Bridging the Gaps between Special School and Mainstream school Through Early Childhood Development Programme (ECDP), Proyash- A Specialized Institute for Children with Disabilities
Qazi Afroza Sultana¹
¹ Deputy Director and Vice Principal, Proyash Institute of Special Education, Dhaka Cantonment, Dhaka, Bangladesh
DOI:
PISER JOURNAL | Volume 1 | Issue 1 | 2024
Abstract
The recent global trend of education for the children with special needs are educating them in the regular school system termed as Inclusive Education, the importance of which was based on MGD, one goal Education for All (EFA). In Bangladesh the new education policy focuses on reaching EFA children including disabled. Yet there are gaps in practice. Reasons are lack of knowledge regarding abilities of children with disabilities, lack of early intervention services, effective teaching learning process and the approaches to involve parents as partners to receive maximum benefit. The Early Childhood Development Programme set up in Proyash (a specialized institute for the children with special needs) in Bangladesh is one of the first such programme for the children with all types of developmental disabilities and for at risk children. The programme aims to provide stimulation for the children in all areas of development to maximize their potential and to teach parents how they can help and train their children. Thirty children aged from 2 to 5 years is accompanied either a parent or a caregiver to the class for five days a week. The components of the programme include: a) training parents to be partners in the process of teaching their children, b) Home visitation, c) operates a toy library- a system of loaning parents’ toys, equipment and education materials d) Mainstreaming of some 5 years old into local regular school. The aim of this paper is to examine aspects of the programme which have proven successful. A description of the programme will be made on the method of including parents in the training of their children through home visit and toy library. Finally, attention will be drawn to mainstream of children into local regular school.
