thosetrained were earning, 8% were continuing education and others were not engaged in any economicactivity. This high level of percentage is crucial considering that even the Vocational RehabilitationCentres for the Handicapped (Govt. of India) with their proactive approach could reach only 31% ofrehabilitation and the Special Employment Exchanges a paltry 1 to 2% registered with them. Since thenseveral such programmes were conducted in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka assisting the PWDenter economic activities, either alone or in group employment schemes.

CBVT Objectives:The main objective is to provide vocational training suited to local employment market in one of

the operations in a job profile through short term skill development program. Training in these skills isbest conducted by community members who, with minimal assistance, can easily transfer their skillsand knowledge to people with disabilities. The community has resources and is capable of creating ofmicro and macro income-generation opportunities and obtaining financial credit through existingsystems. More than 500 modules of such short term (not exceeding three months) skill developmentcourses have been identified and have to be carried out in CBVT programmes depending on the localemployment market.

Another issue is the equipment of the present teachers to deal with CWD. The RehabilitationCouncil of India (RCI), a Statutory Body, monitors the manpower development, standardization andregistration of rehabilitation professionals in the field of disabilities. As per the information available, outof the 383 recognized institutions, 271 (70.8%) are in State Capitals or large cities. The rest are also inthe urban areas but in district headquarters or its outskirts. Hence adequate services are not yetavailable to train the teachers on a large scale. With an effort to reach the unreached and to equip thecurrent teachers in the regular schools, the RCI has introduced online foundation course for educationof CWD. (Foundation Course on Education of Children with Disabilities - Online) The scheduling of thecourse could be suited to individual teacher. Details can be accessed at http://www.rehabcouncil.nic.in

CBR is both simple and complex and in school situation, the community from co-student to family, leadership and society at large is totally involved. Services, especially vocational, areavailable in the rural areas also for the PWD. There are weaknesses and constraints in delivery butcould be accessed.

Our aim should be to assimilate the CWD to live an independent and inclusive life throughappropriate teaching methodologies for those attending the schools and organize CBVT programmes inaddition to the present educative and therapeutic services rendered in the CBR. Education is not aconstraint, only learning abilities are.

Amantramaksharam Nasti; Nasti Moolamanaushadham:Ayogyoh Purusho Nasti: Yojakastatra Durlabhaha

Every letter a Mantra; Every root a medicine;No person is totally useless; User is always hard to find: