March 16, 2021 admin

Teen Peers Educators Programme

 

1.Context Handicap International in partnership with BROTHERHOOD has been implementing an advocacy initiative known as “Teen Peers Educators Programme on Disability” in four mainstream schools in New Delhi. The basic objective of implementing this initiative has been to create awareness in students, teachers and school administrations on disability issues and to promote inclusion of children with disabilities into mainstream schools. The first year was a pilot phase and we received a very encouraging response from the
students as well as school authorities. Other than the planned results we were able to achieve more than we set out for.

Key Achievements:

  • St. Thomas school is set to implement the suggestion made by the students in their Access Audit Report (letter received).

  • Salwan School has agreed to make changes in their school building and have given admission to 15 visually impaired students (letter received).

  • Gitarattan Jindal School has given admission to two  students with disability.

  • NDMC Nayug School has given admission to four students with disability. The Principal is pursuing to implement suggestions made by students to make the  building disabled-friendly.

  • The authority of the Navyug School are inviting Chairman, NDMC and Director Education – NDMC in
    July 2008.  Students will share the presentation and ask the Chairman and the Director to implement the suggestions made by the students in their report.

This success has given us the encouragement to take this project to the next level.
Also, we have learnt a lot from our practical experience in the last year. We also firmly believe that we have reached a very crucial and interesting phase in the life of this project, where most schools have admitted children with disabilities and also given us written assurance to make changes to their built environment to make it accessible to the differently abled. It is at this phase that the schools really need our support to ensure proper inclusion and to support them in implementing the infrastructural changes.

Three new schools have heard of this initiative through word of mouth and have requested us to implement this project in their schools.

2. Project objectives

Specific objective:

To contribute towards awareness raising on the issue of disability in five schools in New Delhi by the end of one year

General objectives:

To raise awareness on rights-based, inclusive perception of children with disabilities in five schools (three new batches in the old school + two new schools) in New Delhi by the end of one year

To work towards making the three schools (old) into disability-inclusive model schools for Physically Impaired   (PI) & Visually Impaired (VI) in New Delhi by the end of one year

3. Project beneficiaries (direct and indirect)

      This project seeks to reach out to Children both disabled and non-disabled and their teachers directly and to reach out to the community at large e.g. parents, friends, family etc indirectly.

4. Expected results

  • 20 teachers/Principals/board members trained on Disability & Development (four per school) by September 2008

  • Nearly 150 students trained on Disability & Dev. by February 2008

  • Students & teachers experience practically the interaction with children with disabilities and demonstrate that inclusive education is possible.

  • Communications and Advocacy tools/ documents are ready to replicate initiative at a larger scale.

  • Three model schools fully accessible for children with VI and PI

5. Methodology

This year we propose to work on two focal areas or axis.

      AXIS A
     

  • To continue with our awareness building of students as last year. We take a new batch in three of the old schools – St. Thomas School, Salwan Public School and NDMC School and we take two new schools – JD Tytler public school and Meera Model School.

Rationale:
Last year was a pilot phase and it was a great learning exercise for us. As a result we have made a lot of changes to our methodology and strategy to make it more effective and relevant.
Also, most importantly, as a result of our interventions we have reached a stage with schools where they have pledged to make changes to their built environment and have also admitted Children With Disability (CWD). Hence it is now that they need maximum hand holding support to accomplish the task of actually mainstreaming disability.

Also, the three schools who have requested us to continue the initiative want to train their student counselors on this issue so that in the coming years they can replicate it themselves with minimal support from us.

In order to take this initiative forward we will choose two new schools for implementation.

Hence, on this axis our strategy remains the same as last year but with three new batches in the old schools and with addition of two new schools.
Also we will use the trained batch from last year to facilitate some sessions with the new batches. This will on one hand keep them involved and “in the loop” and on the other hand develop their skills as “Peer Educators”

      AXIS B

  • To facilitate the process of making the three (old) schools as disability-inclusive “Model Schools” for physical and visual impairment.

Rationale:
This is the advocacy axis of the project. Here we propose to build the three old schools as model schools. We feel confident in proposing this as in the past year, we have reached a certain level with these schools (mentioned above). We have also built a good rapport with the administration and they are supportive of our work. Also these schools have admitted children with disabilities ( VI & PI). The proposal is to form a group of students from the trained (old) batch and train them to be advocates for this cause. This group will liaise with the school authorities and do advocacy for the changes.

In order to facilitate this process, we will convene a small group to provide guidance and do the final evaluation known as the “consultative committee”. This group will comprise:

  1. Representative from Chief Commissioner of Disability (CCD) office

  2. Member Access resource group

  3. One Persons With Disability (PWD) – VI

  4. One PWD – Sensory Impaired (SI)

  5. One representative Handicap International (HI)

  6. One representative BROTHERHOOD

This group will work together with the students group to draw up a checklist for making the schools fully disability-inclusive for PI and VI students. The students will then liaise with the school administration to implement these changes. The consultative committee will also be available for any support to the students group. At the end of the year when checklist has been implemented, the consultative committee will do a final evaluation.

6. Activities

  • Liaison and meet concerned school officials to seek permission to implement the project

  • Conduct two one-day Awareness raising Programmes for 25 teachers on D&D

  • Conduct 26 one-hour training sessions for students on D&D per school. i.e. total trainings will be 26×5=130 for five schools. (one hr session per week) Facilitate the formation of five peer educators’ groups

  • Facilitate three interactive sessions between disabled and non-disabled students

  • Facilitate three extra curricular activities (led by old students) such as film shows, quiz contests, cultural Programmes etc. for students

  • Facilitate the participation of the peer groups in the WDD celebrations

  • Facilitate the process of creation of tools ex documentation- photo/ written reports etc.

