CENTRE FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION

The centre functions as a special wing of the Indian School Muscat and caters to the children with special needs.

Qualified staff and specialists, assisted by committed volunteers who are given on-the-job training supervise and teach the children self-help skills, art and craft, music and pre-vocational skills. The training for the children is need-based in small groups and as far as possible the teacher/children ratio in each group is maintained at 1:7. An INDIVIDUAL EDUCATION PROGRAMME (IEP) is carefully designed for each child.

Depending on their functional level and various abilities they are classified into the following categories:

Preparatory Group
Children who have very low functioning levels and severe behaviour problems needing individual attention. Emphasis is on increasing their attention span, modifying maladaptive behaviour with the help of the psychologist and imparting intensive training to mothers in coping with the children’s problems at home.

Primary Group
Children who have the ability to understand basic commands, to work in a group situation and to learn very simple concepts. Emphasis is on teaching motor skills, increasing the child’s concentration level in individual and group situations and teaching simple concepts. Mothers are trained in managing a home-bound programme.

Academic and Pre-Academic Group
Children who have the ability to work independently, to learn language and numerical concepts. Here emphasis is on preparing them for learning simple academics and self-help skills.

Daily Living Group
Children over 10 years of age whose capabilities are confined to learning self-help and occupational skills.

Pre-Vocational Group
Children over 12 years of age. Emphasis is on teaching self-help skills, household tasks, occupational/pre-vocational skills and functional language and mathematics. For practical experience children are integrated in appropriate activities at the normal school.

Progressive Group
Children who are not able to cope with the studies in the mainstream school. In special cases children having severe adjustment problems at school are also admitted. They are trained to appear for the open school exams or are re-integrated into the normal school.

Evening Session
Individual evening classes are conducted by specialists for children needing remedial education.

Psychologist
Counselling to parents is done by the psychologist.

Extra Curricular Activities
These include regular outings to places of interest, the Annual concert in November/December, the Annual Sports Day in February and the Annual Exhibition in May.

Raising Funds
The staff and volunteers are involved in the activity of raising small funds, bearing in mind the following objectives:

• Reaching out to more and more people especially to students studying in various Indian Schools and creating awareness among them of the special needs of our children.

• Providing an opportunity to those who want to contribute even very minor amounts for a good cause.

• Encouraging creative/occupational activity among our students and helpers. This activity mainly includes sale of handicrafts and hand made articles, sale of greeting cards made by students, participation in annual school fairs etc.

The Centre strives to integrate these special children into a society that will accept them and accommodate them in whatever capacity they are capable of serving.