Classes set to begin for students with disabilities

MULTAN: Classes at a proposed degree college for children with disabilities in the city will commence this academic year, Special Education DEO Farhat Malik said on Tuesday. “The college will cater to 400 children with disabilities,” he said. They will be divided into three categories: students with hearing impairments, students with visual impairments and physically-disabled children.



Malik said an estimated Rs20.5 million will be spent on constructing the college building. “The first session, however, will commence on rented premises.”  Malik said there was a desperate need for such facilities in Multan. “Students with disabilities from Sahiwal and Dera Ghazi Khan and other districts in Multan division will also benefit from this college,” he said.

At present, there are two college for children with disabilities at Lahore and Bahawalpur. Malik said the project would commence soon. “We are only waiting for the approval of the PC-1 for the project and the government to release funds for the project,” he said.

He said hostels for boys and girls would also be constructed at the college. The college would be affiliated with the Multan Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE), the Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority  and the Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU).



Malik said of around 30,000 students with disabilities, more than 6,000 were studying at various schools and centres in south Punjab. He said there were 256 educational institutions for children with disabilities across Punjab.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 15^th, 2016.