  • Elaborate final document about the process and lessons learnt

  • Facilitate the formation of a school level advocacy committee comprising students (old & new) and teachers and administration

  • Facilitate the formation of a guidance and evaluation committee comprising six members from CCD office, Access resource group, 1PWD -VI, 1 PWD -PI, HI & BH

  • Facilitate the drafting of a checklist with all the features for DI model school by the School committee and Guidance & evaluation committee

  • Conduct one three-day training of school-level committee on the features of the checklist

  • Facilitate the drafting of an action plan based on the checklist

  • Facilitate a meeting of the two committees to ratify the action plan and present to school authorities

  • Coordinate with the school advocacy committee to implement the action plan

  • Facilitate the preparation of the final report by the school advocacy committee and present to the
    evaluation committee

  • Facilitate one evaluation visit per school by the evaluation committee

  • Develop a module documenting the process, final checklist and the features implemented to make a DI model school for VI & PI children for wider dissemination and sharing

9. Peer Mentoring Programme

During the TPEP, we sensitized students on various issues of disability concerning inclusion of children with disability.  These students of mainstream school are excited and want to continue to implement the process of Inclusion in their school.  On the other hand, as a result of the success of the Programme three out of five of the schools have given admission to children with disabilities in their various sections ranging from 2nd standard to 11th standard.

To promote inclusion in the three of the schools we will start Peer Mentoring Programme through which we will match sensitized students with the students with disabilities in one-to-one relationship to provide guidance to students with disabilities on various issues like school work, social issues, support services required within the class room and school etc.   These students will solve the day-to-day academic and behavioural problems of the students with disability.  This will certainly build healthy relationship between students with and without disabilities.  It will help sensitize other students and will help them to become involved in the life of the students with disability.  We believe that this peer mentoring will allow genuine inclusion of students with disabilities.

For this a special mentoring Programme will be designed to provide positive influence on the students with disabilities.

8. ISSUES TO BE TAKEN UP DURING INTERACTION

1. Change of perception about disabled and disability
2. Definitions of various disabilities
3. Difference between disability, handicap & impairment
4. Integration and inclusion
5. Barrier-free environment
6. Rehabilitation of persons with disability
7. About Acts, policies, schemes, concessions etc.
8. Attitudinal barriers etc.

9. Sustainability of the project

The whole idea of working with this approach of creating Teen Peer Educator groups in schools is to inculcate sustainability within the project from its inception. We have also proposed to involve the teachers, principals and boards (where possible) to try and ensure that once we have moved on the efforts still carry on. Also, we propose to link these groups with main stream advocacy movements such as “9 is Mine” and CR4WSF etc in order to ensure sustainability and amplification of the projects.

10. Project duration

The duration of the proposed initiative is as follows:

Phase I

–

(July – Aug 2008) 

Phase II

–

(Sept  – Oct 2008)

Phase III

–

(Oct  – Nov 2008)

Phase IV

–

(Dec  – Jan 2009)

Phase V

–

(Feb  – Apr 2009)
including final evaluation and report writing.

(As per annexure)

Preparation of the final report – 10 working days (2 weeks)

11. Total
budget and Financing plan – budget annexed

Annexed

PHASE – I

CHAPTER 1

1.1       INTRODUCTION

  • Administration of Questionnaire

1.2       What do you understand by “NORMAL”?
1.3       What do you understand by “DISABLED?

1.4       List needs of a human being.

CHAPTER 2

Disability and Diversity

2.1       What do you understand by Empathy and Sympathy?

2.2       Simulation Exercise

2.3       What is Diversity?

2.3.1       How disability is part of diversity?
2.3.2       How people who are different from us are also like us?
2.3.3       What about people who do not fit into this mould?

2.3.4       How do we view persons with disability as people excluded from society or people included in
society?

PHASE – II

CHAPTER 3

Myths,
Misconceptions, Stereotypes and Prejudices on Impairment, Disability and Handicap

3.1 What are the myths, misconceptions, stereotypes and prejudices in the context of persons with  disabilities are concerned?

3.1.1 What are the sources of myths, stereotypes and
prejudices in the context of persons with disabilities ?

3.2       What is impairment, disabled and handicap?

3.3       How do we form images?

3.4       What is the relationship between perception of the problem, attitudes and nature of services rendered?

CHAPTER 4

Rights and Responsibilities

4.1       What are human rights and responsibilities of an individual?
4.2       Interaction with achievers with disability

PHASE – III

CHAPTER 5

Understanding Persons with Disabilities

5.1       About various disabilities

CHAPTER 6

About Accessibility and Various Acts/Schemes

6.1       What is accessibility?
6.2       Signages
6.3       Access Audit of School
6.4       Persons with Disability Act 1995 and The National Trust Act
6.5       The Rehabilitation Act

PHASE – IV

CHAPTER 9

Disability Etiquettes

9.1       INTRODUCTION
9.2       People

9.2.1    Using wheelchair
9.2.2    Who are blind or visually impaired
9.2.3    Who are deaf or hard of hearing
9.2.4    with speech impairment
9.2.5    with mental retardation

PHASE – V

Presentation of project reports by the students of five schools, final evaluation and report writing etc.