Outreach program of Bhagat Puran Singh School for the Deaf

Manawala, Amritsar

Introduction

As per 2011 census there are 1,46,696 hearing impaired people in Punjab. As 60%
of our population resides in villages, total number of deaf in the villages works out
to be 88,017. Therefore, 15340 villages of Punjab have at least 5 to 6 deaf people
in each village.

The number of schools for the deaf are extremely limited in numbers. In Punjab
there are only about 20 schools for the Deaf. Out of 22 districts, 10 districts do not
have a school for the deaf. According to one study only about 10% of the deaf
children come to school. The remaining children remain without education, develop
behavioral problems and become a burden on the society. Brief details of some of
the schools in Punjab are given below:

District No of schools Districts without schools

1. Jalandhar 2 1. Mansa x
2. Amritsar 2 ( 1 Pingalwara school) 2. Moga x
3. Barnala 2 3. Mohali X
4. Bathinda 1 4. Fazilka X
5. Faridkot 1 5. Muktsar Sahib x
6. Patiala 2 6. SBS Nagar x
7. Tarn Taran 1 Pingalwara school 7. Sangrur x
8. Firozpur 1 Pingalwara school 8. Hoshiarpur x
9. Gurdaspur 2 (1 pingalwara school) 9. Pathankot x
10. Rupnagar 1 10. Kapurthala x
11.Ludhiana 4 11. Fatehgarh Sahib x
 Philosophy of BPSSD Manawala
Mission Statement

The mission is to be an educational facility and resource center on deafness that:

 1. Provides comprehensive education for deaf/ Hard-of-Hearing students which encourages
independent and life-long learning.
2. Promotes social and cultural awareness.
3. Prepares students to attain their potential and become contributing members of their
communities all via a barrier-free communication environment using ISL and Punjabi.

Belief Statement
In addition, we believe that:

1. Basic education can be provided to the deaf children of Punjab who are presently unable to
come to school for any reason.
2. The local Primary schools given the right support can cater to the needs of the deaf children.

Objectives

1. Visit the selected villages to assess the number of deaf children and the resources available.
2. Select the most suitable place for local Primary school.
3. Provide online training and curriculum support to the teachers and students.
4. Daily monitor , assist and assess the progress of the school on Skype.
5. Arrange on-site visits based on site needs.
6. Provide resources such as ISL videos, presentations and books.

Team Members

Coordinator Mrs Navjot Kaur (M.A. B.Ed (Special Education)

1. Sign Language (Skype lessons) – Gurpreet Kaur, Jagveer Kaur
2. Speech therapist -- Gagandeep Kaur
3. Psychologist -- Dr. Nisha
4. Resource manager -- Gurjit kaur
5. Social Worker --- Kiran

Tasks

In the villages

a) Have a contact person of the area who knows the area well and can contact the parents of the
deaf children.
b) Identify the villages to be visited.
c) Contact the parents of the deaf children and explain to them the facilities available at the
school.
d) Assess the deaf child.
e) Assess the resources of the parents.
f) Streamline arrangements for the child to come to school.
 At the Primary School

a) Check on the task planned and completed.

b) Find out if help is required in the behavior management of any student.
c) Check if any curriculum support is required.
d) Check on the technical facilities available.
e) Take down all the suggestions made by the teachers.

Periodicity of the visits

a) In the initial stages, each school must be visited twice a month. Once the school is fully
established this frequency may be cut down to once a month.

Special children

During the visits it is found that the number of Special children is much more than the deaf children and
they need immediate help. Since presently there is no plan to start special schools in the rural areas,
counseling and guidelines will be provided to the parents of the special children. Booklets and
guidelines are available on the subject.

Number of villages covered so far

1. Amritsar
a) Cheetai Kalan
b) Nawan Pind
c) Mahima
d) chatiwind
e) Khankot

2. Ferozepur
a) Mallanwala
b) Arifke
c) Khalchian
d) Katora
e) Miduwala
f) Kamwala
g) Jalewal
h) Badwali
i) Talwandi
j) Chaktewal
k) Jalalabad
l) kamalwala
m) Nizamiwala
n) Biduana
o) hamad
 p) Lopo ke
q) Jangale
r) Khai
s) Arif ke
t) Thanawali
u) Praatwala
v) punia khas
w) kakar kalan
x) kamalput

3. Sri Hargobind pur

4. Khemkaran
5. Patti
6. Attari

Primary schools

Considering the number of villages in each district and on an average 2 deaf children per village, it is
not possible to provide education to all the deaf children from a single school. We would need local
schools for a cluster of every 10-15 villages. To start with, each district must have at least five
primary schools for the deaf. Expenditure for running of one school is given below:

Resource Teachers at Manawala

Total regional schools presently No fo resource teachers Salaries/ month

4 2 Rs 20,000

Primary School
Initial Cost
Computer +UPS Rs. 35,000
Internet Installation Rs. 2,500
White board, furniture etc Rs. 60,000
Stationery and Books (20 students) Rs 10,000
L.E.D TV Rs. 30,000
Web Camera Rs. 2,500

Total Rs. 1,40,000

Running Cost
 Resource Monthly Yearly
Teachers 2 Rs 16,000 1,92000
Internet Rs 1000 12,000
Computer Maintenance - 2,000
Internet 1,000 12,000
Stationary & Books (20 Students) 1,000 12,000
Transportation 3,000 36,000
electricity 2,500 30,000
Total 24,500 2,96,000

All this work involves extensive surveys, continuous liaison with the local people and physical
monitoring of the schools and is not possible without a suitable vehicle. A vehicle of the
Mahindra Scorpio or Zylo category is proposed.

Initial cost Rs 8-10 Lacs

Running cost Monthly Yearly
Fuel limited to 2000 Km/month Rs. 10,000 Rs. 1,20,000
Driver Rs.8000/month Rs. 8,000 Rs. 96,000
Maintenance Rs. 1,000 Rs. 12,000
Rs. 19,000 Rs. 2,28,000

Staffing
The primary schools are manned by a local teacher who is provided initial training at the
Manawala school for a period of one month. Thereafter, training of the teacher and the
students is being provided through Skype lessons every day from Manawala.

The schools are also provided a deaf teacher from Manawala for better student teacher
communication. Keeping in view the future requirement, presently two deaf teachers are under
training.

Manawala

The entire organization is controlled from Manawala. Skype lessons are prepared in advance as
per the school requirement and the assessments are duly recorded. Two teachers are
earmarked for this task. More teachers would be inducted as more schools become
operational.
Future Plans

It is proposed to divide Punjab into 4 sectors as given below:

Sector 1 Sector 2 Sector 3 Sector 4

Amritsar Jalandhar Firozpur Ludhiana

Pathankot Hoshiarpur Moga Barnala
Gurdaspur S B S Nagar Faridkot Mansa
Tarn Taran Rupnagar Sri Muktsar Sahib Patiala
Kapurthala Fatehgarh Sahib Bathinda Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar
Fazilka Sangrur

What do we need?

1. Two class rooms with basic amenities.

2. Responsibility of providing the syllabus, curriculum and monitoring of the progress of the
teachers and the students will rest with Bhagat Puran Singh School for the Deaf, Manawala.
3. A vehicle for sector 1 is available. We may need vehicles for other areas as more open school
open up.
4.One resource teacher for every three regional schools is required at Manawala.

Gp. Capt. R P Singh (Retd)

Director
Bhagat Puran Singh School for the Deaf
Manawala, Amritsar
Tel: 9781401143
Email: rpsingh44@yahoo.com